Famed iPhone hacker George “GeoHot” Hotz — father of the widely-used jailbreak hack — has thrown in the towel. Hotz delivered the news of his departure on his now-defunct Twitter account earlier today, noting that “It was a cool ride, and I’ve learned a lot about a lot. Perhaps one of these days i’ll do a more formal goodbye.”

Apart from his well-publicized stint with hacking the iPhone, Hotz also dabbled in the PS3 hacking scene. His efforts eventually prompted Sony to remove OtherOS functionality from non-slimline units, nixing the ability to run third-party operating systems such as Linux.

Hotz later promised to bring back OtherOS through circumvention of the PS3’s security system. While the feat was teased in a YouTube video last April, it never materialized.

Hotz gave insight into the motivating factor behind his sudden exit in a blog post earlier today. The site itself has since been taken offline — at least for public viewing.

“The real reason behind no release isn’t technical,” explained Hotz. He lamented, “It’s just that it will never stop, after blackra1n, people demand unlock, after blacksn0w, people demand untethered. I miss the days when jailbreaking and unlocking were difficult, it attracted a much higher caliber crowd.”

Varying opinions of Hotz aside, the departure of such a dedicated and passionate individual is obviously a great blow to the hacking scene.

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