It didn't take long--a week, in fact. Pretty soon the iPhone could be used with just about any provider in any country, and it became possible to install apps on the phone without going through the App Store.

The resulting practice became known as jailbreaking, and every subsequent iPhone, iPad, and iOS release has been given the same treatment. At one point jailbreaking became as simple as visiting a Website with your iPhone and clicking a link.

to the rest of the tech world. Now the term has the general meaning of adapting a device's software to remove any technical lockdown that's been put in place. Tablets can be jailbroken too, as can eBook readers.

It also indicates what an odd world we live in where users battle manufacturers to use their purchases however they please. Apple patches a hole denying jailbreaks. Hackers find a new one. Repeat forever. Hackers will never give up. Will Apple?

The cherry on the cake is that jailbreaking is legal, due to an exception in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 2010. Apple still doesn't like it though, and says that it'll void your warranty. However, other manufacturers have started to either cast a blind eye, or even embrace the practice.The Google CR-48 laptop even has a switch built into the case that jailbreaks the device.