iFixit, which provides teardowns of all sorts of hardware, got slapped down by Apple. They got a hold of one of the pre-release Apple TVs, reserved for developers, but, as as they explain on a blog post, had their developer account banned, and their app removed from the App Store.
The company tried to slough off the punishment saying:
Live and learn.
And saying that:
The app that Apple pulled was outdated, and iOS 9 introduced some major bugs into the system. Fixing them would require a substantial rewrite to a bunch of iOS 4-era code.
Let’s be clear. Apple sent pre-release units to selected developers with the clear instructions that they were not to write about them. Apple has not been enforcing NDAs on its software for a while, but when it’s about hardware, one can understand that they get pissed off. After all, that might not even be the final Apple TV; there may be hardware changes made since the first units were produced.
While iFixit provides a public service, with its detailed manuals which help many tech users repair and upgrade their devices, they went a bit too far this time.
We weighed the risks, blithely tossed those risks over our shoulder, and tore down the Apple TV anyway.
Yes, you did. And now you look a bit stupid.
So how would it goes on for those tech users eager to tear down their devices for upgrade or repair?
They can tear down anything they want once it’s released; the problem here was that they got a pre-release unit, and violated the NDA.
Then, their developer account has been banned, and their app is down.
But they still can tear down any released hardware as they wish in the future.
Right?
Sure, and they will continue doing so.
So how would it goes on for those tech users eager to tear down their devices for upgrade or repair?
They can tear down anything they want once it’s released; the problem here was that they got a pre-release unit, and violated the NDA.
Then, their developer account has been banned, and their app is down.
But they still can tear down any released hardware as they wish in the future.
Right?
Sure, and they will continue doing so.