Agree with you that apple know how to bring out potential and I am impressed with what they have been able to achieve with the iphone.

But your suggestion that it is cost that has prevented people on this site from getting an iphone is one of the daftest things I have ever read and there are loads of daft things to read on the internet so that tells you how daft your statement was. For one thing most of us bought the N900 and full price which is not any cheaper than the iphone. In fact it would probably have been easier to get a cheap deal on the iphone giving they are widely available. If I was given an iphone for free I would throw it away without ever using it. Secondly, the thing most here love about the N900 is the very thing that makes it impossible for them to ever use an iphone - openess and customisation.