I like physical keyboards too. But the iphone is universally accepted as easy to type on and use. Wasn't trying to straighten anyone out. Want to bet on how many more iPhones sell than the Merge (if it ever comes out)? I'd say 50 iphones to every 1 merge.
I dont know what you mean by "universally accepted." The iphone is not a god phone. It is no easier to type on than any other similar touchscreen phone (ie android). I hate typing on iphones. And I have seen plenty of texts with typos due to the iphone's autocorrect. Things like autocorrect and swype just try to make up for the deficiency of touchscreen keyboards. They do a good job but at the end of the day if you really need to type you need a keyboard. If all you do is type a few 160 char texts everyday sure a keyboard may not be necessary for you. If you actually make use of the handheld computer you paid for a keyboard is a great feature.
And of course the iphone will sell more than the merge the sameway a macbook outsells an hp tm2t (I love my tablet
). Who cares? The iphone is a product. Amdroid is a platform. Just as windows overall outsells mac, android overall outsells iphones and it gobbling marketshare. The majority of those who bought the iphone 4 had a previous iphone. Im betting a large proportion of those who buy the vzw iphone will be coming from the att iphone. With android you dont just have one choice of device and two carriers. You have options. Android is much bigger than one or two products.
What I like about google is that they are actually trying to change the industry. With products like google voice and the nexus line they are trying to break the carrier control paradigm and put your mobile device and services back in your control. Apple is just feeding into the same carrier control BS. Not trying to turn this thread into an Apple vs Android debate but comments like "the iphone will outsell the merge anyway" are just pointless and irrelevant. Can this thread move forward without mentioning the itoy again?