Copy and paste has finally reached the iPhone, decades after other platforms. The technological breakthrough of being actually able to copy and then paste some text from one application to another or within the same software is finally available to iPhone users. As expected, it was not done by Apple, but by student developer Zac White.

The new open-source framework enables any developer to implement copy and paste between applications without violating Apple's developer agreement. However, there is still the danger that Apple blocks third party applications which use the framework out of its AppStore.

The innovative framework enables copying and pasting of plain text or HTML, depending on the support provided by the application. However, Apple's own iPhone software still doesn't provide copy and paste, to its user's much dismay. While Apple has acknowledged that iPhone copy and paste is in their plans, the Cupertino company apparently doesn't care enough about what its customers want. Or maybe they were too busy fixing MobileMe, the iPhone 3G connection problems and the DNS flaw.

Another dude, Preston Monroe, has created an iPhone hack called iCopy that lets the gadget's users copy and paste between the e-mail and Web browser applications.