On topic:
Wi-fi is definately not the direction for phones. I own a t-mobile mda vario II (HTC Hermes) and connecting to a wi-fi network is a hassle - And the fact that there are zero free hotspots in Durham. All the cafes, etc. charge and so do trains.
3G is fast. Very fast for a mobile phone. It just has some latency problems (itll take a while to start loading your page, but once it does it loads it very fast) I also use it for downloading youtube videos directly which is sometimes faster than my 512k broadband at home!
In 2 or so years though, HSDPA will be available. It already is but there is barely any support for it in the UK. I have had my phone HSDPA enabled by phoning t-mobile tech support. You get speeds over 1mb