I think given the competitive landscape of tablets (not just Android tablets), so far this Xoom launch has been pretty botched.
Not only do you mention the above issues, but the lack of communication about what exactly the story is, no date for the Wifi version and the fact that every time I've tried to call Best Buy or Verizon no one seems to know anything about it, I'd say it's the exact opposite of the ipad launch.
I was really excited about this, I thought I'd go out and buy the Verizon version just not activated and be fine with the $800 price, that's cool for being an early adopter with me.
But to force subscriber stats for a device that doesn't need it, doesn't seem that ethical to me, I wonder if the FCC has to chime in on this at some point?
I think
A) the device seems rushed, no flash, no sdk released yet so tablet optimized apps will be at a minimum,
B) no clear 4G upgrade path,
C) Verizon penny pinching on an unsubsidized device just feels dirty. If we're not getting a price break for the required verizon activation plus one month of service than what's the point? There's no plus for this for the users who don't want to use VZW. I don't mind spending a premium of what would amount to be around $920 w/tax, vzw activation & first month but there's no good justification for it.
I think given what you can get from Apple, Motorola & Verizon need to be a bit more consumer friendly here and I'm really surprised Google let their flagship tablet OS launch like this.
It seems there will be a limited supply of a device that's not ready to be released and comes with a lot of carrier strings attached.