In my country and in these days, sure. I already mentioned that my second phone was never tied to a carrier. The story was different when I bought my first phone. Now was I supposed to quit my job simply because the only phones available at the time were tied down to a carrier?

Here's the thing: people get phones for different reasons. It's wonderful to say we should reject all of the options that are disagreeable, but that simply doesn't work for most people. This is because different people have a different balance priorities (e.g. costs, features, services, etc.) and those priorities may lead them to accept terms that are less than perfect. Likewise the need for a mobile phone will vary from person to person.