There's an ongoing showdown that will soon come to a head, and it all has to do with iPhone apps. The iPhone is Apple's smart phone that has countless capabilities, allowing people to write little applications that others can download to enable them to do, well, almost anything. Programmers submit these applications to Apple, and once the company approves them, they go into the App Store. These apps usually cost a dollar or two, though some very detailed ones can be more expensive. But there are also many free apps, so there's something for everyone.

All is not roses with the iPhone apps, however. Many people have objected to the way Apple exerts such rigid control over what they are allowed to download. They frequently liken it to a company producing a computer but dictating which programs they are and aren't allowed to use on it, which you just don't see happening. Because of this, perhaps ten percent of iPhone users have performed iPhone hacks, devising workarounds against the guards that prevent them from downloading applications Apple hasn't authorized.

Not surprisingly, Apple decided not to take this tampering with iPhone apps lying down. The company insists that it's not going to authorize this hacking, or as it is also known, "jailbreaking," while the Electronic Frontier Foundation among others have asked the nation's Copyright Office to allow hacking in certain instances. Apple claims that opening up the iPhone this way would cost money, deter its own development efforts, and open it to a vast number of service calls from customers who become angry when iPhone downloads from unauthorized sources interfere with their phone's performance.

Whatever people's reasons for wanting to hack their phones and alter how iPhone apps work, the Copyright Office must consider them all before it finally rules. Some people want the right to use their phone with someone other than the "approved" carrier, as they can with other cell phones. Others want to engage in iPhone hacks that allow them to use applications that work much better or have different features than those Apple approves of, and some simply want to break what appears to be Apple's monopoly on use and access. Whatever the final decision on these matters, 2010 will be an important year for iPhone users.

Kenny Leichester is a foremost expert in the interior design industry specializing in the outdoor or patio settings using patio heaters, patio umbrellas, outdoor cushions, patio lighting and so on to create exquisitely beautiful layout. His work on patio umbrellas are widely distributed and is a regular contributor to PatioShoppers.com.