> That means anyone who buys the phone online with a T-Mobile contract and wants to get out within 3 months are ...<p>... fools who aren't responsible enough to sign a contract in the first place, and just getting what comes to them.<p>Either way, it's cheaper to buy the unlocked phone.<p><a href="https://www.google.com/phone/choose?locale=en_US&s7e=" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/phone/choose?locale=en_US&s7e=</a><p>Subsidized phone: $179
Subsidized service: $80 * 24 months (click "more")
Total: $2099<p><a href="https://www.google.com/phone/choose?locale=en_US&s7e=" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/phone/choose?locale=en_US&s7e=</a><p>Unlocked phone: $529<p><a href="http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/cell-phone-plans-detail.aspx?tp=tb1&rateplan=Even-More-Plus-500-Talk-Text-Web" rel="nofollow">http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/cell-phone-plans-detail.a...</a><p>No-contract plan: $50 * 24
Total: $1729<p>If you're stupid enough to sign up for a contract that costs more than the no-obligation version, and then you want to welsh on that contract: you've got to pay the penalties.
The article doesn't mention that $179 upfront plus $550 in termination fees would add up to $729 -- for a phone that only costs $530 unlocked.<p>Rather than shaking up the industry, Google's hybrid business model for the Nexus One is turning out to be <i>worse</i> than the traditional "the phone company owns you" system. That's quite an achievement.