I think Verizon is making a mistake getting so caught up with the iPhone. Android is in more direct competition with Nokia, RIM, Microsoft and Palm competing across multiple carriers. Apple is still a relatively smaller player in mobiles but has traditionally strong brand/customer loyalty. I'm not sure the average iPhone owner cares much about the technical differences/limitations. There's probably a much lower barrier of entry to Android for someone who isn't hung up on iTunes syncing for example.
If Verizon could hold their own with Apple in terms of polish, they could go on to best them with better access to a better network and more liberal policies on how customers can use the hardware they just paid a lot of money for. (Background apps.) By doing this, they could win over the techie and hipster sets who are the trendsetters.
Unfortunately, I don't think it's in Verizon's DNA to do this.
