Would You Rather? Android or iPhone

Would you rather own a Google powerhouse or a magical piece of Apple? That is the question I have today. My preference would be an Android phone. For the longest time I had wanted to buy an iPhone but there was a small problem, the phone was only available on AT&T and I was locked in with Verizon. I figured to wait until my contract was up and then move over so I could own that wonderful phone that was sweeping the nation. In 2009 however I saw an ad on television which would change my entire thought process. This ad would be for the newly announced Motorola Droid which would be coming out for Verizon. I ended up obsessing trying to find out every detail to determine if it was worthy of my desire. Eventually it was decided, the iPhone was dead to me and long live the Droid with its multitasking, fully customizing self. That Christmas I got my wish and under that tree I found a little Android to play with. The phone was at first a very lag ridden phone but I grew past it due to the advances over Apples device. It could do full multitasking, nearly everything was able to be customized right out of the box, the cameras had flash, and there was a physical keyboard. After awhile I found an article on how to Root the device. I looked into it and within a week my phone was hacked and running the unofficial update to Android 2.1. Since then my love for the OS has grown even more as I have found more ways to customize my devices, installing custom ROM's overclocking the CPU and running other modifications. While the Android system has never been quite as polished as iOS I personally believe that it is greater for the user who requires power and likes innovation. Whereas Apple's iPhones are just recently getting things such as multitasking, and folders and will probably never get official support for Adobes Flash, Android has been far ahead of the curve. No matter what your opinion is, both systems are great for their select user bases and no one mobile OS will ever be good enough for 100% of the market. The main deciding factor that I have brought it down to is choice, with android users are more free and open to new things whereas Apple continues to keep a very tight leash around users. The tight leash approach could go well with some who want something easy and simple to use and that will give them a very joyful experience all the time. Again though, my personal preference lies with the extra bit of openness that Google's Android gives that allows me to make my own choices.

Here is a small comparison chart. This by no means is indicative of all pros and cons of the systems they represent and is only a small fraction of what could be compared. The first thing you may notice however is that iOS has deep integration with many things Android only has third party apps for. This can be good for giving a unified experience, however it once again diminishes choice which you can have through the third party apps on Android.

So which do you prefer and why? Android, iOS or do you have another favorite? Leave your comments in the section below. I can't wait to hear what everyone has to say. And guys, try to be civilized about your criticism.