iPhone pre-orders are open for business today... they will deliver on October 14 - the same day the phones will go on sale (Apple is very good about shipping).
Last year Apple opened pre-orders and they ""sold out"" pretty quickly which meant if you hesitated you had to go wait at the store or hope they came back in stock online.
This year the phone is mostly a speed increase - though I use mine enough that I just upgraded.
My daily email machine is still my BlackBerry 9930 on Verizon. Nothing beats the keyboard though I don't know how much longer I can use the crappy BlackBerry OS.
Verizon is rumored to announce a new exclusive Nexus phone next week (Tuesday) which if you're in the market for Android on Verizon is worth holding out for.