I understand what you are saying but sometimes the operator subsidized phones end up costing more than the unlocked phones on the longer run. For example the iphone data plan is 15$ more expensive than the regular unlocked data plan on at&t. So that increases the price by 15* 24 = 360$ on top of the 200$ you are already paying for the phone. So that makes the total price 560$ and of course remember that you have to stay in contract for 2 years which in these days of technology is a lot. In most cases you will get a better model of the same phone or another brand phone which you will want to buy. And then there is the issue of lack of official firmware updates. And most important of all reasons is that it prevents competition among the cellular providers. If Americans keep allowing their carriers(and apple) to do what they want to do they will never get a free market. Not that it cannot be done.... the markets in Asia are very good and you get very cheap prices for prepaid services. So there are many advantages to get an unlocked phone. I think buying the phone on a credit card and paying off a little every month is better than getting a locked phone.