I got an HTC HD7 with T-Mobile to replace an Android phone two days ago. I am in love. Like... smitten. I love this thing. Like many other comments, I think its hard to adjust to a few things that are missing, but well, the fact that text messaging, email, browsing, and phone calling (AWESOME voice dialing, no app required(iPhone) and better voice recognition than Android)makes it a dream to use. Not getting any dropped calls, Google Voice app works reasonably well, and Netflix is the SHI+! Note on Google Voice. Initiate calls from the app if you don't have a reply or call back number. Otherwise, replying to texts in the standard text app uses Google Voice number just fine. No push notification, but you don't need it. GV sends you a text to your mobile number anyway, and calls come through fine. Note on Netflix. I started watching a movie on WiFi. It looked flawless. I was using headphones and it was an amazing experience. After I figured out the jog controls (rock your finger or thumb on the timeline. Thumbnails appear showing you where you will advance to.) I was sold. Opened a real Netflix account just for this phone. Later, I was on 3G and showing a friend. I hit the button to "Resume" the movie. It told me I was on an inferior connection and looked horrible. For about 10 seconds, then it found its footing and looked great. (although not as good as wifi) Later, I got an email from Netflix asking about the video quality of the specific movie I had been watching. Was it good, adequate, unwatchable?) I love that. I thought they handled the transition between networks very well. So, with the great apps that are coming out (around a thousand at launch on Monday, now over 2000 on Wed/Thur) the great quality of the phone (battery life sucks. I'm always watching damn movies on it now) and the GORGEOUS UI, this is the best phone I've ever had. I am an early adopter so I'm used to dealing with Gen 1 issues. I went from HTC Tilt to iPhone 1, then iPhone 3G, then Google G1, then am using a Droid for work phone, and now the HTC HD7. This one wins. Hands down.

People have often used metaphors and analogies to compare the structure of a business and its philosophy to politics. In the very popular piece Jon Stewart did on the Daily Show, he referred to Apple becoming "the Man", which is a comparison to heavy handed government agencies, and referred to Bill Gates as "Commandant Gates". These are political comparisons designed to illustrate his point that there are similarities between the business models and government models. So to clarify, one of the main reasons for the popularity of communist and socialist reformations was that the previous institutions had left a bad taste in the mouths of people in those countries regarding corruption and heavy handed dictatorships. So, in an effort to rectify past failings of governments, the simplicity and order that comes from those government models were highlighted. So the idea behind the comment is that often, while it is a simpler and more ordered model for the average citizen, a great deal of power soon belongs to a select few, who then use it against their own people. When businesses create "simple order" as you state, it is not based on true simplicity and organization, but on enforced restrictions and limitations. To be a "citizen" you have to grant all the power to the select few in control. While other paradigms have their own flaws, the perception of liberty and freedom on other platforms has a strong appeal to many.

ragnaroknrol wrote:

So which is looking out for developers more? Allowing some other company to drag their heels and cause your product to suck because of it, or having you always have the stuff you need when the implement it?

Having you always have the stuff you need? At any point in time, Apple can jerk what you need out from under you. I develop with third party tools. Only rarely did I not get great support and a faster time to release for using it. For a very long time the debate in the microsoft world over silverlight involved the fact that so many more people had flash. Downloading yet another player could be a show stopper. (this is kind of bogus unless your talking enterprise customers) I look forward to porting our hand held device products to the new Windows Embedded platforms and using xaml based tools for doing it. I also look forward to the third party tools that will make my life better. I'm personally happy that microsoft doesn't threaten me with suddenly killing my product because it competes with them. I also am a fan of Google Voice. Thus I use Android and life is good.

RogelioP / BASIC-Pascal-C-Logo Spoken Here wrote:

The simplicity and order of Mac OS X and iPhone OS development appeals to me these days. Golden... my thoughts exactly

Well the simplicity and order of communism and socialism has appealed to many millions of people as well.