The creators of super lubricating oil WD-40 just thought they were creating a lubricant to help your everday person avoid having to sit through another summer with a wailing screen door.
When it was discovered that WD-40 would remove crayon from walls, do you think the makers of WD-40 threatened to take legal action against whomever started using the product in this way? I don’t hardly think so.
Ok, I know that hacking a piece of proprietary digital equipment is not *exactly* comparable for finding new uses for WD-40 but, it’s the best analogy that could fit into my post-holiday weekend brain.
It’s a well known fact that the iPhone has been ’breached’. Hackers have found a way to remove the iPhone from it’s ‘mandatory’ AT&T-only network — and make it work on other cellular networks.
Instead of AT&T being happy that people – ok, hackers- cared enough to hack the iPhone to have it operate independent of the AT&T network, AT&T is none too pleased.
Why? It’s the classic old school company with an old school model. That’s why.
We want all the ‘action’ from the iPhone so we figure we’re going to lock it down so no one can use any other networks but AT&T. AS IF!
For those of you who have teenagers…what’s the first thing they do when you tell them they can’t do something? Right. For those of you who don’t, watch an episode of Dr. Phil and you’ll see what I mean.
Instead of AT&T wafting legal threats through the digital air, I suggest that they:
1) Enjoy the free press.
2) Get rid of their PR company. They should have seen this coming, anticipated it and had a high-leverage, strategic, new school response at the ready.
3) Accept their street cred like adults. Be thankful that people still think the products they’re associated with are cool enough to warrant hacking.
Bottomline: Lesson to AT&T/Apple: Locks are made for honest people.
P.S. Wanna know what I really think of AT&T?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 at 9:27 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.One Response to “iPhone Hackers Help to Solidify a Brand”
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September 10th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Good morning Lena,
I am on the Phoenix board of NIRI (National Investor Relations Institute) and am scheduling a speaker to discuss financial blogging. Is this something you do? I see that you blog about business in general, but do you also blog about stock numbers, guidance assertions, etc…?
If not, can you recommend someone who does?
I greatly appreciate your expertise on this topic. Have a great rest of your week!
Michele Putman
Program Co-Chair
NIRI Phoenix