Essentially, the phone is a Captivate with 2.3, no touchwiz, internal 16GB storage instead of a microSD and an NFC? That's it????? It's like Ford selling the all new Mustang, and the only thing they changed from last years model were the seats, the hood ornament and a new radio.
The Nexus S has a place as a a developer tool, but for the phone geek it's a bit of a let down. It certainly isn't nearly the ground breaking device the Nexus One was. For all the other GalaxyS variant owners, the fact that the phone is such a disappointment technology wise is a bonus. There's little doubt that they will get 2.3 (probably unofficially) early.
BTW, don't take Arrington's review to heart. He probably used the phone for a couple of hours in a bad reception area, deemed the battery life abysmal and moved on. One thing Ive seen about Arrington is that once he makes a decision about something he will never backtrack on it.