Skip iPhone. Proceed straight to Android.

Update: I am setting up the Android now.

I may be slightly late to this game but I still feel like an early adopter. I have decided to bite down and buy an Android so I can deploy and field test applications on actual hardware without relying on the SDK emulator or access to T-Mobile service. Plus its a pretty cool phone - definitely faster and more typist friendly than it's Apple flip-flop wearing cousin.

Thanks to a little windfall, some fateful events and 'devigner' inspiration I have bitten the $25 application fee for the Android Marketplace and then purchased the device directly from Google for $399.99 (US). I can run it on a Roger's SIM here in Canada and a separate AT&T one in the US. You can join me as a late early adopter and grab it here now. Update: With duty, taxes and shipping it tips at close to $600.

Two notable features that sealed the deal for me were the completely unlocked GSM/UMTS hardware and an unlocked bootloader for development access to hardware and unrestricted deployment of unsigned apps. Routers aside, I honestly haven't touched firmware since that bizarre Microsoft moment we had years ago with Smart Personal Objects Technology, or SPOT (I have a couple and the devkit for them actually - make me an offer).

For more great ideas on ways to use a dev version of Android, check out PhoneGap and some stories. That way it won't matter that I don't have an iPhone ;-)