I think it should be fine as long as they keep the quality of the apps high. If you can get better programs for free everyone will just do that. I dont mind paying a bit if its a good app and its well put together, although it would have been nice for apps to start around 99c instead of the 2.99 that has been mentioned. I actually dont mind the paypal idea as well. It gives the choice of paying with bank cards, credit cards, or even with money youve received from selling stuff before.
On a side note i thought i would add that i just purchased one of the docks for the storm and have to say i really like it. I use my phone as an alarm clock so it positions the phone perfect for it. It also seems pretty well made and solid, plus i like the brushed look it has. I would definately reccomend this, especially if you watch alot of movies as it saves you having to hold the phone while watching something.
For more info on the new BlackBerry App World, take a look here. You can sign up for more info there.
As to pricing, there will indeed be free apps as well as paid apps (although there likely won't be many due to the upfront cost to developers). Paid apps will start at $3.69 CAD ($2.99 USD) and go up to $12.25. Re: payment, I agree that PayPal is probably the best way. The one thing I like about the BlackBerry App World over the Apple AppStore is that while Apple keeps something like 80% of the sales and only 20% goes to developers, RIM is popping the majority of the revenue back to the developers (although developers do have to cough up an initial $200 USD). This should give developers more incentive to create apps that work and work well.
Launch date is expected to be around March 23rd (don't hold me to this though, this is just what I've heard over on the BlackBerry Support Community Forums and a couple of blogs). Some are also saying that they are trying to link the App World with the next official 9530 release, so that would be nice, but again, no guarantees. At this point, I haven't even heard what version Telus and Bell are testing.
Finally, Mark, I know, the sync dock is great, isn't it! I love it!
Totally! And the best part is that for many of the best (competitor) apps already available, if they want to become part of App World, they'll actually need to drop their prices, but it just might be worth it for them as it would open up a whole new market for them, not to mention that this would be great for us (getting a $30 app for $12 sounds like a good deal to me). I'm curious what this will do to other stores like Handango though.
Hey, up until a few months ago i had never owned a Smartphone either, and the price of the plans scared me too, but after having the Storm for almost 2 months now i would never go back to a regular PCS phone ever lol its so nice having everything at my fingertips even though i don't use nearly everything the phone has to offer it definitely has its +'s 
As for the rate plans i ended up buying the storm outright which costed me more but i got to stay on my Talk 20 plan for $20 a month and added the data package with 500mb for $30a month, even though it says u have to have a minimum plan, if you call Telus and talk with them i'm sure you can get the same kinda deal.
I know my bill runs me around $72 a month depending how much logn distance i have, but for the extra $25 a month over what i was paying for a PCS phoen its worth it in my eyes.
I'm with Opaco... I went from a Motorola Razr to the Storm and am glad I did. As to Telus, talk to them.... since you've been with them for so long, they may be able to give you a good deal on the plan (they gave me a decent data package - $25 for unlimited data, email, etc. - note that most people weren't offered this plan (I got mine because I've been with Telus for 9 years), so if you call and explain that you think their plan is a bit too high, they may be able to offer you something a bit better). You'd really be surprised what a call to them can do!
I'm happy you found the review useful ... I tried to make it as unbiased as possible. As a heads up, the typing part is going to be the hardest part to learn, but you do get better at it - I'm now probably about as close as I would get on a physical BlackBerry keyboard. The SurePress screen is very good and assists with typing under most circumstances, but I do sometimes find that I skip the occasional letter because I'm going too fast. Over the past 3 months, I've been able to play around pretty extensively with the phone (leaked OS updates, learning a little bit about the operating system files, etc, and likely soon creating a few themes), and I can confirm that my perspectives on the review haven't changed and that I've really grown to love this phone. I think most of the negative reviews come from people who have only really tried the phone for about 15 minutes to maybe a couple of hours, and that isn't enough to learn everything.
If you do get the phone and have questions, feel free to post them here, or feel free to check out the BlackBerry Support Community Forums. There are a lot of really good people over there who will help with any questions you have (I'm also over there regularly now). And if you do get the Storm and it's not doing something right, just remember, a battery pull can be your best friend. The good news is that recent leaked OSes have been getting nice and stable, so the next official OS should be pretty good!
So unlike the last few people who have posted, before the storm, i had another blackberry. Which probably made my transition harder than the others. I had the 8830 before so I was used to a full keyboard, and its definitely a bigger step to go from a blackberry to the storm than it is from a regular pcs phone. But like many many people out there i have come to love my blackberry. There have been many unofficial updates which make the storm more responsive and more user friendly. And with the launch of the blackberry app world this month, things should only get better.
One thing i though i would add is a quick thing on one of telus' plans. You had mentioned that telus' lowest price voice plan is 25 a month. And this is partly correct, they also have a promotional plan which isn't in their brochures which will run you 17.50 a month. This plan will get you 200 anytime min, unlimited evenings and weekends at 6pm, and voicemail 3. Its a great plan for the price, and if you call telus to talk to them about your plans to switch to a smartphone they will most likely give you this plan, and depending on history and everything they may add some extras if you need them. The best thing to do is to call telus and explain to them what your looking to do, and your current concern with voice and data pricing compared to their competitors. If they know you are willing to switch they will usually try and do a bit more to keep you around. Cause even with the plan i mentioned, called the sweetdeals 25, if you pair that with a 500mb data bundle, you will be looking at around 52-53 a month, and about 60 once you add all the system access fees and everything like that.
But if your looking to get into a storm im sure you will learn to love it. It sometimes takes a week or 2 to really get accustomed to it, but once you are its a very powerful phone that has some pretty cool features.
Agreed i love my Storm to death lol, and i'm still running on the OS it came with, but looking to update it if theres a decent working OS update out there that doesn't crash a lot and won't require me to do a battery pull all the time either
So whats the best unoffical OS update out there guys and girls that doesn't have a crap load of bugs with it?? 
