Why the iPhone could change everything

I was recently reading about how the iPhone could be sold unlocked and I realized the iPhone could change everything!

By “everything”, I don’t just mean the slick design, user interface and software integration, although sometimes even the obvious is lost on some people. By “everything”, I mean the very way US customers buy a phone. They don’t appear to think twice about spending $300 on an iPod, yet they accept getting locked into a crappy 2-year contract by US carriers in exchange for a free (or cheap) – yet crippled – phone…

Of course here’s the real question: assuming it’s sold unlocked, will US customers think twice about spending $300 on an iPhone? I hope not.

Then Verizon and Sprint would be screwed, Cingular and T-Mobile would benefit, GSM would make serious inroads in the US at the expense of CDMA. It would promote competition amongst the US carriers, thus increasing contract flexibility and customer service quality.. In turn Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung would start selling more unlocked phones directly.

It’s a win/win situation.