WHY TO LOVE ANDROID

I get asked regularly why I use Android over other devices which clearly means, I have an iPhone and you’re a fool for not having one, obviously I disagree!
I have used (and work with) Apple devices so you won’t get any argument from me that the OS is cleaner and is a much more polished interface as an out of the box experience.  But in my opinion, that’s not what it’s all about.  I’m a big one for freedom and I don’t really like being told how to use my toys, regardless of what they are.  With phones I like being able to customize the user interface, replacing core software components of the phone with new ones to try like keyboard and messaging applications.
What I truly love about Android is that I can choose how to make my phone look, feel and perform in the day to day functions that I use.
Currently I’m using

• Go SMS Pro
• Contapps and
• FlexT9

as replacements for the SMS, Contacts and Keyboards that come stock on my Nexus S, none of which require root access to your phone as they’re easily accessed in the Android Market.
I’ve had people argue that there’s more apps on iOS, that the iOS market is better for devs (irrelevant to why I use the device) and resale value being higher on iPhones which are all great arguments, somewhat a waste of oxygen since

• I’m yet to find an app on iOS that there’s not an Android equivalent for paid or not.
• How developers are treated is not a reason to use, or not use a platform unless you are a developer!
• Resale of the device doesn’t concern me since I tend to use a phone for 18 months then do the old “hand me down” to my wife

When I pose the question of customization like keyboards, messaging apps and contact management, the response is inevitably along the lines of “you get used to it”, “It’s already perfect” or “that’s what you get”.  In my book that’s an admission “either I can’t or I don’t know how to customize my phone”.
At the end of the day, the open envrionment  giving me the choice of what my optimal user experience is, is why I use and will continue to use Android over other devices and a large part of the reason why
I love my Android!