Thoughts on off-contract Dell Streak not being unlocked
I didn't think this would have warranted a separate post but since a bunch of sites and people seem to be making an enormous deal about it, I wanted to comment on it too.
The off-contract Dell Streak that sells for $549.99 is still locked to AT&T.
What exactly is the problem there? I understand that many want the device to be unlocked, which I think is a separate issue, but why are people so outraged that an off-contract phone is locked to a carrier? I see so many comments across the net basically saying the same thing: "$550 for a phone that isn't unlocked? Fail."
But why? The HTC EVO, Droid X, Samsung Captivate, Samsung Vibrant, Apple iPhone 4, Samsung Epic, and countless others are all available without a contract for around $500, give or take about $50 or so. And all of these full price phones are still locked to their respective US carriers.
Why aren't there stories on every tech site about these off-contract phones not being unlocked? I don't think it's right that US carriers lock their phones like this, not at all, but I don't understand why the Streak is the only device being slammed for it. Any thoughts?
Update: There seems to be some confusion in the comments. The question is not "Why are people outraged that the Streak is not unlocked?" I know the answer to that. The question is "Why is the Streak being singled out for a common practice (off-contract phones priced at ~$500 but still being locked) in the US?"
