iPhone 4s unlocked price $649-$849; pre-order FAIL

Apple US’ pre-order page...promise[s] a contract-free, unlocked version...next month. ... [S]hoppers can “get iPhone unlocked and contract-free. Coming in November” paying the full, unsubsidized price for the handset.
...
The option has already been made available at Apple UK. ... [T]he unlocked iPhone 4S will only support GSM. ... Verizon and Sprint will not be supported. ... [F]acing shoppers with the choice of being one of the first to get their hands on the smartphone...or hold off, perhaps save some money and get a SIM-free version, [is] likely to [cause] some frustration.   

   
Danny Sullivan adds:

Ideally, here’s how you “roam” globally. You buy a new SIM card in the country you’re in, then pay local rates. ... I’ve done this. ... It’s awesome. But the phone has to be unlocked. ... Buy AT&T, and the phone...won’t use another SIM. ... [T]hat means roaming [with] AT&T...[which] charges you a lot.
...
But what if you buy an unlocked iPhone 4S? ... [T]hey’ll only work for GSM networks. ... [If] you did go to another provider...they’d probably have a way to activate your CDMA part. You’d hope. Potentially not.   

 
But Chuong Nguyen notes some awful pre-order experiences:

Apple’s store was missing in action for the first 40 minutes...of pre-orders...which is odd for the polish that Apple is known for. ... An hour into the launch, and the links weren’t working right...some steps in the pre-order process were broken and required constant refreshes.
...
AT&T...crashed initially under heavy traffic assault. When the site did go live, it didn’t allow users to even pre-order the iPhone 4S. ... [V]arious processes timed out or did not work, including the eligibility checker, credit card verification, and other.
...
Sprint did a commendable job for its first time...and handled initial traffic fine. As traffic increased though, Sprint did buckle.   

      
 
Meanwhile, Matthew Miller is still in contract, but notes an interesting ETF dodge:

I have only been a Verizon customer for about 8 months...[so I'm] not yet eligible for the full price subsidy then the prices are $649 [to] $849. Yes, the subsidy takes care of $450 of the full price.
...
I realize I could pay the $325 [early termination fee] and still come out $125 ahead of the game with another carrier. ... I started to consider the Sprint iPhone 4S with unlimited data or the AT&T iPhone 4S with faster data speeds. ... I need to decide if I am...sticking with Verizon at a premium price.   

  
And Finally...
Has this Kindle pun been done?
      
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. He's the creator and main author of Computerworld's IT Blogwatch -- for which he has won American Society of Business Publication Editors and Jesse H. Neal awards on behalf of Computerworld. He also writes The Long View for IDG Enterprise. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com. You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.