People made that assumption because your opinions do not match their experiences as iPhone users. I assumed the same thing. With regard to your first three points:
1. My call quality is excellent in NYC. I get a dropped call maybe once a week. It's not even something I think about much. I see Verizon customers around me dealing with more dropped calls.
2. Email and SMS are fantastic. Better than my work-issued Blackberry.
3. Network. I have 3G almost everywhere I go, but I understand that this varies widely by geographical area. People without coverage obviously won't benefit much from an iPhone.
With regard to the Blackberry comparison, I'll flat out say this: I prefer the iPhone keyboard to the Blackberry keyboard. Plain and simple. Maybe I figured out the right places to touch the screen, but I type faster and more efficiently on the iPhone. I didn't make any scientific comparisons, but every time I'm forced to compose something on the Blackberry, I inwardly groan. My fingers and hands are not particularly small.
If you heavily use Exchange, I imagine iPhone's integration leaves something to be desired. I haven't tried it. However, IMO, Blackberry's Exchange integration through the Blackberry server leaves something to be desired, too. For example, I have rules set up in Exchange so that my sent mail goes into the same folder as the folder which contains the message I have replied to. Doesn't work on on the Blackberry.
1) Call quality issues have been highly-publicized, and refer to more than dropped calls. Voice quality, volume control, reception (different phones on the same network often get better or worse in the same location), etc.
2) You can find a litany of blog posts from people who switched from Blackberry to iPhone and then went back because they couldn't live without the keypad. You can also find people who share your sentiment too. Neither sentiment is uncommon or would lead me to believe that the person expressing it hasn't tried one.
3) Also tons of complaints about spotty reception even in big cities.
None of those three may match your experience, but they all match highly-publicized experiences of others.
1. My call quality is excellent in NYC. I get a dropped call maybe once a week. It's not even something I think about much. I see Verizon customers around me dealing with more dropped calls. 2. Email and SMS are fantastic. Better than my work-issued Blackberry. 3. Network. I have 3G almost everywhere I go, but I understand that this varies widely by geographical area. People without coverage obviously won't benefit much from an iPhone.
With regard to the Blackberry comparison, I'll flat out say this: I prefer the iPhone keyboard to the Blackberry keyboard. Plain and simple. Maybe I figured out the right places to touch the screen, but I type faster and more efficiently on the iPhone. I didn't make any scientific comparisons, but every time I'm forced to compose something on the Blackberry, I inwardly groan. My fingers and hands are not particularly small.
If you heavily use Exchange, I imagine iPhone's integration leaves something to be desired. I haven't tried it. However, IMO, Blackberry's Exchange integration through the Blackberry server leaves something to be desired, too. For example, I have rules set up in Exchange so that my sent mail goes into the same folder as the folder which contains the message I have replied to. Doesn't work on on the Blackberry.