"For the first generation iPhone, one could understand the attraction of jailbreaking an iPhone. There was no approved SDK, nor 225+ thousand applications to get things done. But even then, it was a chancy bet. Now, its counterproductive foolishness."
I think not.
Jailbreaking my iPhone 4--which I'm currently debating--will allow me to use it in a tethering capability without having to step down from my current unlimiited data plan. Oh sure, AT&T will allow me tethering as well, but only up to 2GB per month.
Jailbreaking will also allow my iPhone to run as though it were always on wi-fi. This would free up FaceTime to run anytime, anywhere--not to mention let me download apps/movies/etcetera over (I believe) 20 MB.
Another useful jailbroken-only feature are apps which display useful info on the lockscreen. So instead of having to press the home button and swipe to unlock the phone and view certain items, I can just press the home button (without unlocking) to view new emails, weather, texts, etc.
If you can't agree that the the 3 reasons above--not to mention the numerous other reasons I'm skipping entirely--don't at least make you consider jailbreaking (if not actually follow through, as I can understand why some would have reservations), then the foolishness is all on your end. Jailbroken iPhones have considerably more capabilities, and the only reason not to jailbreak is on the chance that Apple--well-known for being draconian at best or outright spiteful at worst--updates its software in such a way as to purposefully brick jailbroken iPhones. I for one wouldn't put it past them.
Regardless, it's entirely off-base to call jailbreaking "counterproductive foolishness". I and many others consider it incredibly useful.
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