The Power of Information...

Imagine this scenario in the pre-Internet world.
You get a cell phone that is "locked" to a certain provider. What are you going to do? The provider isn't going to make it easy for you to switch. The competitor to that provider is probably bound not to tell you how to do it.
You're out of luck.

Well, I got a new phone that was locked to AT&T. Within minutes, I was online and found a way to unlock it so I could use my T-mobile account.

I was getting calls, but not emails, but minutes later, I found a quick step solution to that issue and now, I'm up and running using the phone I want on the provider I want with the features I want.