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Aayush Arya February 7, 2010 at 2:52 am aayush.me

I was shocked—shocked, I say—when Arrington said that he wished the device were unlocked and no one corrected him there (which indicates that the others aren’t any the wiser about it either). The iPad is a fully unlocked device sold without any contract. The only deal they’ve done with AT&T is that the carrier will provide cheap Internet connectivity to its users on a prepay basis. What’s wrong with that?

It cannot work with Verizon not because it’s locked to AT&T but because it’s a CDMA network (and the USA, for all its bells and whistles, has only four network carriers—two each for CDMA and GSM—out of which only one provides decent connectivity throughout the country and even it is loathed for its shady business practices).

I just don’t understand why everyone is crowing about its being on AT&T. What other choice did they have? Verizon? Do the cribbers realise how many countries in the world even have CDMA networks, as compared to GSM, which is practically everywhere? Out of the ten cellphone carriers in India, only two are CDMA and the rest are all GSM.

I disagree with many things that are being said in favour of the iPad but this is one point I just cannot disagree with—Apple made the best possible choice it could when it comes to providing 3G connectivity for this device. If Americans want something better, their country needs to come up with some more goddamned carriers!