I think it's inaccurate to say "Android" isn't "truly open". It's open when it leaves Google and the code is still out there. I can still benefit from that openness even on a phone that carriers added some restrictions to.

The blame should rest entirely with the carriers.

This isn't "Apple vs Android" this is "Apple vs Carriers".

> This isn't "Apple vs Android" this is "Apple vs Carriers".

That's an academic distinction, though, wouldn't you agree? Android as software is perhaps "truly open" but what about Android as a user experience?

Android, from the perspective of the vast majority of people who will interact with it, is what the carriers say it is.

So get a Nexus One.

The fact that there are multiple suppliers give the user choice. They can include how locked down a phone is in their criteria for making that choice, and buy one direct if they wish to have a phone that's not locked down by a middleman.

> So get a Nexus One.

That phone is not publicly available unless you're a dev.

Looks publicly available where I’m sitting:

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-phone/google-nexus-on...

http://www.expansys.com/google-nexus-one-android-smartphone-...