Of all gadgets I’ve acquired in my life so far, I look upon my iPhone4 as the most valuable possession. I acquired it in February this year and, if I let you in on a secret, it has me possessed ever since. I’ve held it close to my heart, my mind and my soul, spent most of my time with it and even allowed it to witness some of the very intimate developments in my personal life which none other person seems to know (not even my closes buddies).Still, there’s another reason why I believe my iPhone4 has been the closest anyone or anything can ever get to me. I personally consider my iPhone4 and I lead nearly a very similar life, have the same story to share and even, seem to have the same destiny.
Consider this: all my life, I’ve had everything the hard way, struggled my way up and become a self-made person. I still fight today for every single thing in my life, from dawn to dusk. So much so that I wake up every morning preparing myself for something untoward, something seemingly insurmountable. Speaking for my iPhone4, it shares a similar story.
How? Read on to understand the similarity…
My iPhone4 was conceptualized by Steve Jobs, put together somewhere in China and sold in the open market, and then landed at an unscrupulous trader in the UK. It never had a father who could take care of it, until it found me. Despite my best efforts, it has still sustained multiple scratches, survived several falls, and been jailbroken nearly 9 times since I adopted it back in February, 2011. Well, it might sound dramatic but it’s real. Here’s the full story of my iPhone4:
The Acquisition Anomaly: They say the sweetest of things in life are the hardest ones to acquire, and the entire ordeal I went through to get my iPhone4 delivered only reaffirms the truth. On the 29th of December, 2010, I ordered an iPhone4 from the UK. It was sent via Royal Mail and was paid for tracking services as well. I was skeptical about using Royal Mail and unsure whether it would reach me in time as I knew how the government offices in India work. However, the die was cast and there was no turning back.
But I didn’t like what followed thereafter.
When I tracked my parcel online, I found the parcel was yet to take off even though ten days had already passed. I became restless and tried contacting the Royal Mail customer care department using their Twitter account. They promptly replied saying that there had been a delay in sending the item and but it must have been with the Customs at New Delhi Airport. After my frequent conversations on Twitter, I found the Twitter address of India Post, and was happy to know they are on Twitter.
From then on, I contacted the India Post on Twitter and they were ready to extend their help with regards to the issues with my parcel. Here’s the Twitter conversations that followed:
OMG, It was Jailbroken: After battling my ill-fate for nearly 2 months, my iPhone4 was certainly within my arm’s length; but it was still out of my earshot. It turns out the iPhone4 (32GB version for the price of 16GB) was jailbroken and I needed to use a micro SIM card to be able to use it. This effectively meant I should get my existing SIM card replaced with a brand new SIM card that supports my iPhone4. But, blame it on the BSNL staff, it didn’t come easy either.
I’d already cut my old SIM too short for them to accept as it didn’t have ICC-ID (Integrated Circuit Card ID). But, after a negotiation of nearly 2 hours, I was able to receive a new micro SIM card for my iPhone4. But then again I had to borrow the iPhone4 SIM cutter from Soam to resize it and insert it in my device. It worked fine and I managed myself a smile after a good sixty days of that fateful 29th December, 2010.
iPhone4 Baseband Upgrade Catastrophe: Just when everything seemed fair in love and war, and my romance with the new gadget was on full throttle, I committed an innocent yet potentially irreversible blunder by upgrading my current iPhone4 iOS to its latest iOS firmware on the iTunes software. After the update, the iPhone wouldn’t recognize the SIM card anymore, and after a little online search, it turns out I’d ended up upgrading the baseband of my device for which the Dev Team didn’t have a software patch ready. It’s a day I could barely forget in my entire lifetime. But then, after a week of regret, I started learning to live with it and life was back to normal.
Ever since, apart from surviving several falls from as high as 2 feet, my iPhone4 has been jailbroken nearly 9 times (the latest being for iOS 5.0.1). But, it still works as incredibly as it should for me.
It still feels magical every time I touch its screen and work on its apps. If you have never had an Apple Device, you might feel either jealous of me or think I’m just a plain jerk, but if you’re one of those luckiest lot who have ever used an iPhone4, you know what I’m talking about.
The Takeaway: It’s weird though, being a big fan of Steve Jobs, I’m still rendered helpless to use a jailbroken Apple device. I wouldn’t be surprised if his spirit started hunting me for retribution 🙂 . Sick jokes apart, I might as well buy a certified Apple Device in 2012. Maybe, an all new iPad3, if not the much talked about iPhone5 .