[Prestidigitweeze]

Originally Posted by xendula

Simple solution: don't buy your cell or tablet from a carrier or on a plan. Pay the manufacturer up front full price, and have the freedom to switch carriers. Or pay whatever fee they charge you to unlock your device. All new GSM devices are already multiple-band.

You're preaching to the converted, my good friend. With the exception of the first one I ever owned, every cellphone I've bought subsequently has been unlocked.

You already can choose freely in the US. Apart from still having CDMA carriers like Sprint and Verizon, the problem is that GSM carriers in the US lock phones even if they are bought on contract, while in Germany, only phones sold with prepaid SIMs have a SIM lock.

The problem with locked phones also could be solved by Apple's approach (if Apple implemented their SIM in a version of the iPhone and the ability to switch carriers remained under users' control). But the main advantage -- being able to switch between Sprint and T-Mobile/AT&T -- is bigger for some of us than you might think.

Economically, locally (in terms of coverage) and even politically, there are always reasons to support one carrier (or smaller company that uses the same network) rather than another. I'd love to be able to switch to Credo from time to time, and a quick glance at Mr. Money Mustache's site will reveal that Sprint-compatible services like Republic Wireless can be more cost-effective than, say, T-Mobile (or even MetroPCS). To be able to take a Sprint-compatible device to Europe and use it is no small thing. Besides which, Verizon and U.S. Cellular plan to drop CDMA and move to pure LTE. If competition makes it impossible for Verizon to demand customer fealty, then perhaps it, too, will have to abandon the strategy of exclusivity.

The iPad has never been SIM locked, and I can swap SIM cards as I please. When I travel internationally, I just pop in a different SIM card, and I've been able to do that since the iPad 1. SIM cards can range between 0 and maybe $15, depending on the carrier, so it's not a huge expense either way.

But it becomes an expense if you live in the States, buy a Sprint-compatible iPad (if that's your cheapest carrier option) and then plan a trip to Europe.