> Or ask HTC, who got crushed by the carriers after offering devices with unlocked Android bootloaders.
I generally agree with you about the power of carriers, but this HTC bootloader thing is an irritating myth. Samsung's devices have been consistently more hackable than HTC's for the entire period in question, not to mention that they topped it off by hiring cyanogen. HTC has had their issues (too-large device portfolio, not matching the SGS2, etc.), but bootloaders were a blip, either way.
I generally agree with you about the power of carriers, but this HTC bootloader thing is an irritating myth. Samsung's devices have been consistently more hackable than HTC's for the entire period in question, not to mention that they topped it off by hiring cyanogen. HTC has had their issues (too-large device portfolio, not matching the SGS2, etc.), but bootloaders were a blip, either way.