Will the N900 make it?
 

I have to say I was so damn excited the day Nokia finally anounced this phone, something good was finally coming out from the viking warlords of mobile phone manufacturers, over the days as the hype and hoopla over this handset continue I continued to dream that Yes, finally a device which literally has it all and yay... finally something to show up to the Iphone snobs, but boy was I in for a rude awakening, well not so much for me personally but for the future of this particular handset as a whole. Nokia intends to, I believe get a firm grounding in the smartphone and the touch based devices segment with the launch of this handset. But I have a feeling the N900 wont be the one for them, future incarnations maybe but definitely not this one. The biggest and strongest competitor to this will be the Iphone and all bashing and hating aside the phone actually sells, peole who have it love it and the ones who dont, want it. Sure the Iphone hardware wise is crap and I cant justify the price they charge for it as well, 900£ for an unlocked 3GS, crickey thats 2 months rent for me, that aside however they know that their core demographic loves it and will spend the moneys they want to get it. Apple has over the years created a very strong brand for itself, how many movies or TV shows do you see where their laptops or phones are not Apple branded, its not like expensive windows based products dont exist, they for some reason are just not cool enough. Even though Nokia sells more handsets by the hour than Apple sells through the day, Nokia does not enjoy the favourable brand appeal, because honestly when you think of a Nokia you have an image of a numeric pad based phone which has Snake on it. Another aspect which is worth mentioning is the people who actually buy these phones, most Iphone users dont know that their phone is running an ARM cortex 600Mhz processor, or that it is factory locked to a provider, they simply dont care about all this, all they want is for people to look at their device and know that they are a part of the "it" crowd not the IT crowd.
Nokia made a smart move on their side to put a 3G radio on their Maemo based device and have a pwerful phone out, but marketing wise they just fell flat, the N97 mini was picked up the moment word came out about its release. Even Sony ericcsson did a bangup job with the satio they had operators in their baskets months before the release.
It does make you wonder with only days left before its launch there is still nothing on the news or no announcements from operators, no ads no marketing whatsoever, Is Nokia really serious about this phone, even LG when they released their phone with a stupid transparent key pad had more ads. As a consumer I really would like to know the answer as this really factors in stuff like future firmwares or upgrades, because if this is just a niche product meant for a select few they wont really bother wasting time after this hits the markets.
Please give your comments...

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

The n900 is still not intended to be main stream as to be allowed to be subsidized by the carriers.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

so essentially this would be a niche product, How was the support for the N810 tablet, I have heard it did not have many problems to begin with but did Nokia release updates.
thanks

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

nokia has already said this device and maemo 5 are just a stepping stone on their path to world domination a la maemo 6, where I suspect they will have a wider range of phones on that platform and 'push' harder.

And, nokia is not like apple. Apple has ONE phone, nokia makes over 50 models every year to fit almost every market segment imaginable, from throwaway disposable phones to the super elite high end megabucks devices, to the uber-hackable inbetween devices that they explicitly just push out there and pretty much say, "Here, see what y'all can do with this"

For me at least the nokia model suits much better and Nokia is doing its part, however slowly, to tear down the HORRIBLE state of mobile affairs in the USA. They are coming at it from an entirely different angle than Apple, which has pretty much said, one device, one carrier, one wy to get apps, etc.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Sorry my bad. Atleast in the UK it is subsidized. I dont think it will happen in the US

http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk/...62/p26078.aspx

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

I know cant contain my excitement, and as far as having a unique phone goes, as you guys have put it that this will not see a huge market launch that suits me just fine as long as they keep putting out updates.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

there will probably only be one or at most two updates to maemo 5 if past history is any indicator. Perhaps if they go longer term with maemo 6 you can expect a longer update period. Just being honest.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

The updates will be many but they will be incremental because the n900 can be updated via SSU. Diablo as of now is very usable. In fact most of the previous tablet users would take only the processor upgrade and ram upgrade as is. So not to worry about the stability or the use of maemo 5

