So Verizon releases the GS3 locked and all the other US carriers, and the world for that matter, get the unlocked version. After that Samsung released a developers edition unsubsidized right from them.
It got me thinking, what if it was always like this. you don't buy the phone from the carrier you buy whatever phone you want from the manufacturer or Best Buy or whatever and as long as it will work on the network you can activate it on whatever carrier. That's how the rest of the world does it, I think we're one of the few if not the only countries that has a set up that subsidizes phones.
Think about it, Manufacturers could concentrate on making phones, instead of making a special phone for each carrier, then going through the hassle of putting their software on it, even packaging would be reduced by standardizing it. Just a few different models to cover different wordwide networks, not 3 or so for the world and 4 or 5 just for the US. Sure they may be expensive at the beginning but the prices will come down and budget phones will appear too that arent absolute crap because you would actually still have to pay for it.
Carriers could stop concentrating on what new phone to release and what to add and what to lock down and actually concentrate on improving their networks. Also in theory plan prices should come down too, because you may pay less up front but the extra cost of that phone is built in into everyones plans. I mean they get the money back over the course of the plan by forcing you into a contract, does that make them that much extra money? I mean it must right?
On the surface this looks like it should work. Now In sure there is a reason it wont otherwise it would have happened by now right? But then again the rest of the world does it this way.
Why are we different? Yeah it would be painful at the beginning but I really think that this would be better form everyone in the long run. Wouldn't it be great to just go out and buy whatever new phone you wanted. Not have to wait to see what gets picked up by what carrier. All the complaining about this phone not coming here or that phone not going there gone.
It got me thinking, what if it was always like this. you don't buy the phone from the carrier you buy whatever phone you want from the manufacturer or Best Buy or whatever and as long as it will work on the network you can activate it on whatever carrier. That's how the rest of the world does it, I think we're one of the few if not the only countries that has a set up that subsidizes phones.
Think about it, Manufacturers could concentrate on making phones, instead of making a special phone for each carrier, then going through the hassle of putting their software on it, even packaging would be reduced by standardizing it. Just a few different models to cover different wordwide networks, not 3 or so for the world and 4 or 5 just for the US. Sure they may be expensive at the beginning but the prices will come down and budget phones will appear too that arent absolute crap because you would actually still have to pay for it.
Carriers could stop concentrating on what new phone to release and what to add and what to lock down and actually concentrate on improving their networks. Also in theory plan prices should come down too, because you may pay less up front but the extra cost of that phone is built in into everyones plans. I mean they get the money back over the course of the plan by forcing you into a contract, does that make them that much extra money? I mean it must right?
On the surface this looks like it should work. Now In sure there is a reason it wont otherwise it would have happened by now right? But then again the rest of the world does it this way.
Why are we different? Yeah it would be painful at the beginning but I really think that this would be better form everyone in the long run. Wouldn't it be great to just go out and buy whatever new phone you wanted. Not have to wait to see what gets picked up by what carrier. All the complaining about this phone not coming here or that phone not going there gone.
