Nearly six years after it showed the company a new direction and made them a fortune, Apple has decided it’s time to take the original iPhone out back with the shotgun.
The original iPhone is officially obsolete, as opposed to being unofficially obsolete the microsecond the iPhone 2 came out. So what does official obsolence involve?
Products that are considered obsolete—or perhaps for a more tasteful term, “vintage”—cannot be repaired or receive replacement parts unless they’re in the state of California, “as required by statute.” Californians can continue to get service and parts for their obsolete items through Apple retail stores, but the rest of us are pretty much out of luck.
In other words, if for some reason you were still using a five year old phone and want to continue to use it, you’re probably going to be stuck getting parts through a Californian reseller or hunting up the original iPhone in yard sales and nerd swap meets. Honestly, we’re having trouble thinking of anybody who would actually do this, not least because the iPhone wasn’t actually that good at taking phone calls.
So if you’ve got an original iPhone and want to help keep somebody trapped in an odd technological bubble, get that antique up on eBay! After all, you’re helping them out, just like that guy who keeps selling him eight-tracks is “helping” your dad.