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

I have never had a nokia device that had many incremental updates whether it could do it OTA/network or not. I am not sure where you are coming from with that statement. Even as this device is starting to be released we already know there will be no more updates to Diablo, and I am sure once the details of the Maemo 6 device next year are released you can kiss goodbye any hope of any more updates to the maemo 5 on your n900. This is not necessarily a negative to me, just a fact of how they have proceeded with maemo development thus far and I don't see any reason to think 5 will be any different than 4.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Well the n8x0 were supposed to have another update called elephanta but they scrapped it because they had to work on maemo 5. But what i meant to say is that diablo was good enough for many of us without any major concerns. Of course more updates are always nice but the lack of proper hardware is definitely a hinderance to further updates. Now a days 2 years is a lot in device's life cycle. I dont see many users who would use thier n900's for more than that.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

So you still think there will be many incremental updates? I guess only time will tell.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

I think there will be. But time will tell. Since maemo 5 is totally new and there will be bugs in the start and nokia believes in releasing early and often.

Anyway lets see.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

I've owned many high end Nokia devices, and updates are plenty and often.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

I am somewhat disappointed that when the latest iPhone, Android, Blackberry, or Palm device comes out, they have someone showing it off on Oprah, the View, Ellen, Good Morning America, Daily Buzz, G4TV, etc, but I haven't heard one single word about the N900 on traditional media outlets in the US yet. The Palm Pixie and Moto Cliq are the hot devices of the moment here in the US, and people are looking for the TP2 and Sholes to come out, but no buzz for the N900 here. Hope it increases (buzz in the US on TV) once the Maemo Summit comes down.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Sometimes I think if Nokia trying SO hard to get a dent in the North American market, in detriment to other markets, its really worth...

Maybe instead of trying to market it in Oprah or Ellen Degeneres(?!)... Going "Hollywood" would be better. Nothing creates more hype than Rambo remotely exploding a truck via SSH or John McClane using Maemo mapper to find the next russian/german/south american/arab/japanese terrorist...

Heck, just remember that "Matrix phone".. I really really wanted one :P

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Than again i really laughed at the Vaio's apparition in Terminator :P

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

I really liked the "cameo" of the Nokia 770 in the "Fantastic Four: Silver Surfer" :)

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Many of us in the community figure that most of the power-wielders in Nokia don't even realize what they've got on their hands here, or maybe they're wilfully ignoring it because it isn't what they're used to... Nobody's really sure what's going on in the Finnish Juggernaut.

So anyway, a few community members have suggested starting a Community Marketing Campaign. Tim Samoff has even started a YouTube channel.

That's how marketing works in this century anyways. Forget the splashy ads; go for viral videos.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

@epoch24

could you next time use paragraphs, please?

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

It's phone created by European that speak bad English with horrible accent. That is why they are having a hard time marketing!! LOL

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

quole, that works to get the geeks in your corner, but not to get the mainstream users to get the device.

HangLoose, I think you underestimate the power of Oprah Winfrey in the US. She single handedly made the Kindle hot across the US. I'm not sure where you're from, but in America, she's the trendsetter of them all. She mentions you, and sales go through the roof overnight.

Check this out for a little background. This is about a special on her called "The Oprah Effect":
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29961298/

No one turns her down, and getting on her show is like a meal ticket to stardom and fame.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Yeah I heard that about Oprah... We also have *gasp* tv programs here in finland... Maybe Oprah was not a good example, but other tv talk shows are since people are always going to be biased in watching one or another...

Also, depending on the age group you want to target, it better market in the next GI Joe movie than in Oprah or Conan O'Brian (which btw is HUGE in finland *sigh*) :P

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

I don't think Nokia needs much help selling devices in Finland, do they? I'm sure they lead that market. The N900 will get its fair share of TV spots and all, but the question is about the US market. Once the device launches and is available, what sort of exposure will Nokia provide to the US? This is the ONLY place I have been where Nokia is a nobody, but only because they don't announce themselves in any way.

