Yeah, it's hard to go wrong between Apple, Google, and RIM. Looks like MS may be a competitor again, but personal preferences limit my interest in the platform. In order for the platform to work for me, solid multitasking is a must, and that's just the start.
The reason Android is good is because it's an option other than what Mr. Jobs gives you. Most people are perfectly happy with what he has provided, but for everyone else, the walls of the garden become apparent and start to become a hindrance.
It's also a bit harder to separate personal from business with an iPhone, primarily because everything is in one system. This is one aspect in which uniformity is a double edged sword. With my Nexus One, I have one app designed for churning through mail, which works well for my IMAP uses, for my business. I have Gmail for personal. Each is catered differently, and each does what they do well.
I can install a new kernel on my phone that undervolts the processor and gives me 50% more battery life for average use. No performance hit, just increased battery life. And no, this doesn't risk damaging my phone, since it's undervolting rather than overvolting (which one could also do if they really wanted to). I have a widget on my home screen that with a simple tap enables the flash on the back of my phone for use as a quite powerful flashlight. It's things like this that are more so handy than purely functional. But, the biggest thing to me is not that it be pretty or gadgety, but that it be functional. It's not dumbed down. It's still fairly visually attractive, though not to the iPhone's degree, but what appeals to me is that it does not limit you as much. After a while, with an iOS device, the OS gets a bit boring after a while. You can't play with things like Swype (google it if you haven't seen it before, this is the future of touch keyboards) or totally and seamlessly switch out your text messaging app for another one. What Jobs says is for you is what you get. And to be completely honest, I'd be happy with an iPhone too, sans the whole glass idea (who thought glass on the back too was a good idea?) and that the iPhone 4 wasn't exactly a feat of engineering aside the looks.
In short, both are very competent, but it's mostly if you like a bit of freedom and what your uses are that says which you would be best suited to. I like my phone to be my phone, not just like everyone else's. I have the 1st gen iPod Touch and have seen every firmware up from 1.0 to 3.2.2 and have seen iOS 4 on my sister's newer Touch, so I do have experience with the iPhone OS. Much more than with Android, actually. It does the job and makes doing the job easy, but if you want to bend the definition of the job to something new, you'll have to wait until Uncle Steve says it's OK. iOS is more linear, which is good to some, and not as good to others.
So, if you don't already know what you would best want, I suggest you go to the nearest couple stores and test out both an iPhone and a newer Droid. I haven't even mentioned that Android comes on many different devices since I'm talking more about the platform, but there are many choices. Just don't go to an AT&T store looking for a decent Droid - they don't have many.
Sorry about the tangent, I just wanted to share my experience coming from both sides.
