@Richard –

“A long winded way of saying the Android phone felt like it’d been designed by a search engine company rather than one that’d spent the better part of 30 years making desirable, innovative consumer electronics and software?”

> ha, yes I guess so….

I think you’re right about the app store(s): there is certainly a chicken and egg thing that will probably improve (or at least, change) over time. The rejections question is also interesting – runs into Owen’s point about content / technology. It isn’t clear cut how “quality” is defined. At the moment we have this polar OPEN vs MODERATED environment which is probably not nearly as subtle as it ultimately needs to be…