@gorillapaws Comparing the number and frequency of app crashes and system hangs I had with my iPod Touch versus the number or Force Closes and such I’ve had on my Droid X, I would almost say that viruses are a moot point and disprove the alleged safety of a “walled garden”, but I don’t feel like starting an argument.
I will say that Apple is a bit more open than they were and may have to open up even more to counteract one of the biggest complaints people have about the iPhone vs Android if they want to stop getting outsold the way they have been lately, and that may change things.
What some call “impossible”, others see as “a challenge”... and I mean that in more ways than one. The truth is that there are ways to attack and infect any system, even a non-jailbroken iPhone. Security researchers have proven it possible even now with the current “walled garden”, so I see it as I see it as only a matter of time before someone else finds a way and actually distributes it in the wild, especially given the animosity many have towards Apple. People go after Windows because it’s easy, but they go after Apple out of sheer visceral hatred, and that motivation can make them dangerous, especially to a crowd who considers themselves immune and thus don’t protect themselves. (My Droid X has anti-virus software installed; I may suffer some delusions, but the delusion of safety isn’t one of them.)
For the moment though, you are entirely correct, and that is the reason that I generally (though not always) get my apps from the Android Market while eschewing alternative sources. Too many people get into trouble with their computers by trusting the wrong people and catching more infections than ten low-rent hookers..