Too Early for Halloween and iPhone

There's really not a lot of editorial thought that went into this cartoon and admittedly it's a gag-based cartoon. Every so often, I switch gears and do a light, fluffy cartoon with no real purpose other than to have fun. More thoughts on the iPhone I've had a few months to play with my iPhone and thought I'd pass on my thoughts since I get asked almost weekly, do I like my iPhone and would I recommend it. The answer is that the iPhone is a stunning piece of technology hampered by two very big Achilles' heels here in Canada. The first is that in order to have an iPhone in Canada, you have to go with Rogers because Rogers is the only wireless provider that can do 3G at the moment. Prior to buying the iPhone, my opinion about Rogers was neutral, but having been stung a few times by some unexplainable billing practices and long wait times to talk to a representative, I'm not as happy as I should be. Rogers assured me that they are, indeed, hiring new staff to handle the extra call volume due to the iPhone, but I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I've probably wasted four or five hours waiting. The second has to do with Apple's policies regarding Apps, how they approve some Apps and disapprove others. Apps are another word for the applications you can download to work on your iPhone and some of them are quite useful. Some of the most useful ones, such as one that allows tethering so that you can use the iPhone as an emergency modem, should your wired Internet provider become unavailable, has been disapproved by Apple. Another standout one allows the iPhone to shoot video, but in order to use these Apps, you have to jailbreak the iPhone and download something called Cydia, which voids your warranty and makes Apple angry with you. And, in the past, Apple has had no problem with posting firmware upgrades that literally break your iPhone should it be jailbroken. This is akin to buying a GM, changing the rims and having the service guy at the local dealership take a sledgehammer to your car. Make sense? I didn't think so either. I think Apple's policies are unacceptable and a good reason why a competitor's phone, like the new Google Android, will eventually overtake Apple if they keep the same closed policies they had in 1984. It's fine to have a superior product if you're fine with having less than 10 per cent of the market because invariably people prefer inexpensive and the freedom to do what they want with the technology that they paid for. Apple is just playing the old closed-system game and just like before, they'll lose. While I'm at it, where's the harm in allowing an application to shoot video? I mean, really. So, now you can stop asking me. In my opinion, if you can handle working with Rogers and don't care that Apple controls what you can put on your iPhone, then the iPhone is for you. If you prefer to be able to tether, shoot video, watch TV and control what you want, buy a competitor's phone.