Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I just switched to Sprint from Verizon about three months ago for the Pre. Then I went for the Hero about a week ago. Now, I miss my hardware keyboard and am thinking about switching to the Moment. I am still able to switch back to Verizon if I want and get the Droid when it arrives. Should I just trade up to the Moment when it comes out, see if I like it, and if not switch to the Droid? Or something else entirely? Help!"
Riiiiight. Preventing their devices from being activated fraudulently with a carrier that's not the one named in the CONTRACT is just so TERRIBLE.
Look. Lots of cell phone companies retain exclusive rights to a certain make/model of cell phone. It becomes an exclusive perk of that particular carrier.
Apple has an exclusive agreement with one carrier in regards to sales and activation of the iPhone. One carrier. That's it. The consumers who purchase the iPhone know this and it's in the T/C's for the iPhone activation. As soon as people start skirting that agreement, Apple has a responsibility to AT&T to make it as difficult as humanly possible for iPhones to be sold under these false pretenses.
Sure, it sucks that cash/gift cards won't be accepted anymore. The young people who have been saving their allowance for months and others who just don't use credit cards are getting a raw deal.
So, in short - thanks for ruining it for everyone else, folks.
I am not sure whether to vote you up or down because even though how this is handled is Apple's prerogative, if they were so worried about their exclusivity contract with AT&T then they shouldn't let someone buy the phone without a contract at all rather than punishing the people who WANT to give them their money.
You may want to open up a dictionary and look up definition of the word "fraud". There is nothing fraudulant about people buying UNSUBSIDIZED phones and unlocking them. In case you're still on the fence, US Supreme Court happens to agree with me, or the othe way around to be precise.