I have to stop reading Raven”s blog posts — he had another post about how free iPhone apps help Apple sell iPhones, and I totally agree.

The varied and strongly useful functionality found in some of the top free apps really helps Apple keep the iPhone selling strong. I”ve run into many people who see me use AroundMe or Shazaam and suddenly want an iPhone, too. Anyone who has seen iPhone commercials knows how well they show off the many useful things you can do with an iPhone. That”s something that really irks me about the new Blackberry commercials — iPhone commercials show all the cool things you can do with your iPhone via the OS and the apps. Blackberry mentions the touch screen and vaguely notes that the Storm and Bold are “faster” and let you surf the web and check emails. Like there aren”t already a million phones out there (smartphone casino or otherwise) that let you surf the web and check emails. Come on, Blackberry, are you going to go fully into the obvious and mention how you can make phone calls, too?

I was actually excited about the Storm and Bold opening up BB ownership, because there are some pretty cool apps for the BB (e.g. TellMe — say “coffee” into the handset & it”ll pull up coffee shops near you using GPS, no typing required). But honestly, I think BB is shooting themselves in the foot by refusing to go after anyone who isn”t already a Blackberry owner, and it”s a huge shame — for people who don”t like the iPhone (or don”t like AT&T), the Blackberry could have been a sexy, appealing alternative if they only knew how neat it can be.