iPhone vs Palm Pre | 5 Major Points

After using an iPhone for a while and now having a Palm Pre I feel like I have narrowed down the biggest deciding factors between whether you should get the iPhone or Pre.

1. Do you need a physical keyboard? I like having it but I hope they add the option of a virtual keyboard on the Pre.

2. How app crazy are you? The iTunes store has a gajillion apps to the pre's current 30; however, there are many duplicate apps and completely idiotic apps for the iPhone. I am doing fine with the current app store for the Pre.

3. How much is the plan price point a factor? I have the simply everything plan for $99/mo. The equivalent plan with Att would be about $160 (and does not include TV. Not that I ever watch it). Coverage is probably going to be better with sprint because with the everything plans, you roam on Verizon's towers. I actually have better service at my home with sprints towers than I did back with vzw.

4. Do you care about style? The iPhone certainly is more stylish but it is also heavier.

5. Do you need to multi-task? The multi-tasking ability of the Pre is amazing. I find it very useful but I guess that is more a Web OS thing than a Pre specific feature.

If you read most of the comparisons between the pre and the iPhone, they don't take into account the fact that the iPhone has been out for 3 years now. There has been plenty of time to work out the bugs. It may appear that I am slanted toward the Palm Pre. I don't mean to be and tried to offer what I consider to be the main feature points that would cause you to choose between one phone or the other. Honestly, I love the iPhone: I am one of those people who does care about design and style to a certain point.

These discussions of Pre vs. iPhone will soon be irrelevant when every phone has multi-touch capacitive screens. I think what will make the deciding factors will be:
1. What OS does the phone run (Android, OSX, Web OS or some other proprietary shit.)
2. Physical keyboard and/or the ability to at least connect one via bluetooth or a dock.
3. Removable memory and replaceable batteries.
4. Support of Flash. (The app store concept will be almost irrelevant if phone adopt flash)

I would add carrier to the list but that will probably be a moot point soon as well if the government has it's way. In case you haven't heard there is a move toward making it illegal for handset manufacturers to make exclusive agreements with carriers. Click to read more