I totally get your point about customizability. I, frankly, do not have the time to do that for my phone. And, I don't think that a majority of cell phone users do that, even most Android phone owners. I find the apps in the app store adequate for the most part. If anything, I would create my own app if necessary. With 600,000 apps available, that's hardly a small garden, regardless of the perceived wall.

I also think that I covered the reasons for choosing iPhone. Why is it so inconceivable that someone would prefer an arguably more stylish phone that has more than adequate features? Apple marketing? What marketing? I haven't seen a single iPhone advertisement, aside from their annual release video. I liked the first iPhone because it was an offshoot of their innovative mp3 player (the round dial was innovative for it's time). And, because it had a superior browser to anything that I was aware of at the time. All of the following upgraded iPhone models were great too. I'm sorry, I see every single phone with a touchscreen and finger-gestures as copy-cats of the iPhone--sans iPhone style.

I know where I stand. I like the iPhone. I trust Apple's next iPhone will be just as nice with slightly upgraded specs and hardware. Sure, other manufacturers will continually try to stay slightly ahead of the curve, but they don't get the style aspect in their phone designs. Apple's first iPhone was absolutely revolutionary and innovative. It was so far ahead of the curve at the time, that I was completely sold. Heck, I waited for years to be able to do reasonable web browsing, such as checking my bank account, on my phone. iPhone was the first phone to offer that in manner that worked well. So, AGAIN, why is that so bad that millions of people are loyal to them and trust them for that? They have not let us down so far.