Re: Should I wait?
 

I suppose the one hope with the N900 is that if it is much more broadly used than the N810 (which is a very small niche product), then more of this sort of development might happen. The bigger Maemo gets, in theory, the less of these problems there ought to be.

Re: Should I wait?
 

I just don't have that faith. But I'm willing to be proven wrong. And the pieces are in place. Skype's Linux client is going opensource. So down the line, video calling might make it.

And when that happens, I'll be there the moment that happens. I wouldn't even care if it were wifi only. To me, that's one of the killer apps I need to make my decision an instant decision.

Re: Should I wait?
 

Yeah, I'm not really saying I believe it's going to happen. I don't have a lot of faith either. In fact, in my post above where I listed some of my criticisms of the N900, one of them was precisely my worry that not that many applications are going to get ported in actuality. Just a few obvious ones like VLC. I only meant, purely hypothetically, that it seems like with broader adoption of Maemo, upon the release of N900, maybe there's a glimmer of hope. On the other hand, another not unlikey scenario is that if there is an explosion of development for Maemo, it might really not be until Maemo 6 comes along and the N900 just gets forgotten. After all, it is acknowledged by Nokia themselves that the N900 and Maemo 5 are a stepping stone to their final destination with Maemo 6. And it doesn't seem like a good idea to assume that Maemo 6 will work on the N900.

Re: Should I wait?
 

Hmm, interesting thread.

Let me share my perspective of why, despite my belief that Maemo is the way to go, I am not getting an N900.

• Poor portrait mode support (and worse handling of the issue, among others).
• No HDMI output.
• No 3G frequencies for my country.
• No USB OTG.
• The whole transitional, "step 4 of 5" issue and doubts about the way the platform is being conducted.

While a couple of this issues can be eventually solved through software, others will have to wait for a completely new device, and also, on how Nokia develops itself over time.

However, the whole openness of the platform approaches a lot to the openness of the desktop PC market, which I consider its most valuable point. Usability has also gone up a lot (though not as much as I would like, but...).

So despite everything, here I am waiting for Maemo 6 and crossing fingers...

Update: Something I forgot! I also take in account a couple of factors: I put myself on the worst case scenario and try to get a device that will last me at least 4 years and cover all my needs out of the box, because I prefer to think on having no guarantee on "future patches" or "possible upgrades" (which is motivated by Nokia's track record on features it implements on its devices).

Re: Should I wait?
 

I'm sorry, man, but not everything is about you. I've been in banters in a few other (older) threads along with gerbick 'against' what I referred to as 'fanboys', and those characters are the ones that I was referring to when I talked to Gerbick.

Actually, I wasn't even singling anyone out, and not every 'fanboy' that I referred to acted out like fanboys all the time. It's just this dark side of our characters that seem come out when people want to defend a certain concept/brand/side unreasonably.

I actually didn't read enough of your posts to even have any inkling as to what I should label you ;) So, don't worry about it.

Re: Should I wait?
 

Well, technically we are ALL waiting, so kind of a moot point ;)

Still, I can see the logic in waiting a month or two to check "happy" level of first adopters before buying :)

Re: Should I wait?
 

Alright, whatever. It's hard to tell who you're talking about when your flip post immediately follows one of mine and follows a long debate I was in with gerbick. It seems fairly logical to think that's a response to the previous post and the preceding debate. In any case, I really still don't find that your flip and often snide and mocking posts add much to the discussion. I've seen them in other threads. It seems like you do it a lot. In other cases, it was more clear that you were making fun of another poster. To me it's just the kind of thing that brings the tone of the forum down, encourages the worst in people, and isn't that different from the defensiveness of the "fanboys" that bothers you. I also don't really know who appointed you the judge of everyone else's character here. And if you're not reading the posts, then why are you commenting in the thread?

Re: Should I wait?
 

I'll leave ysss to defend himself, something he can do very well. But I did want to reply to your comment. If this forum is to serve a useful purpose outside the community of Maemo developers, the "fanboys" here need to recognize that, for some users who come here seeking advice, the answer may be the iPhone or the Droid, both of which have very valid positives that would make them the right choice.

I am reminded of one thread where someone seeking a user perspective on the N900 versus the Droid saw his thread degenerate into an anti-Google flame war. The OP didn't care about the OS, he listed what he wanted the phone to do. But the mere existence of responses that said the Droid might be te better choice FOR HIM roused the ire of "fanboys" who ignored his issues.

Until someone can recommend something other than Maemo and the N900 here, I feel it is the "fanboys" who bring the tone of the forum down.

Re: Should I wait?
 

While you certainly make a good point...I find it a tad naive to expect a "fair and balanced" assessment of the N900 versus other competitors in this particular forum. Perhaps posting in the "competitors" forum would be better...or even better still (since that area is likely to have quite a Nokia bias for obvious reasons) seeking such information from a "neutral" tech site such as phonearena or mobileburn. I'd personally stay away from engadget..that's for all intents and purposes an unofficial Apple iPhone PR site LOL and is likely to have at least as much bias towards the iPhone as is found here for the N900.

Re: Should I wait?
 

I agree that fanboy type comments (I think we should separate what people say in the heat of the moment, from the person themselves) can be annoying. But I think the best thing to do is just ignore comments you don't find useful. Responding with snide and mocking comments to me is just operating on the same level as the fanboys, if not lower. It just becomes a pissing contest at that point.

And honestly, I saw at least one Droid vs N900 thread devolve into a debate about Google and I didn't consider it a flame war. It seemed like a heated debate about Google business tactics and the most obnoxious comments came from those who chose to mock people, who had a serious opinion about Google, not from the supposed "fanboys." But mainly in that case, it seemed like what happened was the thread got way off topic. That happens in a lot of threads here, for better or worse (this one included at this point). Just because someone goes off topic and has a heated opinion, does not make them a fanboy.

In the case of this thread, let's not lose track of the context of ysss's and another poster's remarks. I was posting information about the N900's phone application, which was part of the original poster's question. I was providing links to several articles by people with first hand experience of the N900, who in part discussed the phone application. And I was providing some summary of what they said. Another poster had a different view of the phone application and was defending that position. I don't know how that debate could have been more on topic and relevant. Then ysss and other poster chimed into with completely frivolous, mocking, snide remarks about "fanboys," "cake," and other things, that had nothing to do with what I was saying or with the thread up to that point. I really don't see how it was the "fanboys" bringing this thread down. Even ysss said he wasn't meaning to accuse anyone in this thread of being a fanboy (although it was certainly hard to tell). So in that case, to me, the only comments that were bringing this thread down were the snide and mocking comments. Turning the whole thing at this point into a discussion about fanboys, just ignores and avoids the topic of the actual substanceless, mocking, snide remarks that were bringing the thread down. The topic of fanboys was always off topic to begin with and just a gratuitous excuse to engage in snide remarks.

So I stand by my opinion, that snide and mocking posts are just as problematic as fanboys.