hval,
The iPhone is perhaps the best analogy I've seen about the F35! Well played, sir!
And I completely agree with your viewpoint. The handful of F35s that we'll have sold ourselves down the river for, will be so few in number that we won't be able to do all that much with them, particularly if they end up with an F22-like servicability record. Perhaps the worst part of the whole scenario, is that the other services are also sacrificing capabilities to keep ourselves in this programme.