Cory--

(Point of counterfact: The service provider almost certainly subsidizes the cost of your phone, to the point of handing cash money to the retail outlet, in return for the usage contract.)

   iMode was built on the model of "neat stuff becomes available, and people pay a bit to get it".

   T-Mobile really wants that. If shutting down the open sourcers means they get a chunk of the $10 for a non-broken notepad, heh.

   Of course, it's a little like Ford demanding a share of your bridge tolls...

   What's sad is they could have it both ways. Charge for online delivery, on the basis that it's so much more convenient to -- as a programmer -- receive a check from T-Mobile every month than to manage sales oneself. *sighs*

   Thing is, T-Mobile doesn't care. They don't! I called up their sales line like seven months ago, cash in hand ready to sign up. Why couldn't I? They were giving like 200 minutes voice for $40, and I needed more. I wanted to pay $60, or $70, and get 500 or a thousand minutes or some junk.

   I ended up spending my money on something else.

   I'm in the same quandry again, and as much as I absolutely want the product, I don't know if I can trust it to actually work on my behalf. I can hope. But it'd be nice to be able to do more than that.

--Dan