A Dilemma

As more iPhone units are being manufactured than ever before to meet the ever-rising demand for this chic mobile phone, many of these iPhones will slip into the non-official market of unlocked iPhones. People just want to get their hands on the iPhone. Some distributors and dealers have placed exorbitant surcharges on unlocked iPhones, and yet people are still rushing to get them.

This market also includes the USA as some people prefer to use the iPhones with a non-AT&T network and for software-hacks. Even the iPhone's latest 1.14 firmware version has already been successfully broken into and is now able to use any SIM card from any network.

Okay. So. you are one of those who have managed to acquire an unlocked iPhone. You’re happily using it and showing it off every day. A few months down the road though, 3 months, maybe even 6 months, ... *poof* your iPhone has a dead strip.

Now, if there was anything wrong with the iPhone, the sensible thing to do would be to restore it to its original settings (a process also known as virginizing in the iPhone community); and then send it back to an Apple store for replacement. Well, that would work for almost any other problem besides the dreaded dead strip problem!

The funny thing about the dead strip problem is that it usually affects the bottom part of the screen area, which is used the most because that is where the on-screen keyboard area is located. By having a dysfunctional touch screen area here, you are pretty much in the creek cause there's just no way for you to reset the iPhone back to its original settings. To put it bluntly, you are now stuck with a brick - a useless iPhone.

So think twice and carefully before plunking down your hard-earned cash for an unlocked Apple iPhone. It might be fun to use it for a few months, but that’s probably all it's good for. If you can’t wait for the iPhone to be released officially in your region (if ever; due to Apple’s strict contract policy for iPhone usage), the superb interface and novelty of the iPhone might just be worth the risk. The choice is up to you, but you’ve been warned!

The Near Future

Speculations have arisen that Apple might just be using the same type of screen over and over again in newer models due to the huge amount of profits-to-losses it has gained and will continue to gain from iPhone sales. However, we do believe that they are trying their best to develop a screen which is robust enough be rid of this problem.

But the question remains - What IF the problem is a fundamental issue of this touch screen display technology (which have led to the bankruptcy of the company that created it)? Perhaps multi-touch function touch screens are just not meant to be, at least using this technology. Let’s hope Apple can figure this out; and quickly for their sakes as well as ours!

Questions & Comments

Please feel free to post your questions or comments here!