Well, forget about being first--I'm perfectly happy to write the last few words on the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre. I spent two weeks with each, using them as a normal human would--not as a reviewer sprinting to get first-posting bragging rights would. Which smartphone is really better (for me, anyway)? I'll tell you. But first, let me explain where I'm coming from.

By the day the Palm Pre launched, I counted no fewer than four reviews already up. Same story when Apple released the 3GS a couple of weeks later. We poor editorial saps maybe clock a few hours--one or two days, if we're lucky--using each phone at a breakneck pace before penning reviews. And you know what? I'm guilty of that with laptops.

That's the curse of journalism in this instant-gratification, feed-the-beast, Internutty world in which we live. People want a review yesterday! Well, Internet, today I'm pushing back. I needed a new smartphone, and I couldn't decide between the Pre and the iPhone. Reviews from the usual suspects (you always read our , right?) hit all the major features--but in some cases, focused on finding new and exciting ways to be snarky. (Hint number one: If you're or , you're not coming to my next party!)

So I put my money on the line and loaded up my dork holster with an and a (Nokia's N97 and the Android-loving G1 were not options, sorry). My plan: Spend a full two weeks using both phones simultaneously. The winner brandishes my personal number and stays in my pocket (if you call that winning). The other gets put on hold. The following are some of the knuckleheaded notes and observations that I made to myself--and on Twitter--in stream-of-consciousness order.

"Nerd rage: Double-fisting the Pre and 3GS ( )."