While I don't completely disagree with your points, I'm not sure that your comparisions are valid to the storm 1 to storm 2 debate....
First, a car company typically keeps a body style for several years--its too expensive to make major changes every 6 months.
Second, the Bold is a different product line than the 8900 that is catered to different users and I would rather have the Bold. And really, the 9630 is a CDMA device that is going to Verizon--different carriers, so its not even the same thing.
Third, who signs a 3-year cell agreement?
Here's the thing that storm owners are upset about: the fact that they bought into a device that should never have been released when it was. Some could argue that it still should not have been released in its current state. And to add insult to injury, there are rumors that a newer version is releasing 6 months from its initial release and there hasn't even been an official updated OS since the band-aid they put out a few weeks post launch.
Now, does Verizon owe its customers a rebate? No. But they should think long and hard about it. Do you remember when the original iPhone came out and less than 6 months they discontinued the 4gb model and lowered the price? I do. And I also remember Apple giving in-store refunds to the early adopters because they realized it was kind of a slap in the face.
I've been lurking on here for several months and just now starting to post some things, but I really don't get how people are happy with 0.75. I was in the camp with those that refused to load any of the leaked OS's onto their phone because I didn't want some freak thing to happen that would void my warranty. Well, two weeks ago I dove into .132 and its a huge relief. It isn't perfect, but I am content with my phone's performace now. 0.75 was plagued with random resets (at least 4 or 5 a day for me), in call crashes, and absolutely horrid OS response. There are great things about this phone, but the bottom line is that the phone should never have been released when it was.