I have to laugh about the app count for android devices, blackberries and the Iphone...how many of these are top sellers? How many are must have freebies? How many are "fart" apps? How many are simple puzzle games? How many are to be found on all the major platforms (eg pandora). Anyway there will be "must have" apps for each OS -- do the research and find out which might be ones you'd like to play with. I like the suggestion about good calendar apps. Also look for apps that let you edit your word, excel, pdf, etc. files.
Normally I might agree with you and the anti iPhone movement, but I mean are you seriously going to argue that the proportion of fart apps or whatever is high enough to discount the app network? Even if you remove fart apps from the iPhone database, you then ALSO have to remove fart apps from the droid or other databases, and you will STILL have an overwhelming number of iPhone apps compared to the rest.
Now if you were going to argue something about cost of apps I might agree, I hate the fact that so many apps cost, which is why I hope at some point the FREE droid app sets increases enough to compete with that of the iPhone... but come on you have to admit we are still several years from this being true. Fact still remains, iPhone app list is far greater than any other.
Really have to shake my head re: "you'll never meet an unsatisfied iphone owner" -- you may not have met one, but a simple search of various on-line forums will give you a better sense of what people are complaining about and why some have decided to ditch their iphones. Not everyone comes away from their iphone experience a happy customer. As for android being not quite ready, I'd agree, and that's why I returned my droid. I may yet go back to RIM -- it all depends on what they do in the next nine or so months.
Again, picking out a few cases can equally be done for ALL smart phones, I mean there is still a reason why companies like CNET, etc all review the iPhone as the golden standard, yes the iPhone doesnt do everything, but overall is still the best, and once the new one comes out with the new OS 4 it will also do what all the other phones do and will have what all the other phones have.
At some point I admittedly see myself going to an Android based phone, the new Android 2.1 is sexy, no doubt, but still too far into its infancy for me to use it. Like I tell people, I know I wont be unhappy with the new iPhone, but I dont know if that is true for any other phone. i.e., I was miserable testing the nexus one, it was awful.
As for the advice to wait on the next gen iphone -- I'd agree to a point -- but you want a phone, you have to pull the trigger sometime and can't always wait for the next best thing. RIM hired one of Apple's top Iphone design guys about a year ago...by year's end they will have something that merits significant attention. And new android phones are coming out in droves. Then Windows gets into the action with their new OS sometime near the end of this year, too... Also -- given changes in screen technology, many new devices have/are going to have far better battery life than is currently the norm. (The droid and the blackberry were just sad in this regard...). Lastly, if you wait, the app count balance is sure to change (and you may find that on sweet fart app that makes the waiting worthwhile...).
Hm yeah I know you have to get one eventually, BUT Im only suggesting a couple months, this June or July is right around the corner... I mean Im fine with my iPhone 2G for now, im sure everyone else would be fine for another 2 months or so. Plus each successive year the price has gone down with each new phone, plus relative to all the top of the line phones mentioned here (droid, nexus one, blackberry etc) the iPhone is identically priced (this assumes that with all phones you will get the 2 year price plan, and the iPhone 16gb not the bigger 32 gb, which may change as well with the new phone, but still 16gb is bigger than any other smart phone for the same price).
Oh and my only comment on Windows... is... really? Sorry no offense to Windows users but I just dont trust a company that has had so many operating system blunders over the last few years. Im sure they make a perfectly fine product for a computer, and a perfectly fine smart phone for a business man, but I still dont trust it, thats my honest personal bias.
You may think it's irrelevant, but as long as you're waiting, 4g is coming, in more and more markets. It's the next standard. Whether it's more or less relevant than HD is irrelevant, because both are coming and you might not need to wait too long before you won't need to choose between the two. Plus people by smartphones that favor the functions which suit their own needs.
I mean none of us can know for certain how the next few months/year will progress, maybe the iPhone will have the 4G, personally I think it should too, but who knows the truth in all these matters. My opinion is that of all the issues pertaining to a phone, this is the lowest on the totem pole.
So what needs does the iPhone not satisfy for you? I can think of only one (at least once the new OS 4 and new phone come out then the rest will be solved) and that is tethering... turns out though that the iPhone CAN tether, we have those bastards ATT to blame for the inability to tether, not Apple.
Me I'm likely to wait a few months or so to see what is available on 4G rather than get locked into a 3g plan for two years because my phone (or wireless card) isn't capable of operating on the new standard. Then again, I may get to school and from day one feel totally unprepared without a smartphone... One thing I'm clear about -- the biggest argument in favor of a smartphone for school is not really about schoolwork. It's about moving to an unfamiliar area and having such a great tool to help me figure out what to look for in real time, keep in touch with my family as they make the adjustment, etc... That'll be tough to wait on.
idk most people on here arent moving until after July anyways so waiting isnt a matter of inconvenience, its a matter of patience.
For those of us that have a smart phone there is no going back to something not smart, and those that dont have one... well just wait, 2 or so months then make the switch. 200 bucks plus a 70 dollar or so month plan and you are golden.
Cheers
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