One thing that really struck me is that not a single one of them owned an iPhone. It wasn't that they only had low-end phones - there was a Samsung Instinct and a Motorola Q on the panel.

The kids all liked and wanted the iPhone, but cited two reasons for lacking iPhones. One was cost, but I can't take that too seriously as I was hearing about some feature-phones which aren't much less expensive than the iPhone. Anyway, all of us pundits have been predicting less expensive 'iPhone Nanos' for ages. They'll happen.

The second, which I really want to emphasize, was carrier. As they went down the panel, there were at least two Sprint subscribers, two T-Mobile subscribers, one guy who I think was either with Virgin or MetroPCS (he was embarrassed to say) and nobody who obviously called out AT&T.

This is something I can't emphasize enough. As long as Apple continues their exclusivity with AT&T, they can't rule the media phone world. And their contract just seems to go on and on. Apple has locked itself away from the majority of wireless subscribers, and that's a huge opportunity for companies like RIM and HTC, who play with all the carriers equally.

In the back of my mind, I imagine that Steve Jobs has had whoever came up with the AT&T exclusivity idea moved to an office right next to his own. Each morning, he puts on steel-toed boots, stops by next door, and kicks the guy a few times, therapeutically.