Terminology question- "unlocked" "activated" "Bricked" "restored" "Jailbreaked"

[zub3qin]

There are lots of terms being used interchangeably on forums.
For those of us that are somewhat new to all this iPhone stuff, could someone wiser than me post some definitions:

Unlocked- Means can be used on another network other than AT&T?
Activated- Means can be used as an ipod?
Bricked- Can't be used no matter what you do- can reinstall old firmware or software.. nada. Has this EVER been reported with an iPhone?
Restored- ?Means you hit some combo of buttons and your iPhone goes back to the way it was when you bought it by reloading firmware? or by deleting all installed apps/media?
Jailbreaked- Means you ran some sort of program which now allows you to add apps?

 

[overanalyzer]

Restored- ?Means you hit some combo of buttons and your iPhone goes back to the way it was when you bought it by reloading firmware? or by deleting all installed apps/media?

Restoring is reloading the software via iTunes. You might be confusing this with a reset, in which you hold down buttons on an Apple device to restart it (in the case of the iPhone, by holding the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time).

 

[LoneWolf121188]

There are lots of terms being used interchangeably on forums.
For those of us that are somewhat new to all this iPhone stuff, could someone wiser than me post some definitions:

Unlocked- Means can be used on another network other than AT&T?
Activated- Means can be used as an ipod?
Bricked- Can't be used no matter what you do- can reinstall old firmware or software.. nada. Has this EVER been reported with an iPhone?
Restored- ?Means you hit some combo of buttons and your iPhone goes back to the way it was when you bought it by reloading firmware? or by deleting all installed apps/media?
Jailbreaked- Means you ran some sort of program which now allows you to add apps?

Unlocked: Yes, that's correct.
Activated: All this really means is that you don't see the "please connect to iTunes to activate" screen when you turn it on. It could be that you activated normally with ATT, unlocked and are using a different SIM, or aren't on a network at all and are just using the calender, iPod, etc.
Bricked: Won't turn on, won't go into restore mode, ie FUBARed (google it, I can't explain that term here. ). Never seen it happen before.
Restored: The firmware is reloaded onto the phone and all your settings are erased. If you sync to a computer, you can put your contacts and such back on, but all your customizations are erased.
Jailbroken: Yes, basically. It means you have write access to the entirety of the flash media on the phone, using any application (usually, only iTunes has this privilege)

 

[sanford]

I'd just add to LoneWolf's verry accurate definition of terms in these contexts, that "bricked" derives, of course, from brick. It's supposed to be funny. It *is* funny until it happens to you. You should look at "bricked" as meaning "having all the functionality of a brick". You could use it as an expensive, nicely designed paperweight. Avoid at all costs, because you can often find at Tiffany quite nice paperweights in a variety of materials and designs for a bit less than US$400.

Unlocked: Yes, that's correct.
Activated: All this really means is that you don't see the "please connect to iTunes to activate" screen when you turn it on. It could be that you activated normally with ATT, unlocked and are using a different SIM, or aren't on a network at all and are just using the calender, iPod, etc.
Bricked: Won't turn on, won't go into restore mode, ie FUBARed (google it, I can't explain that term here. ). Never seen it happen before.
Restored: The firmware is reloaded onto the phone and all your settings are erased. If you sync to a computer, you can put your contacts and such back on, but all your customizations are erased.
Jailbroken: Yes, basically. It means you have write access to the entirety of the flash media on the phone, using any application (usually, only iTunes has this privilege)