The ‘Un’ in ‘Unsupported’
From Daring Fireball
I think I finally understand a certain misguided mindset that I’ve been baffled by for a decade. This mindset is exemplified by the sort of person who thinks that Apple “screwed them over” with the release of the iPhone 1.1.1 update.
The mindset manifests in many forms, but what it boils down to is this: a sense of entitlement that users should be able to do unsupported things and yet still be supported. That it makes no sense to expect support after taking unsupported actions is why I’ve found it baffling.
The point isn’t that you shouldn’t hack, or that you don’t have the right to do whatever you want with something you own. The point is that if you hack, you’re on your own. You can’t do unsupported things and expect to be supported for them just because you think these actions should be supported. It’s that simple.
New Rules
I completely agree, and I would take the comment one step further. IMHO, I think many believe, when it comes to technology related products - software - services, that if one CAN do something that has moral "options," then setting aside moral values about whether it SHOULD be done are Ok. Moreover once these moral values are set aside, or maybe more acurately - new "values (rules)" applied, one now has a "right" to do whatever can be done regardless of the framework in which the product is being provided by a manufacturer - developer - artist.
My first thinking about this general subject of moral values, related to technology, came years ago when users of Napster felt no reservation about essentially setting aside the concept of creative property rights when using Napster to download (and thus, obtaining) songs without payment to anyone. The pervasive attitude was "hey, since I can do this through an internet web site; why is it wrong." ...And even now that Apple's iTunes Store has been wildly successful and built upon the concept of paying for creative property, we have the music companies trying to disengage DRM (after insisting on it initially) just to get more $$'s. ...What a reversal of moral thinking that is!
Maybe I'm "old school," but I think there are right & wrong actions, regardless of the basis upon which they're being carried out. There are extenuating circumstances sometimes, but when it comes to technology products, I think many have lost their moral compass.