I've noticed this trend in my university as well, but mostly with females. My hypothesis is that the touch screen is hard to manipulate with longer fingernails

I've noticed this trend in my university as well, but mostly with females. My hypothesis is that the touch screen is hard to manipulate with longer fingernails and the fact that with a physical key, it's easier to pick up the phone (think about it - hidden in the labyrinth of a handbag, the phone utters a shriek. Freaking out and being afraid of missing the call, a normal person would pick up the call, and then raise it to the ear. With a physical keyboard this is almost automatic. Not so much with the iPhone). Well, RIM will survive. There will always be a crowd for hard-keys. Besides, I bet there's a market out there that gets some other smart phone over iPhone just because they're scared of breaking the screen. Sometimes, we over attribute technological prowess to a shiny newcomer on the block; don't let that get to you :-) -S P.S: I love the iPhone and it's KISS model (granted, I have my reservations about App store and other things). If anything, you should invest your time into iPhone as well instead of considering it as an enemy.