True on the major ROMs, I've used ROMs from both Cyanogenmod and AOKP so even I know of them. I know there's no iOS equivalent for a custom mod, but I also don't feel like it's needed at all with everything else you can get for it.
As for things you can do on Android without root, but needing to jailbreak for on the iPhone, I wholeheartedly agree and you won't catch me disagreeing with that fact. But since jailbreaking is so simple, it's a moot point for me, since there are things I want to do that I'd need to root for on an Android device. So a lack of some stock features by comparison wouldn't be too big a concern.
See, to you and me those instructions seem really simple, but not everybody sees it that way. Even for me my first time ROM'ing it up was a lot of trial and error even using guides and Chase helping me out with it. Granted, that could be due to the device, but that's the other issue: so many android devices, and ROMs generally have to be specifically for certain devices if I was reading XDA correctly.
Like I said, it's all a matter of preference. The IP5 is still going to be a good device even if there are other devices that are better hardware-wise or whatever-wise. There's almost always going to be something better out there.
On topic and on a related note, today I found out I'm eagerly anticipating getting on IP5 for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones being the improved 8mp camera...the untouched shots using the camera are simply fantastic. I'm glad they went with greatly improving the existing resolution instead of just slapping a couple more megapixels on there like a lot of phone manufacturers do. The panorama mode and dynamic low light mode sound fantastic.
