We have a folk tale about the girl who was invited to visit the king.

She had to come but not come, bring a gift but not bring a gift and she – being the smart lass – managed to do it. Seems like Apple is trying something like this with the unlocked iPhones in France.

The source – as a lot of times – for me was the Daily Irrelevant, and from there straight to the iPhone Atlas article.

It turns out that the officially (Apple-sanctioned) unlocked iPhone you bought for 649 Euros (about US$965) from Orange in France — which, according to some reports, accounts for up to 20% of total iPhone sales in France — is not really unlocked. It retains a country lock, meaning the device will only allow use of SIM cards for carriers that operate in France. In other words, you can’t take your French, “unlocked” iPhone to Spain, the United States, or anywhere else, pop in a foreign SIM card, and make calls on a local carrier — you’re still stuck paying international roaming fees to your French carrier.

It may seem right to Apple that an unlocked phone should only work in France, but it is the same as if they sold Main, Florida, California only iPhones in the US, which I think would bring a great uproar from the good folks of the United States of America.

The European Union is ONE market, free movement of products AND services, and so on.

When I read Microserfs from Douglas Coupland it was funny to read that Apple and Microsoft essentially have the same mentality. Now it shows true day after day, with each new step of Apple.