maemo.org - Talk - Java for Maemo 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by srk052004 (Post 357732)

Guys, while this is an interesting conversation, allow me to provide a perspective that differs from the dominant one here. I am a manager and a statistician. I would like to run a top-notch PIM suite like Datebk5 from Pimlico Software, just as I ran it when on the Palm. If I can't do that, I'd like to run Agendus or Pocket Informant (in that order), as I can on both Blackberry and Windows Mobile. (I currently use WM and Pocket Informant.) Datebk5 will be available on Android fairly soon. Obviously, the iPhone tends to get most everything.

I could live with an N900 that did not do push email (and it does not, last time I checked), but an N900 that does not have a really top-notch PIM is something I could not live with. The Palm had, when I last checked, a mediocre native PIM and WM currently has an atrocious one. But that's why there was demand for software to provide these capabilities.

If you want to know something about the high-end market, you will find some of that market among people like me who are former Palm users and who want efficient, intelligent design.

The maemo concept and the N900 are magnificent. However, until you guys can implement some of the key functionality available 8 years ago on the Palm, I could never take the risk. Specifically, I would need a top-notch PIM, a really competent turn-by-turn travel mapping program that would reroute if a stop was missed, an app that would give me subway routing (e.g. Metro), and a text editor & spreadsheet that would not corrupt the MS files (OO does indeed corrupt them, at least OO on Linux, but Documents to Go does NOT corrupt them). I would want as well a database program like HanDBase and ideally a List Manger program, though HanDBase could be used to create one. I would need a secure "wallet" program and a top-notch travel program (I mourn for my old Travel Tracker, which has now been ported to the iPhone). ALL of this functionality was available 8 years ago on the Palm. I personally got this functionality on a Palm T3 and used BT to get wireless access from either a GSM phone or from a Verizon phone after hacking it. The functionality is also now available on both BB and WM platforms, and on the iPhone.

I get the impression that such usage has never crossed the minds in the N900 group. Note that while most iPhone users do not use all these apps, they are available for the iPhone because they are ESSENTIAL for some of us.

Thanks guys. I don't mean to be loud here, but there really does seem to be a disconnect.

P.S.: It looks like I'll be moving to the Storm2 from a two-year-old WM device. iPhone is out of the question because of AT&T's really crummy service.

I agree. There is a disconnect with regard to real world usage of smartphones, and their vocal fans in general...

With a little work I was able to make Nokia's N800 series provide for most of my mobile needs and have it BT tether to whatever cell service my company provided.

I suspect I will be able to make the N900 suit my needs as well, plus it has additional PIM software out of the box.

I had an iPAQ WM device that had all the things you mentioned after purchasing additional programs in some cases. I was very happy with the fact that I could carry all my essential data with me as well as run TomTom navigation apps... That is until I used it one day in the "real world".

While connecting through ORD on a business trip I had the iPAQ out and was using it with one hand with my carry-on slung over my shoulder and my brief in my other hand. I was bumped and the iPAQ went flying across the terminal floor. I gathered it up along with the battery and battery cover which had came loose, stuffed it in my bag and continued on to the gate. When got off the ground again I put everything together and found that it worked... phew. Time for a cocktail or two and a T-bone steak ala carte as we flew over to the Golden state. :)

When I hit the rental car desk at my final destination I found that all my data had been lost and would have to be re-entered, any program that I purchased would have to be reinstalled, and although I still had TomTom on the memory card, because its program configuration was lost it was useless without a reinstall.

Needless to say, never again with Windows Mobile no matter how good it says that it has gotten. I couldn't communicate the frustration and helplessness I experienced that day to the WinMo fan boys then either... it also seemed like there was a disconnect.

***
About Maemo and Nokia's efforts so far I will say this. If there is something already out there that works for you out of the box then Maemo won't beat it... out of the box.

Out of the box the N900 will have less software available, more bug related software updates, and a much steeper learning curve...

However....and imho, 3 months later, the N900 owner will be happier with his purchase and their satisfaction will continue to grow as they realize that:

* More and more free applications have become available for the N900 and that they had a say in the development of some of those applications or can configure them more to their specific needs then ones available for sale on other phones.

* Each firmware update that they did receive over the air for their N900 actually improved its functionality and didn't cripple its connectivity even further or undo any changes that they may have already made.

* The learning process for the N900 was not painful at all and that they now feel a part of a vibrant, growing community that shares their enthusiasm for the device and its OS and is less concerned with how much time or money they spend on add-on applications or plug-ins.

However, in business time = $$$. If you need immediate satisfaction and can not invest the up front time required to make Maemo your own, then perhaps this phone is not for you... ymmv :)