Killer app
"the killer application for a mobile phone remains the ability to make phone calls, and it seems possible that in all the excitement Apple has forgotten that."
Please. Apple threw THAT design requirement out of the window with the first version of the iPhone.
"iPhone bad at being a phone shocker, more at 11"?
I experience probably a 50% or higher failure rate in calling most of my colleagues who have 3GS model or earlier, even if they have full signal and are sat on a desk unmolested. They're just not good phones. Fantastic dicking around gadgets, games, apps, and whatnot, and good for data when the data works (equal parts o2 overload and handset fail there), but if you actually place any value on making and receiving calls, get yourself an old Nokia (by which I mean pre-smartphone era, or some of their new 'budget' handsets). You'll get a week's worth of standby and it'll work for months without needing a reboot.
After that, if you need or desire (aha) smartphone functionality, an HTC Desire, provided you don't mind being tethered to a charger most of your time.
If phone calls are of no significance to you, then by all means get yourself an iPhone, but don't pretend that this is a new phenomenon. Even WinMo devices are better (and I hated my WinMo by the time I ditched it early for my Desire).