sometimes i wish i had a smartphone (revisited)

so. i had a posting a while back about wanting a smartphone. still true. current headrunner is the iphone, especially now that the new one has been released, and the (initial) price has been cut.

now it's no secret that i'm an apple fanboy. but, with any articles or postings that i've read about the iphone there's always this flamewar that happens in the comments. i'm not a huge fan of that. i think that people can buy whatever dang phone they want, for whatever reason. does the iphone get undue media attention? probably. but i think that the iphone, in my case, is the best option. here are my personal reasons:

1. automatically a huge upgrade from the razr.

this phone doesn't do anything but calls, which it does do very well. but, any smartphone would be an upgrade, and either an iphone or blackberry in particular would be quite nice.

2. good web browser, coupled w/ 3G data speeds.

i like the idea of having internet access without having to have a laptop, and the web is very impressive on the iphone. and now that the new iphone has 3G network access, the experience is even better. not having to have to lug a laptop around, or be in a wifi hotspot, would be nice. especially b/c of the next item.

3. would add productivity/entertainment to my commute.

the two hour commute is really killer sometimes, and is never what i would describe as a "smooth ride" either on the cta or pace buses. because of that, a lot of times there is no way that i can write legibly. having a phone i could just tap away on, without having to worry if there are any bumps in the road or sudden stops on the track, would be a relief.

also, given that the iphone has a great screen, i could do some serious goofing off, too, watching youtube. and i've also heard that nbc is streaming their shows to iphone/ipod touches.

4. GPS.

google maps integration providing live-tracking. searching for businesses in my immediate area automatically. geotagging photos. third party apps finding novel uses for GPS data. no need for independent GPS device. i'm really glad they added this feature.

5. email access.

i know this is on every smartphone known to man. but it's become such an important thing for me to check my email, for better or worse, that i would like to be able to do it on the fly or be able to access my personal email from work w/o using my work computer.

6. i have a thing for touchscreens.

this one is a little more estoeric, but nonetheless important. i like touchscreens. when tablet PCs first came out, i wanted one really bad. they seemed like the smartest thing ever; and in a way, they still do.

i like the idea of not having to use a keyboard or a mouse. to me, that doesn't seem to be the best way to interact with a computer. when you use a touchscreen, the user interface is much more convincing. there is no barrier between you and the data that you are manipulating or creating; when you are "touching" a screen there is a direct, tactile interaction with what you are doing. the overall illusion or metaphor of computer usage is then elevated. incorporating your sense of touch right on the screen provides a level of intimacy w/ the data that is sometime lost or incomparable to, say, writing on paper, when you type a keyboard and watch the words appear in front of you.

so those are my 5 reasons to get an iphone. i have two reasons why i'm skeptical:

1. no cut-copy-paste.

since my main reason for getting this is so that i can read and post things online, i'd think it would be handy to copy/paste some hyperlinks here and there. but the iphone can't do this for some weird reason. one of those weird apple things. sometimes they think of something no one else has done, and then forgets something that everybody expects.

2. i'm afraid that i won't like the keyboard.

i'll figure this one out really quick if i end up getting one, so i'm not that worried. but if i don't like the keyboard, i may not like the phone. it's a primary function of the phone and if that is no good, then what?

so this is where i stand. is there anything i've missed or didn't consider? i have almost a month to make up my mind for sure. is there another phone out there that you think would better suit what i need/want a smartphone for?