As for having an Apple logo on the back, that just suggests to me it will work as advertised and not frustrate me.
I couldn't care less about the fashion aspect of having an iPhone or the iPod before it. I bought an iPod before they were fashion items, back in those days they only worked on Macs which made them niche anyway. Back then Apple computers were largely ignored, they're only discussed and rising in prominence these days as people got an iPod, liked the ease of use and their ability to use the features the device promised (most people could never figure out their phone) and they then tried a Mac and liked that. As they have gathered momentum they became popular with hipsters and hence some people (wrongly) see them as a fashion accessory.
As for feature sets, I used to only care about making calls, I never used to text. I loved my little clamshell v3688 Motorola. It was tiny and high tech for its day.
As the net became my work life I wanted email on the move and a few early phones had it but my god was it slow and clunky. It was basically unusable. I used to use it to give me the subject lines and "from" details of emails and that was it.
As time went on I wanted proper email and web access, I went through *so* many expensive phones to try and get it, the Nokia Communicator was the best pf those but still very clunky and limited in functionality. It had a couple of dozen apps you could install on it but you had to hunt them down online and jump through hoops to install them. I then tried a HTC Vario running Windows Mobile. What a POS that was. It still holds the record for shortest time I have owned a phone at just 3 weeks.
After using the iPod and finding it wonderful compared to the mp3 players I had had in the past (which I only bought as I had already bought an iBook laptop and loved it) I found myself wishing Apple would release a phone. I knew it would work well and do what I needed.
When it was finally announced I was thrilled, but when it was only 2G I was disappointed as I knew that *my* net requirements meant it would be dog slow. I held off for about 4 months then caved in and bought one and it was great but as soon as they released the 3G model I knew that was for me and upgraded the day it came out.
Now I could not possibly not have proper email, proper web browser, google maps with gps and so on. I pretty much only use facebook via the phone, and the same goes for Twitter. As the 3rd party apps get better I find more and more uses for it. Went I went to California on holiday a couple of years ago I used the phone for everything, walking directions, finding places to eat and stay etc etc. It was indispensable.
I don't care now how fast the cpu is in it (I don't even know which one it has) or hpw big the ROM is or whatever. All I care about is what it *does*. Same goes for my Mac. I can't remember what gfx card I have, I think it's an ATI... Whatever Apple elected to use has served me just fine. All I care about now is what *I* can actually *do* with my phone and computer and how easy it is to accomplish.
The Google phone will be a great alternative I'm sure. I for one don't find google's ability with search engines translates well to other apps in terms of ease of use. Google's engineers are very geeky, they like their algorithms and stuff, sadly they don't have any good UI designers on board. They don't have a Steve Jobs examining everything down to the finest detail, pushing the team forward to create something, as he would say: "insanely great". "Good enough" or "ok" is not in his vocabulary.
Apple are not always the first with cutting edge technology (they were the first with a consumer digital camera btw), for example the iPod was not the first mp3 jukebox, but it is the best overall. They weren't the first with the smart phone, but I'm sorry, theirs is the best overall.
A guy at work got an iPod Touch for xmas, after complaining about iPods and saying his Samsung was better. Now he has actually used one in earnest? He's blown away and thinks it;s the best gadget ever. He now wants to try and save up for an iMac, partly due to the iPod and partly due to me switching his PC at work for one. Now he's actually used one, he wants one.
