[rhari79]

I am currently looking to buy a new laptop. macbookpro is a definite contender. But it doesnt win easily due to Apple's "I am your Big Brother" attitude apart from a few other quirks.
Also since my iphones original laptop is gone, I cannot go to a random computer to sync it. I have to activate it, and i lose my privacy therein.
So no itunes for sometime.
Basic point here is: an apple device takes away your freedom that is kind of given granted in most other non-apple devices.

Oh..and I consider Itunes User interface to be pretty bad and unresponsive.

So life without an Itunes:

I use Iphonebrowser and I also use ssh to transfer files into the device. Ssh is quicker for me.
I use PwnPlayer/dtunes to play music. I hate itunes way of music and like to create my playlist on the fly.
If it is books into the device, Some apps just read files from a directory. For these, just add the books to that dir. Some others use sqllite to store info. there are ways to edit the sqllite dbfiles and to add new files.

I dont know what i will do in case I need to do a proper backup/restore.
I guess jailbreak should not void your warranty as you can do a restore to get the phone back to factory conditions. So i am kind of safe.