Some people flock to everything from Apple, but I don't own anything from them bar two iPhones. I don't fancy a MacBook, there are better offerings for less money, and my MP3 player isn't an iPod. So I wouldn't tar everyone with the Apple sheeple brush George.

And Google Maps app is awaiting approval, rather than being excluded from the App Store. And nothing stops you from using Google Maps in the browser. I do miss StreetView but it's only a couple of clicks away in Safari.

iTunes is annoyingly restrictive but it is straightforward and, as long as you don't let in manage your music collection, it's not really obstructive from day to day. What that restriction does mean is that the iPhone market is less fragmented, so your device is probably more likely to run the latest version of iOS than an Android equivalent is to run the latest build of Android, at least in a reasonable timeframe because of the customisation Android phone makers like to add to the OS.

If you want to fiddle with your phone and make changes at a deep level, then Android is definitely the way to go, if you want it to work straight out of the box then Apple might suit you better. It took less than 5 minutes to have my iPhone5 set up exactly as per my 4, for example, including all the mail, messages, apps, diary entries, contacts etc etc. I thought that was pretty impressive.

You pays your money you takes your choice really. Samsung hardware on Android, and Sony now they've ditched Ericsson are playing in the same park as Apple and the iPhone, HTC are losing ground, LG on the up and Motorola are nowhere outside of North America. Nokia are making some nice phones now, but they have their eggs in the Windows Phone basket and that might not be the smartest gamble - it's still not getting much traction, although Windows 8 adoption might also drive WinPhone.

Over here the sensible choice is probably Samsung Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5, but it might be different in the US. Find a friend with each Jeff and give them a thorough road test - RIM are so far behind the curve with BlackBerries now that either will seem like a vast improvement. And then you can spend a few months working out how you're really going to use it, making your second smartphone purchase the really informed one :)