Thank you all for your comments.
Some of you (about 2 so far) seem reluctant to have the native system be a better user experience, have more features, etc... even if it is just eye candy.
Here is the problem with that. I would of agreed with you, if we were just entering the smartphone age. The problem is, technology is always advancing. People want better, faster, and warmer user experiences with any technology. "Smartphone" wouldn't be called a "smart"phone if they just offered basic around the block features, and nodded to other third-party applications enhancing the device itself because the simplicity of it allow room for expansion.
I'm a Apple fan, I've been a Apple fan for a while, also a Microsoft fan, and now I'm a Android/Google fan. But one thing I do notice shifting through the fan bases. Apple, are very openminded when it comes to their OSs, and iPhone. They are constantly thinking "what can we do, to make the user experience, better, faster, warmer, etc... right OUT THE BOX" and they strive for that. Steve is feeling threatened by Google, and he is about to unleash a plethora of new ideas, that could have kept other companies ahead of the game, but were too close-minded. Think about this. Apple releases a feature that plays a song you love at the home screen, even if you don't like the idea, follow me for a second... Apple creates this on the next iPhone, patents it, and then the other companies realize "woah, some people really enjoy this simple, yet aesthetic feature, why didn't we think of that?". Multi-touch, was something that was NOT NEEDED, and could of potentially bloated a systems resources, but that didn't stop Apple from striving for it. Now look, everyone wants to use multi-touch on a grander spectrum.
Now that the Google vs Apple war is very imminent and prominent, we are going to see both parties step up their games to make technology better.
Imagine if Google and Apple CEOs, developers, teams, etc... set down and said "lets make the phone as simple as possible, so third-party applications can make the experience better"... we, on a technology forefront, won't advance anywhere.
Why? Because many at this forum, have hacked their phones and are enjoying extra rooted features, etc... Please understand that the average user, will not do this, 99.6% of the time. Apple and Google does not want you to root their phones. Apple and Google does not want you to HAVE to download third-party application so enhance their phone (unless its officially through their channel), truthfully speaking. It may sound jealous, stupid, and you will think "well why do they have a market?"... well follow me...
We started out with bare feet, which evolved to horses, that evolved to cars, etc... Imagine if we just stayed at barefoot transportation thinking "ok, now lets find some ointments, clothing, etc... that will make our feet run faster and be more efficient, without advancing". If Apple and Microsoft said "ahhh shoot, who needs GUI? Lets just keep the command based navigations, keep them with this interface, keep it simple". If things like this happened, etc... we won't be very advanced at anything.
Pioneering, advancing, and perfecting technology is all about breaking the boundaries, and creating new experiences. Its kind of a conundrum... wanting a "Smartphone" to be... simple... well we know the advanced calculus, trigonometry, boolean, logic, and number theory math systems aren't for the "basic,simple minded"... its more advanced.
What we will see? We are going to see Apple, Google, etc... eventually adding these features down the road. I bet soooooo much money on it. And there will be a lot more features that you will not agree on, but will be there as options. Some people like 2 bedroom houses, some like 6 bedroom houses. The difference? Option.
You want to know one easy and simple testament? To keep it smaller in thought, not such on a grander scale of things... the gallery in 2.1 Android OS update, the GUI is fully enhanced, the experience is a lot better, warmer, etc... and just having this enhancement... "OUT THE BOX" will make many, many, many Droid users love their phone more. I can attest to that.
Point is, sometimes, you elitist (not pointing anyone out in this thread, just generalizing) that hack/mod/crack devices have to come to the realization, that essentially (which by HISTORY of hacks, moderations, and cracks come from) is because something is lacking, and you want a better experience... you have to stop and realize that at some point. The companies that will succeed in shaping the future of technology... will study the usage of these exploitations... and say... "these users deserve to have this experience... as soon as they open the box". And you don't have to worry about things lagging down the system, know why? Because it will always happen once in a while, even if you have a clean slated machine with anything. Technology, on a tangible level, is moving on, and are able to holster the enhanced user experience ideas.
And if you don't believe me now! Come back to this thread in 10 years, and just see how these smartphones blow peoples minds because these companies have a simple motto... "Think Out of The Box, Enjoy Out of The Box"...
I quote AE:
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”