The Apple iPhone launches in the UK this Friday and as I hinted at here, we are going to run a competition to win an iPhone and five iPod Nanos (for the runners up). The competition is in two parts. The first part is to win the iPhone itself. The second part, for the Nanos, will be up tomorrow. So to be in for a chance of winning the iPhone all you have to do is answer this question in a comment below. Remember to enter your correct email address when you comment so you can be contacted. The winning answer will be picked randomly from the entries, and announced, on Friday. The competition is open to anyone in the UK or Irish Republic.
Question: To what was Steve Jobs broadly referring to when he used the phrase “job security” at the UK iPhone announcement?
Hint: The answer is to be found in TechCrunch UK’s live coverage of the press launch back in September…. so you may want to get digging on our site…
I believe he was referring to stopping people from unlocking/hacking the iphone. It is his job to ensure the iPhone remains closed (secure/un-hacked).
Matt
He was talking about unlocking of the iphone…
[What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?]
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security [did he actually crack a joke there? He didn’t smile, but…]
[What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?]
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security.
(I’m still not sure he was cracking a funny).
He was responding to a question regarding what apple planned to do about people unlocking the iPhone…
[What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?]
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security.
Can’t wait for the SDK in February!
He was referring to phone unlocking and trying to stay one step ahead of the hackers.
He was referring to the “cat & mouse” battle to stop iPhone unlocking!
Cheers, Matt
He was talking about preventing unlocking of the iphone.
Is it a bit silly to have to answer a question when you can see the answer in the comments already?
*stupidly I searched your site for it before scrolling down*
Steve was talking about the continual problem of hackers releasing code to unlock the iPhone and needing to stay a step ahead of them.
Jobs was relating the comment to preventing security breaches on the iPhone’s software – stopping it being unlocked.
He was referring to stopping people from unlocking the iPhone…
Thanks!
Steve was replying to a question regarding what Apple was going to do about people unlocking the iPhone…
[i]What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?[/i]
SJ: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security.
He was referring to having to keep Iphone hackers (and customers?) from breaking into their phones(and unlocking them)
Yup, like they said: he was referring to iPhone unlocking.
@sam: if I was one of the early answerers I would post a quote seeded with a couple of typos to see who bothers searching for themselves and who just copy & pastes
@mike butcher: the time on the server appears to still be set to BST.
Would like to come up with something witty, if Mr Jobs can get away with being unfunny, so can I:
He was referring to the practice of locking the iphone to keep pesky customers from choosing their own network/software they’d like to use on their nice shiny new toy.
Steve Jobs was referring to preventing security breaches, or more specifically, hackers from from unlocking the iPhone and making it available for use on other networks, something they have to prevent as part of their exclusive deal with O2.
He was referring the the unlocking of the iphone. His job security is preventing ‘them’ break in.
He was talking about stopping people from unlocking or hacking the iphone themselves.
Actually sourced this answer myself, then found I could have saved 8 minutes of my life by simply scrolling down and looking at the first comment…
He was referring to the unlocking of the iPhone to enable it to be used on any mobile network.
He was talking about how to be ahead of hackers in order to meet the demands of partners:
[What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?]
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security [did he actually crack a joke there? He didn’t smile, but…]
With ‘job security’, he was referring to the unlocking of the iPhone and preventing of doing so.
Was referring to iPhone unlocking -
“We try to stay a step ahead”
This was Jobs attempts at being “down with the UK kids” and cracking jokes about phone hacking / unlocking…
[What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?]
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security [did he actually crack a joke there? He didn’t smile, but…]
Steve was talking about trying to prevent the unlocking of the iPhone: “This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security”
He was talking about the hacking or “jailbreaking” of iphones.
Yeah – he was talking about iPhone unlocking, Mike.
He said “We play it on iPods with DRM…”
It was kinda funny.
From “http://crunchgear.com/2007/09/18/iphone-uk-launch-live-blog/”:
[What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?]
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security [did he actually crack a joke there? He didn’t smile, but…]
So, he was talking about phone unlocking and DRM
Hi Mike – he was talking about Apple efforts to keep hackers out of the iPhone. i.e. unlocking it.
Steve Jobs was referring to staying ahead of the people trying to crack the iPhone.
iPhone unlocking
Steve Jobs was talking about unlocking the iPhone. I bet the bloke down the market will be able to do it if I win!
He was referring to Apple’s continued efforts to stop people from unlocking their iPhone.
He was talking about stopping people from unlocking or hacking the iphone themselves.
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security” – So it was about the phone unblocking situation.
referring to iphone unlocking…
[What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?]
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security”
So, he was talking about iPhone unblocking…
He was referring to iPhone unlocking; which will throw up lots of fun european legal wrangles in the coming months.
Given all the answers above I think it might be about hacking/unlocking the iphone!
“This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security”
He was referring to unlocking the iPhone.
I phone unlocking
He’s referring to iPhone unlocking
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security [did he actually crack a joke there? He didn’t smile, but…]
He was referring to unlocking the iPhone, and more importantly, stopping people from doing it.
Steve Jobs was replying to query on response to iPhone unlocking
Steve: …We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security…
He was referring to iPhone unlocking
Steve Jobs was replying to query on response to iPhone unlocking
Steve: …We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security…
(repeat as this is email I registered with you.)
He was responding to a question regarding the issue of iPhone unlocking…
“[What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?]
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security [did he actually crack a joke there? He didn’t smile, but…]”
Elaine
He was referring to unlocking the iPhone.
He was refering to iPhone unlocking
Steve Jobs was answering a question regarding the issue of iPhone unlocking.
Official version :-
“[What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?]
Steve: This is a constant cat and mouse game. We play it on iPods with DRM. We promised music companies to stay ahead of this problem. We try to stay a step ahead. It’s going to be the same way here with the iphone. It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security [did he actually crack a joke there? He didn’t smile, but…]”
Unofficial translation :-
We (Apple) can not afford you to unlock your phone and use it on your chosen network, think of all that lovely money we would lose from 02. A cut of every months contact fee – now that’s job security !
he was referring to the unlocking of the iPhone – or ‘liberating’ as many would prefer to call it!
Q: What are you going to do about iPhone unlocking?
A: … It’s our job to keep them from breaking in. That’s job security…