And the reason I brought up Oprah can be seen by watching those videos on the link I gave earlier. She speaks, the US listens. She said we need to stop eating beef once, and the US beef markets fell so low, it was a catastrophe, and the meat producers sued her. She has PULL in the US.
http://www.cnn.com/US/9801/21/oprah.beef/

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

@hangloose

tv? shouldn't you be out trying to hoon your ford escorts into snowdrifts and be busy eating lutefisk

you guys have no time for tv

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Do you mean Americans?! Not all of us live near snow. I live in Texas. It gets hot at night. Must be talking to the Finn... LOL But do they have Ford Escorts? We hate those cars in America. Embarrassing

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

unfortunately we don't get the nice fords they have in europe

ford focus rs how i long for you; 300hp fwd and no torque steer? its magic i tell you magic!

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

I'll stick to Honda and BMW. But Ford is coming on strong. Just don't like American cars as much as German and Japanese.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

christe*, you're right. Nobody in the "mainstream" shares cool videos with their friends on Facebook or Twitter. Only "geeks" do that.

*well, if you call me quole, I'll call you christe ;)

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

hehe actually I was talking about tv/movies over there in North America... Here we actually do this kind of stuff since its very hard to watch Dr Phill, The Bachelor [insert-stupid-theme-here] or whatever canned program was just subtitled from there :P

A person cant watch Dr. Phill in winter time over here... Winter is already harsh and with Dr Phill... :(:(:(

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Let's skip Oprah...

Send one to the guys @ Top Gear (BBC version) set up to use the accelerometers / remote camera to r/c a full size supercar.

I can see it now: The STIG running the test track from the grandstand via the N900....

:D

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Yeah, give one to Mircea Badea (romanians know :) ) to smash it on his desk...

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Don't hold your breath.
The American way isn't the Nokia way.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

You got me there, QOLE! ;) But I think being in America, the biggest thing that sells cellphones here is TV exposure and media coverage, not viral videos, for the mainstream. Going viral won't get people to ignore the devices in the carrier stores. Apple, Palm, and Blackberry have great TV exposure here. I counted 40 some odd TV commercials and news coverage mentions just in a few hours one day last year. The "going viral" thing works great, but it didn't do much for the N95 with the Symbian-Guru "Hi, I'm an N95! Oh hi, I'm an iPhone!" YouTube videos.

Fact is, in the US, consumers hear about a phone and ask the carrier if they have it. That's it. The mainstream consumer will consider it another Euro phone we won't get. But put it on Oprah and see what happens. No one cared about Kindles until she touted them on her show, and now they're considered a standard for ebooks.

I consider Oprah one of the top 5 most powerful women in the world, and I'm not alone. She's a self made billionaire and the first Black female billionaire. Her respect is unprecedented, and she has PULL! I'm surprised you guys don't know how big an N900 on her show would be. All she's got to say is "your carriers won't have this phone, but you can get it from Amazon or Best Buy" and watch the registers start chinging full of cash.

And if Oprah's influence isn't enough, check this out.
http://www.cnn.com/US/9801/21/oprah.beef/

She IS the voice of Americans! Women love her, and do whatever she says, and she gets wives to influence husbands that (lying) don't admit watching her show.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Somebody make an Oprah's book club applet already!

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Of course Oprah has tremendous pull, nobody is denying that.

But, Oprah is speaking for the mainstream consumer. You have to convince her that this n900 is a mainstream device that is more useful than what people already have. With the Kindle, Oprah or a marketer can tout how you can easily download any book and start reading instantly--the fact that you don't have to schlep to the book store or wait for your Amazon order to arrive or have a bunch of books in one portable device is naturally going to be appealing to a lot of people.

