(Point of fact: the vast majority of phones are sold at or below cost with a service agreement)

I bought my Danger -- at full retail -- because I had seen a presentation from a Danger exec where he promised easy and open development for the platform.

If the objective of limiting the SDK is to keep the network overheads low, then throttling connectivity to unsigned apps would accomplish this end -- without restricting the ability of developers to build me apps that improve the functionality of the device (i.e., an iSync conduit that would make the device actually useful as a PIM, or a proper notepad that accomodated more than 20 notes, or a mailer with filtering rules, or a browser with find-in-page).

This is a device that is neither an end-to-end Internet box nor a phone, but rather an increasingly tragic half-man/half-beast with the worst characteristics of both.

It's really depressing, because this is the most promising device I've seen in years. My only hope is that criticism from actual Danger customers will sway the company into doing the right thing before it's too late.