This, of course, is precisely what Apple has done with some of its most ardent customers. They are the people who bought the iPhone and then had the temerity to make it work better.

Despite the many admirable features the iPhone boasts (there are some truly breakthrough ideas in the device), I'd been advising people to look elsewhere for a smart phone in any case. Apple designed control-freakish limitations into the product - such as locking it to a single carrier in each country where it's sold and ...