Just have to add my .02 - as for the "Stone Age", that's where I'm from! It seems to me that RIM has a much more diverse consumer base in spite of its enterprise design. BB provides an excellent enterprise solution, has newer phones coming out all the time with flashier options to appeal to independent young users,
and it has the widest middle ground available to appeal to those of us stone age (middle-age?) professionals. RIM (along with 3rd party apps) provide excellent productivity solutions and fun stuff available for any age and ability.
The one consumer marketing issue I note is the development of more applications specific to consumer hobbies (personally I want a genealogy program). I doubt there can ever be a superior overall phone simply because we all want it to meet our own personal needs and desires. IMHO, the BB will never be perfect, but it is the superior phone for me at this time, which is why I just purchased my first.
I hope Verizon's GPS decision comes back to bite them sometime. I've never changed carriers because of a particular device but I have frequently changed carriers because of the comparative cost and value of the services being provided (VZW to Sprint to TMO).
And as for apple -- yes, the iPhone is flashy and tempting but as with other new tech toys, it probably wouldn't end up meeting my needs. (And BTW, I was a MacAddict for many years but sadly moved to the PC world because of compatibility and cost.) And since I choose not to go to AT&T, iPhone is out of the question anyway.
There's a lot to be said for the Stone Age.
Sorry for the rambling!