Thursday, June 16, 2011

Are you SURE you want an iPhone?

Jobs and company just keep making it harder and harder for me to want to buy their shit. New feature, undisclosed third parties can cripple your five hundred dollar iPhone at whim.

The leading computer company [Apple] plans to build a system that will sense when people are trying to video live events — and turn off their cameras.

A patent application filed by Apple revealed how the technology would work.

If an iPhone were held up and used to film during a concert infra-red sensors would detect it.

These sensors would then contact the iPhone and automatically disable its camera function.

People would still be able to send text messages and make calls.

The new technology is seen as an attempt to protect the interests of event organisers and broadcasters who have exclusive rights to concerts.

Because mere Apple -customers- have no interests or rights that need protecting, of course.

And of course the only place the special infra-red sensor/iPhone video shutter-offer thingie would ever be used is at a concert, right?  Mean people would never be able to buy/steal one, right?  And nobody would never be able to hack this concept to just shut the whole phone off, right? Or make it do something they want it to do but you don't?  And no basement genius would be able to make one out of a TV remote, right?

Right.

Are these Apple guys deliberately trying to get us all to buy Blackberries?  I know RIM is hard up and all, but geeze.

The non-iPhone Owning Phantom

3 comments:

WiFi Lunchbox guy said...

Yeah, it's a good thing that nobody can integrate microprocessors and IR electronics into clothing, or they could create an invisibility cloak for government agents.

And that would be terrible.

The Phantom said...

Right on. Still, I never did toss out my film camera.

WiFi Lunchbox guy said...

Better stock up, supplies for cartridge-based cameras are drying up.