"imagine the uproar if all windows computers came with..."
That's the thing though - all android phones don't come like that. If you wanted an unlocked and clean phone you could have bought one. You made the choice to get a locked down phone filled with crappy carrier apps, in exchange for a lower price. if people had the choice to get a windows PC for $50 in exchange for some preinstalled apps and no admin access, you'd better believe they would. The reason carrier subsidized phones are more popular is that most people dont care. If you care, don't buy a phone you don't like.
if people had the choice to get a windows PC for $50 in exchange for some preinstalled apps and no admin access, you'd better believe they would.
They did try and it didn't work. Why? because PCs are abundant and the companies that wanted to do subsidized PCs couldn't get the economics to work. The smart ones realized that PCs were getting cheaper anyway so just wait a little bit. Others realized they could put it on credit and still come out ahead. Only the ones really bad with money/poor credit went the subsidized route (pay us now, and then pay us $40/mo indefinitely).
Phones are slightly different. The service doesn't get much cheaper whether you buy up front or subsidized. And unlike PCs, the price of phones hasn't dropped, the features just got better. And do to wireless restrictions of competition the price of plans hasn't dropped either.
For example, I just renewed my plan. I could pay $600 and buy my own phone. The carrier was going to knock $10/mo off my calling plan. Either way I was going to be locked in for the next 2 years. So I could shell out $600 and save $240 or I could only spend $100. I looked at the PAYG plans but due to my volume of calls it would cost more than the calling plan.
People aren't as naive as you think. They know they are going into this deal at a severe disadvantage so they might as well make the most of it.
Not that I disagree on your main point about buying carrier subsidized phones, but many unlocked phones you purchase for full price still contain bloatware installed by the manufacturer, and still need to be rooted.
That's the thing though - all android phones don't come like that. If you wanted an unlocked and clean phone you could have bought one. You made the choice to get a locked down phone filled with crappy carrier apps, in exchange for a lower price. if people had the choice to get a windows PC for $50 in exchange for some preinstalled apps and no admin access, you'd better believe they would. The reason carrier subsidized phones are more popular is that most people dont care. If you care, don't buy a phone you don't like.