Even though I purchased an iPod Touch instead of an iPhone, it was the price that was the deciding factor.
Canadian data rates are, to say it politely, equivalent to those of third world countries. Exorbitant. The phone here is sold locked into Rogers (one of the two big players) at I believe a 3 year contract with a price averaging close to $100 a month. The total lifetime contract cost of the iPhone exceeded $2500. I would pay more than twenty five hundred dollars and in return get… the ability to use the phone if I continue paying the ransom fee each month. If I don’t pay for the phone, it stops working, and I am left with essentially a brick. Sure I can flash it and use it as an iPod (I assume you can do this? I’ve never done or read about it), but it’s not an open phone. That much money can buy you a top of the line sweet computer with new parts each year, or a new netbook and a new (cheaper, non-internet) phone every year. Simply put, the iPhone is a bad deal in Canada, and that will never change until our data rates are scaled way back to more reasonable rates.
My iPod Touch does the job combined with my cheapo cellphone. I don’t make a lot of calls anyway, and I don’t do a lot of heavy typing when on the iPod, so it works for casually checking in on Facebook or checking my email, pretty much a mini Netbook, and it’s a great music and video player. Wifi suffices, though I wish it was more common around Ottawa (I mean it’s the capital city!). So all in all I’m very happy with the way I approached this technology.