It started with a viral video that spread like wild fire on YouTube. A teen uploaded a step by step video on how to unlock his iPhone so that he can use it freely with other cell phone Carriers instead of AT&T. Whether or not the instructions work or not a story for another day, but with a video like that, the only consequence is that thousands of people all over the world are now well aware of the possibility of unlock their iPhones.



Also, the fact that this video attracted so many eyeballs say a lot about what the end users want. Many fans love the iPhone, but want to continue having the freedom to stay with their own Carrier. So having a way to unlock their iPhones sound like a dream come true.

To meet this demand, many people have come up with different ways to unlock the iPhones for the consumers. Some retailers are rumored to charge a service fee to unlock the iPhones, while others have come up with easy to use software to achieve the same thing.

A journalist, eager to test out some iPhone rumors went out to get himself an iPhone. While at the retail store, he asked if someone at the store could unlock his iPhone for him. He was turned down immediately. Despite having an unpleasant refusal, he went ahead and bought the phone and paid four hundred over dollars for it.

When he got back home, he tried to follow some instructions online to unlock his iPhone himself. He said that he understood the risk of doing it himself, as he could break his iPhone and never get to use it again. Nevertheless, he was dying to know if the unlocking rumor is true. So he went ahead and tried to apply the instructions he downloaded from a website. To his surprise, the unlocking instructions worked! Here's when things get really interesting and exciting. He mentioned that he's not a tech geek, and yet he could pull off something like that just by following some instructions he found on the Internet. Now he gets to enjoy using his iPhone without having to change his cell phone carrier, and is also able to download third party software.

Being able to download third party software is a huge advantage, considering the large number of useful applications that can be downloaded freely. For example, there's a free software that allows iPhone users to upload images directly to Flickr. And you can't do all that without unlocking your iPhone. So the journalist must be very happy that he got his iPhone unlocked!

The fan side of the argument goes something like: If I bought the hardware, I own the hardware. And I paid over four hundred dollars for it. So what business is it of anyone else if I modify it the way I like it? It's tantamount to modifying a car or a computer that I own.

At this point, it doesn't really matter if that argument is reasonable or not. All we know now is that iPhone must have done something right, as thousands and thousands of fans are fighting for their freedom by unlocking their iPhones. It sure is a super cool piece of gadget.