I agree.
I want to buy an iPhone, but I will not until I can legally unlock it.
I am a happy AT&T subscriber and have been for seven years. But, when
I spend more than a few days overseas I like to use a local SIM card
so locals do not have to make an overseas call to contact me. It was
because of this versatility that I signed up with Cingular in the
first place -- now they've taken away this significant advantage of
signing up with a GSM service.
I have been using a Virgin Mobile SIM
card in the UK for eight years. I got my current "Cingular" Treo 650
unlocked three days after buying it. Initially the Cingular rep said
it could not be done. When I insisted and he checked he "was
surprised" to find it could be -- then it took only a couple of
minutes to get an unlock code.
Apple should put two SIM card slots in
the iPhone. Then you could be "locked" to AT&T on one and the other
could be unlocked for use with another service when overseas for
local calls. Think how wonderful that would be!
When I studied transportation managemant at university 35 years ago a professor talked about these wild ideas. The "socialists" in class got excited. At the end he said "the car is the best form of transportation yet invented." "Left-wing" students looked glum, while the rest of us left class with a smile on our faces.
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I agree. I want to buy an iPhone, but I will not until I can legally unlock it. I am a happy AT&T subscriber and have been for seven years. But, when I spend more than a few days overseas I like to use a local SIM card so locals do not have to make an overseas call to contact me. It was because of this versatility that I signed up with Cingular in the first place -- now they've taken away this significant advantage of signing up with a GSM service. I have been using a Virgin Mobile SIM card in the UK for eight years. I got my current "Cingular" Treo 650 unlocked three days after buying it. Initially the Cingular rep said it could not be done. When I insisted and he checked he "was surprised" to find it could be -- then it took only a couple of minutes to get an unlock code. Apple should put two SIM card slots in the iPhone. Then you could be "locked" to AT&T on one and the other could be unlocked for use with another service when overseas for local calls. Think how wonderful that would be!
When I studied transportation managemant at university 35 years ago a professor talked about these wild ideas. The "socialists" in class got excited. At the end he said "the car is the best form of transportation yet invented." "Left-wing" students looked glum, while the rest of us left class with a smile on our faces.