This is a perfect illustration of the problem.
I speak as a happy Desire Z owner who likes HTC's kit. The problem is that the market in the US is totally distorted by the overwhelming control of the market that the carriers have. This would be ok in the sense that if the American customer is prepared to poke up with this situation then, fine. The problem is that the market elsewhere whether we are talking about Europe or Asia has to dance to the American carrier's tune because of the influence that the US market has. I, personally speaking, am piss-tired off waiting for *my* upgrade (I buy "unlocked") because the American carriers need so much time to piss around with the phones they may condescend to offer. It is about time that the rest of us did not get crapped on because the average US customer refuses to buy their phone on anything other than credit. You can't afford it, don't buy it and let the rest of us get on with our lives. We are already paying blood because of your "sub-prime mortgage market", can't we at least buy a mobile phone without your credit-addiction frakking everything up?