wow really? lol are you really that consumer that is easily pandered to in commercials? that marketing sucker?
(well it is an apple product and an apple product user after all)
better = competitive quality and price. both of which all those alternatives have over ipods/phones.
While they do have a better price, quality is debatable. I have quite a few friends with HTCs and Droids, and I'd choose my iPod over those any day. While the iPod's screen cracks more often and it's back scratches, those are the only real flaws I can think of. Any time I try using either of the alternatives, they freeze on me, the touch screen is unresponsive, and/or the apps don't exist/shut off. Now I know you could probably make some similar arguments, and I'm not trying to sound biased, but this has been my experience. Another example would be my friend. Months before Christmas, he bragged about how he was getting a ZuneHD. He would go on and on about it. When Christmas came around and I got my iPod Touch and he got his ZuneHD, we compared the two. A few days after, he returned his ZuneHD and bought an iPod Touch. I'm not sure why he did it, but he obviously thought it was the better choice.
Please don't call me an apple fan boy. I'm so against getting apple products it's not even funny. The only one I own is the iPod Touch and the only reason I own it is because I scouted out the market and decided it was what I was wanting.
And not to compare apples to oranges, but look at the iPod modding community compared to the Wii modding community. In my estimates, both have sold about an equal number of units. Both can easily install custom firmwares. And both have a about an equal number of people wanting to mod them. So why is it that most iPod Touchs are modified and Wiis are not? Community. The iPod modding community is as strong now as it ever was. In fact, two new jailbreaks came out at almost the same time for 1 exploit and a 3rd one is waiting with a different exploit just incase the current one gets patched. Wii modders (I include myself in this) have a harder time modding their consoles. With some of the pioneers gone, things have fallen apart (at least the last times I've checked).
