Apple is apparently intent on hanging tough amid the growing iPhone bricking controversy. That's the message I'm getting from Apple's public-relations department.I queried Apple's designated iPhone spokeswoman, Jennifer Bowcock, and asked whether the company's position had evolved since she was quoted in The New York Times over the weekend. ("If the damage was due to use of an unauthorized software application, voiding their warranty, they should purchase a new iPhone.")

"Apple's position has not changed since we issued our statement last week," Bowcock e-mailed me late yesterday. The statement to which she refers was issued on Sept. 24, prior to the iPhone update which "bricked" phones which users had unlocked or onto which they'd downloaded unauthorized third-party apps. Here's the statement:

"Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed. Apple plans to release the next iPhone software update, containing many new features including the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, later this week [i.e, last week]. Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone's warranty."

I don't want to reargue my entire beef with Apple in this post. (Read Sunday's post and the 500+ reader comments if you want to get into that.)

Suffice to say that Apple's position is simply nuts from a Marketing 101 standpoint. Why would you want to beat up on your most loyal customers, those early adopters who are eager to boldly take their iPhones -- and I think the "Star Trek" analogy is apt -- into territory where no mobile devices have gone before?

You've got to wonder why Apple seems to be going out of its way to extract defeat from iPhone victory. It's got a device its faithful customers love. The way it's treating them, that's all it'll have left -- the Apple Kool-Aid drinkers who believe Jobs knows best, no matter what. Everyone else will be looking to BlackBerry, Nokia, and Palm to satisfy their phone-of-the-future needs.

To put a Web 2.0 twist on an old saying, perhaps arrogance comes ahead of Steve Jobs's fall.

P.S. See my original post, Apple Users Talking Class-Action Lawsuit Over iPhone Locking, as well as California Lawyer Seeking Plaintiffs For iPhone Class-Action Suit. For a look at a company that's trying to capitalize on the situation, see Nokia Touts Its Open Platform As Antidote To Apple's iPhone. Plus, just added: Apple Update Apparently Bricking iPhones Of Some Legit Users, Too.

[Update: Friday, Oct. 5, 7:00pm. See Apple Class-Action Suit Filed By California Man Over iPhone Bricking.]