I say something similar every time someone reviews Ubuntu, but if these are the "problems" (on a $100 dollar no-contract phone!) then Ubuntu/Android has arrived.

I think about half of the issues are valid problems, and some are fixed in later devices e.g.

* Google's moving away from mountable USB storage to MTP system, the Nexus S has no removable storage,

* the newer Android versions have a recently installed tab in the ELOP though Google would probably prefer you to use search

* moving things to the home pages is much smoother in Honeycomb

* menu actions are more obvious in Honeycomb

but some are just stuff you have to, and will, get used to like not closing apps.

Coincidentally I just blanked an old iPhone for my son to use and the number one annoyance for me was installing an app and being dumped out of the app store each time rather than them installing in the background in parallel. I can see how this might help people who have never installed an app before, but it was certainly an "annoyance" for me as I tried to fill the phone with apps. In general after a few days I found the Android experience better, but certainly at first coming from an iPhone it was like using a mouse with my left hand.

> 1. Phone storage vs. SD card storage.

Why? Because power users like to be able to move their data around as they wish. For the typical "mother," they aren't filling up the 8GB internal that's included. The 16GB SD card (or larger) is just gravy.

> 2. The epic list of applications (ELOP)

Not sure what you mean... all apps are installed and available in the app locker? In the market place app list, they are organized by install/update date (I believe that is default).

> 3. I have to manually move apps from the ELOP to the home pane where I want them.

I think I get it... you don't like customization.

> 4. Inconsistent interaction

Huh?

> 5. If I have the power to run multiple apps, then give me the power to close them.

The apps aren't really "running" in the background. This isn't a pc like you're used to. It actually degrades performance and battery life to use task killers. The Android Developer site has a good article on this.

The SD card issue might be confusing, but it would be even more confusing if it installed apps on the SD card by default. Switching SD cards and having apps die and/or disappear would he quite confusing. I don't know if there is a feasible way to unify removable and non-removable storage. It kind of explains why the iOS devices don't have removable storage.

The OP raises some valid points (agree with them or not).

> 1. Phone storage vs. SD card storage

As much as people much like expandable storage it is, by definition, more complicated. There are currently two simple models:

1. All internal (the Apple model); and

2. All external (the digital camera model, even though some do have up to 1-2GB of internal storage).

Having a mix is like having two hard drives. You're suddenly asking your users to make decisions about things they probably don't care about or that they do care about in ways you can't predict. Will they want this app on internal or external storage? What about this music?

All external works for digital cameras because the OS (firmware, etc) is in the camera. The photos and videos go on the card. You don't lose functionality when you take out the card (apart from edge cases like saving profiles on certain high end DSLRs).

This is why I believe iDevices will never have an SD card slot. Or, if they do, it will only be for very limited use, much like the Camera Connection Kit on the iPad.

> 2. The epic list of applications (ELOP)

I find this a little strange too. If someone installs something, it appears at the top level in iOS. On Android, mainly due to manufacturer customization, you have less "home pages" for your apps (and they're generally filled with crud you need to remove). Making your newly downloaded app harder to find is a little odd.

> 4. Inconsistent interaction

This is like the one/two button mouse argument. iDevices have one button, the home button (as well as volume and, on the iPad, a mute/orientation lock switch). In part for this reason, iOS apps are extremely consistent.

Android has 4 buttons: back, home, menu, search. IMHO at least 2 of them are unnecessary. App developers use them in completely inconsistent ways, which tends to frustrate the user.

The way I describe iOS (and Apple in general) is that they make the right choices for most users most of the time. Nothing will ever make everyone happy. The uncomfortable truth is that this is really the best thing to do for the market as a whole.

Many tech-savvy people chafe against what they see as choices being taken away from them (which they are) but they're also under the illusion that a) they need these choices and b) having these choices, by definition, is better. Neither is true. You may like these extra choices but that doesn't mean that they're good or that you need them.

Again, we can make a Windows/Mac comparison. Windows apps are horribly inconsistent. Mac apps are almost completely consistent. That makes learning new Mac apps much, much faster for experienced Mac users. By the same token, put a Mac user in front of Windows or a Windows user in front of a Mac and both will flounder (I don't buy the argument that Macs are inherently easier; it still comes down to what you're used to). The learning curve is definitely gentler on Macs however. Same for iOS (vs Android).