If i can't use my @me account as my apple id, then, what's the point of creating the @me account ???

Question

So what's the use of the @me account if you can't use it as an Apple ID, I just created an @me account so i can steer away from my current email address (which is linked to my internet provider) this way i would have the choice to leave them if i please without loosing my email address.
Apple told me and I quote "you can not use an @me.com nor can you use an @mac.com address as an apple id, you should first create a @gmail.com for example if you don't want to have a domain related address that's tied in to your ISP".
Am i missing something here??? what's wrong with this picture. You need to create an mail address somewhere just so you can create an "apple service" email address.
Sincerely
I don't get it.

Answer 1

I spent 2.5 hrs on the phone a couple of nights ago with apple tech support, basically it boils down to this:
     You need an existing apple ID to create an iCloud account (@me.com)
The reason for this, the Apple tech told me, is that they want people who own and use Apple products to to have a @me.com in other words they don't want the service to be like a gmail or yahoo that just anybody signs up for.
In my opinion they should simply have it as follows: you buy and register an Apple product you're entitled to "X" amount of @me.com addresses per person, per device up to a maximum of whatever amount. if that number is 5 upto a maximum of 15 that would make sense, you now have enough @me.com address for a familly that could be created as sub addresses of the parent in charge of the account.
Make sense???