But this does bring one of the keys to success: marketing. The key to Android's success will be the marketing from the handset company that uses it. The ability to build hype with the average user / non-techno crowd will be the measure of success for the platform.

All of us reading this forum recognize the real reasons for platform success: functionality/openness/SDK availability/blah blah blah. But when you see an N810 on popular TV shows -- THAT's the device that people will want.

Eventually, the hype will give way to questions of real usefullness, but by then devices are in the hands of consumers. THe fact that the iPhone is severely restricted in terms of functionality is irrelevant when people in Norway are importing them.

[ASIDE: I wonder whether Internet Tablet placement in last summer's movies boosted sales. I'm going to doubt it, because brand recognition was probably low.]