Why are hacked iPhones and iTouch's called “Jail Broken”?

My iPhone has been jail broken with all the cool stuff in it, but I'm just curious as to why its called what its called.

Answer:

The strict, non formattable rules of the software of a regular ipod touch can be refered to as "jail in this case. When you jailbreak an ipod, you take away those rules and now your ipod can do what it wants. It's a metaphor.

Tags: iphones