At the very least, the marketing and strong brand image of Apple keeps the iPhone's profile pretty high. It's easy to find articles on Apple's smartphone online, especially those that provide instructions on how to unlock the mobile and make it work on any service provider.

Which brings me to my question: has Apple created a monster? Has its carefully cultivated marketing backfired? Obviously, Apple would like to keep the iPhone exclusive to AT&T, if only to fulfill their legal obligations. That's why they've resorted to announcing their opposition to unlocking software, and actively finding ways to counter them.

The kicker is that the epic and neverending battle between Apple and the iPhone unlockers may be all Apple's fault. Once you come up with a device that becomes a popular must-have, a lot will want it for themselves. And it's human nature to do whatever you want with what you paid money for, including installing whatever software you like, or using whatever service provider you like. Never mind what that lengthy user agreement says.

So, kudos to Apple for marketing a product enough to make it one of the most successful product launches in history. Now they're enjoying bigger profits and an ever-increasing share price. But at the same time, they'll have to deal with the growing number of people who want to enjoy the "iPhone experience"-as advertised by Apple-in their own way and on their own terms.