No one complains about the back button just because they don't want a way to back out of a page/action/whatever. They complain because the back button is too often unintuitive. It's never "Ugh, I hate it when the back button does precisely what I expect."

If you're going to compare to the web browser, you have to acknowledge how utterly obnoxious it is when some rogue site breaks the back button. Except then you can at least click-and-hold (or equivalent) on the back button to get a drop-down with more history so you can hopefully back out of whatever crappy site you opened.

Absolutely agree. Whenever I'm using an iPhone, I find myself trying to find the back button, but in many apps, and in many places on the iPhone, there just isn't one.

I love the back button. It takes a little getting used to, but it's definitely one of my favorite features in Android now. I really can't imagine not having it.