Standing Up For Android

I certainly don't speak for anyone other than myself, but I buy Android devices purposefully and pretty much for 2 reasons:

#1 The Google ecosystem. I'm already committed to gmail, google voice and google calendar via multiple google apps accounts (my own personal gmail, plus a google apps work account). Being able to log into my google apps accounts once on the phone and have everything (contacts, events, voicemail system, market apps, etc) just magically sync up on all my devices is huge. No plugging the device in to a computer to sync everything up via "gTunes" or whatever... It Just Works.

#2 Google Nav turn by turn directions. I wouldn't even consider buying a phone without a built-in turn by turn system as good as Google Nav these days.

Other than those two things, all I ask for is a good web browser, which all of the platforms have these days. Everything else (market app selection) is totally optional (for me, YMMV of course).

It's a question of preferences I guess.

I have both an iPhone 3GS and a Galaxy S. Surely, the 3GS is a little old now, however it is upgraded and I like its design more than iPhone 4. I sometimes have days when I switch between them depending on my mood. In general I prefer my Galaxy S over my iPhone.

The iPhone does have better 3D games. Maybe that's because Android upgrades are so slow to reach customers, so the sane thing to do for developers is to target older versions of the OS and be mindful about lower-end devices.

    I can understand why supporting 2-3 major versions, 
    dealing with dramatically different screen sizes, etc 
    just seems like too much trouble

Meh, you have to do that already for iOS. The 3GS is still on sale and lacks the retina display, so it has a lower resolution. Then there's the iPad, which is completely different. Also you should expect a future iPhone model with a bigger screen.

Making your interface scale from smaller to larger is a given nowadays. Maybe more problematic on Android, however when developing for Android you save time in other areas as IMHO, Android's APIs and the environment on the whole is higher level and more flexible.

I don't mean to imply that iOS is objectively better. I think the preference is more one of priorities than one of subjective "taste." There are some objective differences. I think the biggest ones are this:

Android is more open, and its apps have a lot more power over the phone. iPhone is smoother and its apps tend to perform, look, and behave more consistently. There are probably also "killer apps/features" that could make or break one platform for certain users. If you need Flash, you need Android. There are probably many examples of apps that only exist on one platform.

I'm really not much of an Apple fanboy, but to me, smooth performance is an absolute necessity. Simply put, the abysmal performance of basic native widgets on Android is an absolute deal-breaker for me. It so happens that I also generally prefer the design of iOS and the Apple app ecosystem, but obviously those preferences are completely a subjective matter of taste. My first smartphone was a Palm Treo 650 that was extremely snappy, and maybe that's what initiated my mindset, but I won't ever carry a smartphone that isn't. If, at some point in the future, there weren't any smartphones that were snappy, I simply wouldn't have a smartphone (actually, I don't even have one now, but I'm considering getting an iPhone 4S).

I'm an Android developer and I'm so glad you do not belong to our community.

Saying that you are arrogant is an understatement.