Apple was the first company that was able to make a phone without bending over backwards to the operators demands. They could do this because they
1) had a great product
2) had no existing mobile revenue stream to lose
3) was able to shop the device around to several carriers
before settling on one launch carrier - without even showing the device to the carrier!
Compare this to Nokia, which once made a E61 version without WiFi and VoIP support in order to sell it to carriers in the US.
Android looked after the carriers by allowing them and the manufacturers to install (almost) what they want on the device, including applications that you can't uninstall without jailbreaking the device.
By the way, my phone is certainly not a brick without a network. I have all my music, videos, ebooks and lots of apps on it. I use it all the time in airplane mode when flying.
1) had a great product 2) had no existing mobile revenue stream to lose 3) was able to shop the device around to several carriers before settling on one launch carrier - without even showing the device to the carrier!
Compare this to Nokia, which once made a E61 version without WiFi and VoIP support in order to sell it to carriers in the US.
Android looked after the carriers by allowing them and the manufacturers to install (almost) what they want on the device, including applications that you can't uninstall without jailbreaking the device.
By the way, my phone is certainly not a brick without a network. I have all my music, videos, ebooks and lots of apps on it. I use it all the time in airplane mode when flying.