Thanks, everyone. I understand a lot more than I did a few days ago.
Cubsman, I'm considering the Cliq - I like the hardware and Android, but MOTOBLUR looks a nightmare. Must I send personal data to Motorola if I get the cliq? I don't use social networks, so there's no integration advantage, and I'd much prefer to do local backups via USB or in the worst case to Google; I've no interest in letting yet another party in on my data.
For that matter, I have to be certain that I can set the device up so it never transmits anything without my authorization, or I could end up paying $1.50 for my phone to learn once again that I don't use Twitter.