I have the S2 - and it's superior to the 4S in nearly all categories.
I agree that the S3 seems too big to have as a mobile phone... The S2 is fairly cheap Nick, I'd recommend you look into that. It should be getting Jelly Bean rolled out to it in the last quarter of the year too
Sure I do. Being able to personalise your phone is a key feature for most people, and for me it's ONE REASON why I think Android is superior to iOS
Technically, there's hardly anything between them. It just depends whose model is newer.
I certainly wouldn't buy a laptop if I was forced to have a desktop that I couldn't personalise. Or be told that I couldn't organise my folders in a way that suited me. Or place shortcuts on my homescreen in a way that was intuitive for me.
What an odd view of technology you have. Uniformity is dull.