The n900 looks to be an awesome device. Most of us on this forum have a lot of experience using Maemo already, so you won't have to convince us of anything--we know what it can and can't do, and the positives outweigh the negatives for us. But is it mass consumer-ready? If you read the posts in other forums from other techie early adopter types without experience with the Nokia tablets, even many of them are taking a wait-and-see approach with questions like, "what will the reviews say?", "will there be apps for it?", "will it be subsidized by my carrier?", "will it even work on my carrier?", "I just bought an iPhone 3GS, why should I break my contract for this?".

If the early adopters are asking these often legitimate questions, imagine having to convince a regular consumer of the value of an n900. As has been argued many times, there is a resistance to buying unlocked phones in the US because (1) a lot of people don't know it's possible, (2) for people not on GSM networks, it really isn't possible, and (3) subsidized phones offer tangible value, while the value afforded by an unlocked phone just isn't relevant to many people. The cell phone network in the US isn't the greatest, even compared to some developing countries. Outside metro areas, people buy the network that actually works best for where they live, rather than the phone. Most of the time, that network is going to be Verizon. Since Nokia probably won't release a CDMA version of the n900, much of Oprah's middle America target demo won't switch to the n900 even if they liked looks of the phone, simply because of network availability concerns.

Finally, anecdotal evidence (i.e., me looking at my "hipster/hipster wannabe" office mates and friends) makes me think that the majority of the consumer-oriented demographic that would like this phone already have their blackberries and iPhones and are probably locked to their contracts. That will make trying to convince them that the Nokia n900 will be better than their current devices for stuff like enterprise/office communications capabilities (blackberries) or having millions of apps at the ready (iPhone) that much more difficult, especially when the n900 may not necessarily be ready to compete with a blackberry or an iPhone on their turf.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

The multi-year contract slavery thing in North America is going to be a big barrier for any new phone. Market penetration will be slow as people are forced to ride out two year contracts with incompatible carriers that they signed two weeks before the N900 went on sale.

By the time the Early Adopter / Technophile buzz has made the N900 "known" in the North American market, hopefully Nokia will have other Maemo devices to offer.

I really do believe that word of mouth and the influence of thought / style leaders is as powerful as any TV ad campaign. Put Maemo devices into the hands of the right people (tech-savvy influencers), and just let them use them and carry them around for a few weeks. That's your best bet.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

now that is a GREAT marketing idea...
did you hear this one nokia guys??

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

@ klinglerware,
All you have to do is convince Oprah its the future. She is savvy as hell. Let me do the selling, and get on her show. Her reach is unmatched, far greater than Top Gear (one of my faves, though. He's so funny, too). Nokia needs to do more to attract women, as Apple does. Oprah is the role model of all women in America. They all watch her, and if you want a woman in your life, you might have to watch her too. She's not bad at all for guys, either.

The questions the consumers may have are something I could easily answer with the device in my hand. Just let them use it. I promise you, the American users grew up with Windows 95 and AOL. The N900 IS that experience, and they'll feel familiar as soon as they use the web. The situation with apps is simple. Debian Linux isn't new, so many apps already exist. Open source means more will come, most will be free, and whatever the people want defines what gets ported. As for carriers and subsidies, get the phone on Oprah and carriers will jump to offer it.

The issue of the carrier compatibility is moot after the iPhone's success. A good marketing effort will attract buyers regardless. Apple sucked plenty Blackberry WinMo and Palm users when it came out. We just need a visible marketing push. When will we see THAT happen in the US is my problem. We need help, and Nokia has to use its head here instead of us sounding defeated like we can't overcome somethink Apple has. If Apple can, I will is my way of thinking. Maybe a more confident attitude from Nokia would help as well.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

klinglerware, is your name a combination of David Klingler and Andre Ware? They were two college QB's that were popular rivals in the 90's. If not, that's a big coincidence.

Re: Will the N900 make it?
 

Aha ! Good idea, maybe then she will care to carry it on her show.:)