What the "iPhone Killers" don't seem to get

So, RIM has a touchscreen iPhone killer, there is an open source iPhone killer, a Samsung iPhone Killer, and a Windows Mobile iPhone killer. All of these devices have a touchscreen. However, all of these devices also have buttons.

Think of how uncomfortable it is to be typing on these devices' virtual keyboards, either with your fingers or with a stylus, and have to either bend your thumb downward in an awkward way or reposition the device in your hand. This is, of course, true for the iPhone as well. However, it makes more sense on the iPhone as well. On the iPhone, one is going to reposition the device when returning to the home screen and switching activities. However, it is more natural to switch positions when switching activities than to switch positions to bring up a menu to do something in the current activity. The iPhone neglects this model entirely, and just doesn't use menus. If it is not important enough for one of the buttons on the screen, it is probably too distant from the actual function of the application. Granted, some options can be grouped into modal dialogues off of buttons, but those represent distinct groups of the same task. With a traditional "menu phone", there is no distinct grouping to the menus, or even any semblance of standardization. In a touchscreen phone, muscle memory is key, and if these small menus are popping up with different things in different places in different applications, muscle memory will not be built up. For those who think that that's not so bad, consider this: phones aim to get something done where a laptop or desktop computer could not be used or would be awkward. This small space also includes time; if a user is going to be working on something for a long period of time, he or she may as well use a laptop. If things are in different places, can a user get a multitude of things done quickly, quite possibly using different applications? A user may gain muscle memory for one application, but this lack of familiarity loses the "learn one, learn all" principle that Apple and the iPhone really get. However, cell phone manufacturers cry the marketing of "more features", rather than a few, simple features. They don't have to be great, they just have to be simple and consistent.