I felt that way years ago, when I discovered that Screen Savers made up an ungodly fraction of the entire profit of the software industry. That isn’t true anymore, thank Og. [Is it?]
I think my favorite “other person’s ringtone” so far has been the theme from The Godfather.
Used by a middle-aged, Italian guy from Jersey. 
Well you’re the one asserting phone manufacturers are deliberating creating the ringtone market, so back it up with some evidence.
Three points:
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Contrary to your assertion, phone PC-links have been sold for years. Phones have also come equipped with IR for years.
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Most modern phones come with a PC software on CD that lets users upload ringtones. Users with older phones can create their own tones from .wav files; newer phones can decode MP3s. I believe any Nokia less than a few years old comes bundled with Nokia PC Suite.
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Newer phones allow one to directly record tones from a sound source. Would you suggest phone manufacturers have deliberately created a market in ringtones – and then worked to destroy it by creating this feature? Genius.
Sounds like you’ve a shit phone. Your experience certainly isn’t typical.
Your inferrence is not my assertion.
For some phone, yes. For some phones, no. For some phones, yes, but the hardware to operate the link has been disabled in the software installed on the phone… which can only be returned to normal operation by the specially priced PC-link hardware/software offered by the same people that made the software that disabled the hardware in the first place.
Some do. Some don’t. Some do, and have it disabled via software, then you can buy other software to restore it to default function. See above.
By “most modern phones” do you refer to a majority of the phone models available or to a majority of the phones in use? What about the majority of phone models carried promotionally by wireless carriers?
No, I wouldn’t suggest that. I would suggest that, seeing sufficient end-consumer demand for certain features, some phone manufacturersoffer models that appeal to what the end-consumers want. This is in no way contradictory to other manufacturers, or even the same manufacturers, offering crippled models that appeal to the wireless carriers (since it allows them to lock their customers into providing the wireless carrier with a steady income stream if they actually want to enable or use their phone as part of their modern lifestyle).
Hal Briston, Misnomer, Ravenman, and Unintentionally Blank have all made comments echoing the sentiment that either the default ringers on their phones suck or that it seems unnecessarily difficult to get a new good ringer on the phone without paying in one way or another.
But I will grant that some combinations of phone manufacturer and wireless carrier might be less sneaky wallet raping than others.
I have a good phone that can do all sorts of cool groovy stuff- if I pay. If could, just as easily, be set up where I could do all sorts of cool groovy stuff for free, but then they wouldn’t be getting paid, would they?
Well, saying that I didn’t like any of the default rings is hardly the same as complaining about my phone. I love my phone. I love my phone so much that I canceled my land line service, and now my cell is my only phone. If I hadn’t been able to think of a tune to download I would have made do with the default stuff, but for approximately $5 and 10 minutes of effort I didn’t have to. 
What I don’t get is where your sense of entitlement comes from. Why should you be able to do anything for free? Are you one of those open source types? :dubious: 
Personally, I don’t mind paying extra if there’s something I want (as I think we’ve established). A few bucks for a ringtone? No big deal, if that’s what I want to do. A few more for a game? Well, I haven’t gone that far yet, but I very well might in the future. If I want my phone to be more than just a phone, I’m willing to pay for it – and these aren’t huge amounts of money we’re talking about. The companies/services are very up front about the charges involved: if you don’t want to pay, just don’t!
It’s mainly the perception that various companies seem to be going out of their way to cripple their products just so they can later charge you to restore them to an acceptable level of function.
As for the Free/Open phone… I’ve read about a couple places where there’s a design where all you have is a removable PCMCIA-sized card… and you can plug it into a variety of different devices, all of which then become your phone. That would be nifty.
I have to say that my phone is genrally always on vibrate. That way, if I want to avoid a call, without rejecting it and actually appearing rude, I can do so quite easily minus the loud ringing and the stares 
The only exceptions to this rule is when I am, waiting for a call, at a party or trying to annoy someone as much as I can in the shortest amount of time possible.
Which ‘Jamster’ thingamajig are you refering to? I must admit that I have the alien/frog/thing riding-an-imaginary-bike-and-making-the-sounds-effects thing. But give me some credit, I’v had it for as many months as its been shown on Australian Foxtel, and only had it set as a ringtone for the first maybe…hour? Now I stick to a healthy combination of Eagle Rock by Daddy Cool or Don’t Stop by Fleetwood Mac…not bad for a 17 year old I reckon…
Hehe - my phone is so old I can’t download/record/buy ringtones. I sometimes leave it in the car by accident, but I never really worry - the only reason anyone would want to smash the window to get at it would be to use it for smashing other windows!