Google at some stage had to decide whether they wanted the carriers' cooperation or the the full openness. I don't really blame them for choosing market traction but for exactly those reasons I will buy an iPhone next time as I'm very unhappy with my T-Mobile branded HTC phone. (I fell into the trap of thinking that all Android phones will be rootable, about a year ago when that wasn't so well known).

If I have the choice of bending over in front of Apple or T-Mobile I choose Apple. You'll probably say that I should get a Nexus [One|S] but the entire episode has left a bad taste in my mouth.

If it's really the carriers demanding bootloader lockdowns why is it impossible for me in Europe to get those phones unlocked if I buy them without subsidy? I think it is also the manufacturers who are responsible.

That is partly true but in reality the manufacturers don't seem to consider you their customer. They look at the carrier more so than the end-user as their customer. The only way to get their handset used by an end-user is to deal with the carriers so the problem starts there.

Correction: Phone producers should sell their phones detached from the teat that is a dedicated carrier and let users decide which network they want to use it on.

Should make a law to completely forbid subsidiary of mobile phones from carriers. The current situation is so harmful to the long term development of mobile Internet and mobile devices.

A lot of the problem in enacting such a thing is that manufacturers have completely bought into this as a way of life. Take the Samsung Galaxy S lineup, four practically identical phones on four different carriers, with four different names with four different types of lockdowns and preloaded software ontop of Android.

I can't think of a single reason why that makes sense, yet I have a Galaxy S in my pocket right now.