Apple Inc (AAPL)

[langostino]

"given the constraints"

I have a hard time understanding why you refer to "constraints" as absolute or a given or a predicate, when at best, if they existed, they were CONDITIONAL.

Everything in life is negotiable. If Apple wanted no lock-in tie-up, then it would have had to give up other things, true, including almost certainly, any revenue sharing. But if that's what they wanted, that's what they would have done. If it wanted to grant a 2-yr tie-in they'd have to give a bit less. If they were willing to lock their customers into ATT for 5 years, then ATT would shower them with money. They chose the latter. Why is that so difficult to grok?

It will be VERY interesting to see how Apple manages to deliver unlocked phones in France, without having them float outside the French borders.

Very much looking forward to seeing what Google does too.