I agree 100% with what Nokia is doing, it should be device manufacturer leading the service providers, not the other way around....

I hate it when an operator locks it's phone down for use solely on their network, I hate all the custom graphics and branding that the operators force on to the device, and I hate the trouble of having to go through steps to remove this. In the case of apple with their iphones, if you make a wrong move you could screw up your phone.

The key words there are "YOUR PHONE" yes it is your phone, one way or another you have definitely paid the price for it and so should be 100% free to use it how you wish and with who you wish.

Nokia are selling this as a portable computer with phone capabilities, a portable computer should not be limited by a service provider in any way. On my home computer, if an ISP were to dictate how my device was used, guess what? I probably wouldn't even be aware that ISP existed, they certainly wouldn't be getting my money.

If people want the device, and lets face it, they will, service providers will want in on the action because all they care about is getting your money at the end of the month.

Lets imagine every service provider stocked the N900, in the UK we have an offering from 3, Voda, O2, Orange and Tmob.... now lets say that they all customised it in some way, except one of them who let it go how Nokia intended.... just for an example lets say Vodafone let that happen.... my money would certainly be going to them, and i'm sure the majority of others would too.