So because it makes a bad headline, it obviously is? It's worth investigating why, in such a feature-driven industry, a product with good marketing but so lacking in features is so popular. We've established that iPhones are locked to a carrier that has the worst customer service ratings in the industry, and that it can't do basic things other smartphones do, like multitask. Yet, it's the gadget to have and continues to fly off the shelves years after its release. I think that's pretty interesting, and simply saying "yeah, it's just really good at making those phone calls" doesn't cut it (considering a 30% drop call rate is considered OK, saying it's really good at making calls would be a stretch).

Listen, I've recommended friends and family of mine get iPhones, and I'm typing this on a Mac. But the best thing you can do for companies you like is call them on their crap. And a lack of basic chat functionality on the iPhone is a sad state of affairs, and no one really seems to talk about it. Apple does some stuff wrong, but they tend to cover it up through marketing. My wife, who used to use an iPhone, just pointed out to me as I was typing this that iPhones are a status symbol, and many people buy them more because they are iPhones than out of any real analysis of the features. Once bought, people want to validate their own decisions, so they'll defend the inferior product. Such is the power of marketing.