The Iphone revolution, just not the way AT&T envisioned.

It has been a busy week in the Iphone world. Here is a quick rundown of the top Iphone stories…

Congress – As I have said before, so called “locked” phones, that is, phones that are exclusive to one carrier, are bad for the consumer and the industry. The current FCC chairman has given speeches several times criticizing this practice and putting cell phone producers and carriers on unofficial notice, however nothing of substance has been done. At least most carriers gave their customers a big price break on handsets in exchange for lengthy contract commitments.

With the release of the Iphone, the exclusive carrier AT&T stooped even lower, forcing customers to pay full price for the Iphone and forcing them to commit to a two year contract if they actually wanted to use it, while giving no subsidy at all. This may be exactly what the FCC and Congress needed, a glaring example of greed expressed in exclusivity that hurts customers. Congress held hearings last week and support for ending handset exclusivity received support from both parties. Of course, AT&T and their lobbyists will fight this with big money and influence. My hope is other carriers realize that the change is inevitable and actually use their influence to support ending exclusivity and therefore help bring the Iphone to their customers.

Hacked – A Scandinavian programmer has already hacked the Iphone and made it possible for owners to use the Iphone’s internet, email, and music player functions at any WiFi location without an AT&T contract. With the code broken, hopefully it is just a matter of time before someone cracks the phone software and allows customers to use it on other GSM networks (T-Mobile, etc.). That’s a lesson too for AT&T. They took a great and adaptable product, told Apple and computer lovers they couldn’t use it with other networks, and expected the hacker community not to take matters in their own hands. Right…

Flash Update – Apple has announced an update will be available within months allowing the Iphone to use the Flash plug-in that powers many mainstream websites. This is further proof that Apple still had some design work to go when they released the phone, but sold it anyway. Hey early adaptors, how’s it feel to pay $600 to be a beta tester?

3G – Apple announced a 3G version of the phone, that is a version of the phone that has access to a network far faster than the current Edge (dial up speed) network, is due out in early 2008. Maybe by then the Iphone will be hacked or the exclusivity voided so that most of us can use it.

In the end, these important events are occurring pretty fast, but let’s not underestimate Congress’s ability to drop the ball. Either way, with things shaping up to be a little bit more consumer friendly by next year, all these changes support my position that the Iphone is the coolest thing out there, that you should wait to buy…