A new study by ChangeWave research (as reported in Information Week) puts the iPhone as the contining leader in customer satisfaction amount SmartPhone users, though this article says not to count RIM out quite yet.

Here’s the truth of it tho.  RIM has spent years focusing their products on the business customer.  Blackberrys do email very well.  Their browsing experience is, well, lacking.  Even on the new Storm.

Apple put the user experience first and then went back later to solve some bugs, developer issues and corporate integration.  By doing this they made a very succesful product by which others will be judged for some time in the future.  The browsing experience on the iPhone is as solid as using your desktop computer and the interface has a one-sheet flyer that basically says “touch the screen, silly.”  It doesn’t need a manual to learn how to use the “smart” keyboard.  It doesn’t have to show you how to wade several levels into an options menu to set the phone to vibrate mode.

RIM, if you want to make your attempt to catch up to Apple in 2009 think about the experience first.  Then make a phone that’s not vendor-locked.  That’s an awfully high bar, but that’s what it’s going to take.

The last phone that changed the experience was the RAZR, which is still regarded as the best-selling phone of all time.  Think about it.