Just one more thing...

Well, there's no doubt that the iPhone has plenty of folks hacking away on it and they've been amazingly successful in their work to get access to the OS, get applications up and running and unlock the phone for use on other networks. (though the latter takes some hardware hacking to make it happen. UPDATE 8/24 Unlocking is done software only.)

Apple released two firmware updates that were focused on fixing bugs in the unit, but I suspect that there's a larger update in the works that will attempt to thwart all the success of the hacking community on the platform.

Ok, I more than suspect this. ;-) I've got it on authority that this is coming down the pipeline. Of course, we'll have to wait and see just how effective it is and I'm sure the next round will go to Apple, but there's one thing in this world you NEVER want to underestimate. The will and power of the Hacking community.

Apple's going to square off against the hackers, whether they want to or not, they have to do this update in order to keep their relationships with the mobile carriers and the music and video/movie moguls that they are partnered with. Is it the right thing to do? Yes and No. Both ways have merit and Apple needs to Do What's Right for its partnerships, but they also need to Do What's Right for the development community out there.

The community is sending a message - they WANT to develop applications for the platform. After all, the iPhone is really a handheld OSX machine - its plain nirvana for Mac addicts and their software development will take the iPhone into uncharted territory and success.

This makes a lot of sense to the rest of us, but we're all on the outside. We're outside the walls the the Apple campus and most of all, we're outside of Steve's mental vision for the platform. Perhaps the iPhone is just supposed to be what it is, a phone, an ipod and an internet communicator and nothing more.

What if what we all want will be "just one more thing" at this year's MacWorld Expo?

After all, there's a product gap between the iphone and the MacBook. Well, to me there is. ;-)

What if?