i'd like to be an iphone developer, if apple would let me. they have given out only a handful of dev certificates, needed to install apps on real iphones, and

i'd like to be an iphone developer, if apple would let me. they have given out only a handful of dev certificates, needed to install apps on real iphones, and the process reportedly degrades the phone such that it can't be used normally anymore. what the heck. i'm as big an apple fanboy as anybody, but this is making me suspicious. i'm in wait-and-see mode.