Apple has just hired the thorn in their side for an internship.
- Picture 5 deathandtaxesmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Picture-58.png
- Picture 4 deathandtaxesmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Picture-410.png
Jailbreaking has long been a thorn in Apple’s side. with a quick software download, users are able to free their phones from the strict controls Apple places on its devices and customize the interface as well as download a whole host of second-market apps from Jailbreaking app stores like Cydia.
While jailbreaking undermines Apple’s famously tight control over its products, it gives users access to apps with great services, some of which are so great that Apple sometimes ends up aping them in their own future software updates. for instance, one app allows your phone to convert its 3G signal to WiFi and become a WiFi transmitter for your laptop if you’re in a place with no internet. It’s been available in Cydia for well over a year.
While Apple has kept up a cat-and-mouse game with Jailbreaking hackers, trying to erect better security firewalls only to have the hackers quickly find their way around them, it now seems like it’s taking Sun-tzu’s advice, keeping its friends close and its enemies closer.
The iPhone hacker Nicholas Allegra, the 19 year-old whiz kid behind JailbreakMe, the most popular destination for users to Jailbreak, has just accepted an internship position with Apple.
The Atlantic notes that Allegra tweeted yesterday with an announcement that he’d accepted a position. He then followed up with the message thanking followers for their congratulations, and admitting “I expected a more negative response.”
One would imagine this would be due to the expectation that hacker culture is fundamentally anti-establishment, and that with Apple recently having eclipsed Exxon Mobil as the most valuable publicly-traded company in the world, Apple is nothing if not the establishment.
But Apple, like Google, undoubtedly plays a vital role in pushing technology and culture forward, so perhaps Allegra can be given a pass on cozying up to the man. There are far worse places for a hacker to end up, after all.
More Stories: