Well, the word "average" is being used in a very different context here. Being on all carriers does not make it an average consumer phone. If N900 was on all carriers, it still wouldn't make it an average consumer's phone that's for sure. (lol, some might jump at me saying N900 is not even a phone)

Anyways. Specs are important. Apple touts their hardware specs with super fancy words and numbers. They know that people care about the numbers even if they don't know what they actually mean in the real world. Works wonders in sales of computers and digital cameras as well. Apple did wonders to make the iPhone a "cool" thing to have and become a trend setter. Now many buy it even if it's inferior in so many ways. But there are many who still care. So you can't simply group the "average consumers" to one or the other. There are many types of average consumers out there still.