Exactly.
But some people (apparently quite a few here on FR) don't understand the concept of "If you screw with it, you're on your own." It's not a tough concept, as you so well point out.
The fact is, Apple doesn't give a d@mn if you take a drill press to it. Just don't come back to them, whining that it doesn't work any more.
But you'd be astonished (and dismayed) at how many people "screw with" products, voiding their warranty, and then go back to the manufacturer and whine. Some even go so far as to sue. Un-be-freakin-lievable.
Our FRiend Moltke has the right idea -- if you don't like Apple's rules, don't play Apple's game. Buy somebody else's phone.
At least in that regard, it's still a free country.
voiding a waranty is one thing but intentionally destroying their property is another.
Lets say that I go buy a new Ford truck.
And after having it for a month, or so - I decide I don’t like how the transmission works, so I go find a cobbled-together, shade-tree, transmission and install it myself (right tools, or maybe not). The transmission doesn’t bolt up directly, but is close - and the gear ratios are way out of wack... my speedometer no longer works, it gets 3mpg going down hill, and the engine is running WAY hot (and I think I see some blue smoke starting to come out of the exhaust pipe).
So I go back to the Ford dealer and thow a tantrum and threaten to sue because of this piece of crap truck they sold me...that they now refuse to honor the powertrain warranty on...
Or - to use a bit more relevant illustration (though still with the truck):
Brand new truck - check
Go buy an aftermarket computer tuner
Connect the computer tuner that adjusts the transmission shift-points, engine timing, and a few other controls.
The tune apparently over-does it and causes the engine to rev way higher than designed and/or causes really heavy slamming shifts.
But I drive the heck out of it - ignoring the rattling growing louder under the hood...
Ford now can deny my powertrain warranty because the modifications I installed caused the damage.
Now -some will argue that this would be more like buying a new truck, and after the warranty has expired, Ford issues a recall to change the computer programming. I take the truck in, they flash the computer - and as I drive off, I notice that I cannot get it past 25mph. The engine runs very badly - transmission shifts poorly, and something is just wrong - it really isn’t drivable (this would be similar to how the 3G updated to iOS4 went).
So - Instead of getting Ford to fix the truck, I find some guy hanging out on the corner that claims to be a mechanic. He fiddles with it and gets it to kind of work... Then, when things are not quite how I want them, I cry to the dealership and sue them to fix my truck. Little did I know in all that wasted time and kicking and screaming... Ford had issued a fixed code that they had available at the same time I had the corner mechanic tinker with the truck.
Now, the dealer won’t fix it because the “work” done by the shadetree guy... well, he spliced wires, overrode settings, and jerry-rigged the truck -