This article from TechCrunch says everything that I've been thinking about mobile platforms since leaving CES last year. An environment in which RIM, Apple, Android, Palm, Symbian, and WinMo all exist together is too dysfunctional and can't be sustained forever. Fast-forward 6-8 years and I think you'll find this being a two, maybe three cart race in the US, with Apple and Android leading the pack. Quick reasoning?

- Does anyone even care about WinMo 7.0 anymore? I can't think of anyone who does this mobile thing more back asswards.
- RIM's heyday is over; their hardware is uninspiring (and in the case of the Storm straight-up terrible) and the "we do corporate email" well thing will lose its luster eventually.
- Symbian... hrmm, do you know anyone that has a Nokia phone in the US? Didn't think so.
- Palm is cute, and might find a niche as the cuddly third place platform for awhile, but as much as I'd like to root for them and think the Pre is a great device, I just don't seem them being able to fight back. They might be able to hang on the longest, but as mobile application development continues to become a major industry, the need to consolidate will eventually win out, and with that WebOS will disappear.

Good/bad. PC/MAC. Republican/Democrat. The world has a tendency to narrow ideologies down to as few alternatives as possible. I see mobile platforms going the same way.
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Also, I want the 16-Bit Genesis one very badly.