Look, I know "plural of anecdote != data", but I know several (5) people who have purchased a smartphone in the past 6 months, including myself.

2 got droids, 3 got iphones. I've know the rough usage patterns of all the folks by asking what apps/services they use.

The droid users use it as a 1) phone, 2) email/message device, 3) maps and 4) one or two apps (not games). Basically, a google core-apps phone. One of the iPhone users is similar to the droid users (in addition, using the phone for taking photos/videos often).

Now the two remaining iPhone users are heavy data-folks. Both use bluetooth accessories, and in addition to the above uses, also play games, do twitter/social sharing, run lots of web searches.

Not a single of these users tethers or does advanced remote computing (ie, shell/vnc) - so are more "mainstream" users.

I do tethering, remote computing, play games, do not use maps - or phone that often, do social sharing and run A LOT of web searches. And no I am not on iPhone.

Right, but I can counter your anecdote with my own. All of the iPhone users I know are like your Droid users. They use their iPhone for 1) making phone calls 2) checking e-mail 3) browsing the web. None have jailbroken their iPhone or installed more than 10 apps.

I contrast that with the Android users I know (including myself). I know of only one user who is still on a stock ROM. I don't know of any that have less than 15 apps.

If you haven't figured it out yet, most of the iOS users I know are older adults who value simplicity and ease of use. Most of the younger people I know value Android and are more than willing to accept a slightly higher initial complexity for vastly greater control. That's why I asked for data, specifically. It's very easy to draw incorrect conclusions by extrapolating from your own worldview, simply because your friends tend to be like you.

The only comparison I've seen between Android and iOS users is this (http://www.bgr.com/2011/06/17/smartphone-data-usage-jumps-89...) 9 month old study comparing the data usage between Android and iPhone users, and that actually stated that Android users consume more data than iPhone users. So, given that, I don't see how anyone can confidently assert that iPhone users use their phones more heavily than Android users. The (admittedly weak) data tells us the opposite, if it tells us anything at all.

Anecdote: the Android users I see are either: a) engineer types (high end device, many apps) or b) majority lower-income (cheap device, few or no apps)

Around here, pretentiousness is all the evidence you ever need.

If they cared how smart their phone was, they wouldn't be running a low end phone with a processor that restricts them from running the "smart" apps. Functionality comes at a cost, and low cost comes at the sacrifice of functionality.