Ah, some good points.  To me, it's not an issue of "all those choices" being bothersome.  With the apple program market, they have a certification process that is somewhat rigid.  Android does not.  You have to research an app before you install it, can't really trust the store.  The apple app store also seems to have more functional programs than android.  Apple has a huge market share so developers pay attention to it.  To me, this means IOS actually has more choices.  Yeah, you can't change some of the programs that are integrated into the OS, but that's small piece of a much larger operating environment.   Also, android developers are really bad about updating their devices (- cough - samsung - cough).  So, you are buying something that may or may not be quickly abandoned.  I strongly considered a samsung tablet then changed my mind because the cost/performance ratio heavily favored apple.  The asus offering was interesting to me too.  At the moment, I think the android situation is mismanaged by the various manufacturers/google.   I am wondering if Microsoft may be able to offer a more mature solution in the near future.  Certainly, I have enjoyed the xbox 360 and windows 7.  think the phone and tablet markets will get very interesting in the next couple of years.