[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 General] Jade Eyed Wolf:
Honestly I haven't tried it myself yet. I was hoping to simply copy the /efs from my (soon to be old) SGS2, but the more I read about that, I'm not sure that's going to be possible.

Here's hoping that AT&T continues to think I'm using an Infuse 4G instead (as mentioned in my previous post)!

Maybe we need to start an #OccupyAT&T movement! Not sure how that would work, due to the arbitration clause in our SLA :P

That said, it might be a good place to pool everyone's AT&T (or other carrier) related gripes. Actually, not so long ago, AT$T's Facebook page used to have a discussions board, and it was almost laughable to note the ratio of complains to positive discussion. It's funny how they have since removed discussions from their FB page (either that or made it near to impossible to find). No wonder they have the lowest Consumer Reports rating 2 years in the running!

Personally, I think the idea of buying phones directly from any carrier is absolutely disgusting, because it just relinquishes our freedom of choice when it comes to the devices we want to use (and how we use them!) in the name of saving a few bucks up front! A lot of people freak out at the idea of spending more than $200 up front for a new device, but when you do the math, it actually works out to cost about the same (or cheaper!) in the long run.

Example:

I buy an unlocked device for, say $750.

I use that device for, let's say 1 year, and take very good care of it (case, screen protector, don't drop it, etc.)

At the end of that year, I sell the device on eBay (including relevant accessories I won't need anymore) for ~$500 - $550.

Total cost for that year (not including accessories): ~$200 - $250.

Hmmm, that seems awfully close to what I would have spent on a carrier subsidized device...

Not to mention of course that during that year I wouldn't have had to deal with branding BS like bloatware and locked features and other **** like CarrierIQ. Also, that device is mine and mine only; I bought it, and I can do whatever I damn well please with it.

My opinion? Well worth every penny of the investment.

My suggestion? Boycott carrier subsidized devices. The less people buy into subsidized devices, the more money carriers will have wasted on commissioning customized hardware that no one wants to buy. This means carriers will be forced to focus more on being service providers and less on being retailers.

I blame the iPhone for the current behaviour of carriers. Think about it. I was with Cingular back before AT$T bought them, and I loved it! Cingular provided decent service at a price that was fair and reasonable. Sure I could still buy a subsidized device from them if I wanted to (and a couple of times I did), but I could still very effortlessly just buy an unlocked device, throw my SIM card in there, and off I went! Hell, I used to have an old Nokia E71 (still one of the best smartphones I have ever owned!) which I bught just as easily as going to my local BestBuy! I dare you to try to get an unlocked device at BestBuy today; you can't do it anymore. The iPhone came out as an exclusive for the "New AT$T" and suddenly a service provider is converted into a kind of Apple retailer overnight, and the trend has only gotten worse ever since. Now, just 4 years later, it's pretty much impossible to go to a brick-and-mortar retail establishment in America to buy your mobile tech; you're forced to go through the carrier instead. This is bull****!!! Our choices as consumers are being severely hampered by the increasingly monopolistic control that big corporations are having over us.

To simplify, let retailers focus on selling the equipment to us, and let carriers focus on providing us the service we pay for. As long as the hardware meets the specifications for operating on a network, it shouldn't matter what the device actually is...