Actually, it's not. Basic implies that these things are necessary in order for the phone to function. For example, a car without seats would be missing a basic feature, a default feature.
Please write this down on your hand so that you don't forget it:
"Flash is made by Adobe, NOT Android" I know they both start with the letter "A" but the connection ends there. Android has no control over this, it is a plugin provided by Adobe to run adobe's software. Android can only ask Adobe to develop it. Prior to now, there has not been much demand for Flash on smartphones and so NOW Adobe is developing it. You can thank the G1 for that, as it might've taken a few more years without it.
If the phone didn't have a dialer, yes that would be a basic feature of ANY phone. If it didn't have text messaging, yes, even cheapo free phones you get for signing up with a carrier have text messages. If it was missing a calendar, an alarm, a rudamentary browser, a clock feature, ringtones (or the ability to download/install ringtones) yes, those would all be basic features. Bluetooth file transfer is nice, but not basic. If there were no other way to transfer files to or from the G1, if BT transfer was the way most phones transferred files - you'd have a case, but this is a perk. Video recording is also not a basic feature, just because there's a camera on the phone doesn't mean it should take video. Perhaps you're used to assuming that, but that doesn't make the feature basic. Onscreen keyboard is also not a basic feature of a device that has a hardware keyboard -- some would argue that a software keyboard on the G1 would've been a unnecessary redundancy that takes up valuable memory.
Now I do agree with you on one point, and one point only. Running apps from the SD Card really shouldn't have been an afterthought. Most anything that has removable media will let you install and run programs from that removable media. I can't explain or excuse it, but I don't find I'm hampered in any significant way by this at the moment. Just means I can't download every app in creation, no big deal. With how quickly the apps install and uninstall, I sometimes wonder if I actually need to keep any of them on the device itself. I want to run a backup? Download mybackup, run the backup, and uninstall the app until I actually need to run another, or use one the backups.
Just because your previous phone had feature x, y, z doesn't mean those features are standard or basic. If you wanted those features, you should've made sure the next phone you got had them. But you didn't, you assumed it would have them because you found them so useful. You assumed other uses would want/need them and that phone manufacturers were aware of that. That's a lot of assumptions to make about an expensive device, which lead you right were you are, complaining about perks that are missing from your phone.
Hopefully you've learned that you can't rely on manufacturers to read your mind and know what you want, you do have to actually read up on these things in order to get the best experience possible. Sometimes manufacturers mislead or make mistakes, but a consumer should never blindly buy anything -- it's a recipe for buyer's remorse most of the time. The research you do at the beginning makes for a happier ending.
Basic implies that for you, NOT FOR ME. What a stupid anology.
For a smart phone these features are basic, this is not a run of the mill gsm phone.
