The reason so many people, tech people included, choose iPhone is because of the stability and simplicity of updates. On paper and in peak demo conditions .0 updates of Android look great, but with all the manufacturer skinning, carrier bloatware and hardware differences your mileage greatly varies if you don't have a Nexus device. Many an Android phone becomes ineligible for the latest update within months of its release. Contrast that with the 27 month old iPhone 3GS getting iOS5 the second it was released.
As to the new features, I'd love for it to be an awesome upgrade (regardless of which side you take, new features on both sides drives innovation), I have used Android quite a bit and in HTC's hands it is quite capable (or stock from Google, but again there are very few handsets out there running that), but let's just remember how the demo potential of Honeycomb turned out, half-baked.
I'm not going to lie and say there aren't things that are getting dated on iOS, but it is never fragmented, the core OS crashes far less than any other mobile system, it has exponentially more apps for both phones and tablets and like it or hate it the rigorous standards creates high standards for programs and prevents the spyware/virus proliferation present in the Android Market. Not to mention the seamless syncing of iCloud.
Solidity and simplicity is what keeps the iPhone as the highest selling handset, and if you're enough of a power-user to get really into customization, you can do that too by participating in the jailbreak community. But hey, they both coexist, and everyone can make their own choice. Neither is going to 'kill' the other, they're just collaboratively hammering the nails into Symbian, Blackberry and WebOS' coffins.
Also, people can argue until the cows come home about a 3.5" screen being small, but as awesome as many of the features are on the Nexus Galaxy, 4.65" is ridiculous, the thing is far too large.
okay i'll bite.
i fully agree that the iPhone is popular because of it's simplicity of use. grandma can pick it up and go "oooh look, i have apps!"
manufacturer skinning can be an issue, especially with lower end phones. but there's the thing... there are lower end phones. there are choices. one can choose which phone they'd prefer. the savvy consumer can research what best fits their needs, which custom skins from different companies might be best suited to them, and pick the phone that is right to them... and then customize it to their exact liking once they have it.
again... the iPhone is simpler in this. it is what it is. it's whatever apple puts out. there's no choice, and for some that's a good thing. it isn't for me.
there is no "proliferation" of spyware in the android market. much like your home PC, stupid is as stupid does. if you download whore date, or other sketchy looking apps... well, you sorta deserve to get your phone shit on, just like those who get e-mails from nigerian princes and click every link deserve the trojan horses that are sure to follow.
again, that is one advantage of the iPhone. it's dumber. it won't let you do things to your phone it doesn't want you to do. it's a fully closed environment. there is something to be said about that. but the developer community around android is what pushes it's innovation, and what has lead to this release, which frankly makes iOS 5 look silly.
and speaking of iOS 5... my fiance has an iPhone. it annoys me, but it is what it is. she has the iPhone 4. she used to have the iPhone 3GS. when iOS 4 came out, she installed it onto the 3GS. the phone became a slow, unresponsive piece of shit. it's what eventually lead to her going out and getting the 4... the phone just stunk with iOS 4. so iOS 5 may be out there, but i'm gonna guess that it isn't exactly too snappy on any iPhone below the 4.
screen too large? i beg to differ, but i suppose that's a personal preference. my droid X is also a very large device. i've never thought "damn, this thing is clunky in my pocket." thickness (or thinness) is much more important than length when it comes to sliding a phone into your pocket. these android phones are incredibly thin. thinner than the iPhone.
ya know... i used to care about apple's domination. it used to bother me, because i felt the product was so inferior. now i don't really care. let them be the big dog. the out of the gate success of the iPhone 4s proved that apple is a run away machine, and that people will buy a pile of dog poop if you slap a half bitten piece of fruit on the back.
that's on them. when someone would show me their new iPhone i used to roll my eyes and get agitated. now i simply go, "oh, cool," and let them merely go their way, baaaa'ing all the way home.
if someone asks me for an opinion, i say this... if you want something that's very easy to use and dumbed down, go get yourself an iPhone. if you want a powerful device that you customize to your exact specifications... and not even talking about the power and potential of custom ROMS... get yourself a top of the line Android.
