Why America isn't entirely out of the mobile wilderness yet

I was just served this advertisement on the Daily Telegraph website, no less.

Congratulations to the advertising engine for correctly guessing that I might be interested in mobile technology. But for me, this doesn’t quite qualify as ‘mobile technology’.

‘Mobile archeology’, yes.

Here’s the add:

Dire, isn’t it.

Yes, this is a current T-Mobile USA advertisement. They are flogging at MOTOROKR. Seriously. This is no joke. It’s ‘free’. That’s no joke either. Free, provided you pony up a 2-year contract.

And guess what, people are still buying this rubbish, because it’s free.

The sad fact is that every single one of these purchasers is lost to the industry for 2-years whilst they pay off the contract.

You can feast your eyes on the handset’s “features” at this link. And marvel at the ‘suggested retail price’ of $349.99 and the -$349.99 web-only discount.

Shame, shame and thrice shame upon you T-Mobile.