Letter to Nokia.
 

Dear all,

Probably some of you are let down by how Nokia handles the people that spent £500 on a device that will be (Just so people won't start beating me up here I would like to change "will be" to "may be") dropped with next software update.
I've been working with Nokia for the past 8 years, and I have the privilege to address the issues to high ranked executives in that Monster Corporation.
Hence I would like to ask you, fellow users, to contribute to this open letter that will be sent to them.

Thing that will be included:
1) Will or will not n900 support MeeGo, if not what will happen to maemo5.


I for once will be probably dropping nokia as my device supplier. Not for the reasons of not liking the device, but the company policies. Also, if you would be kind enough to sign under this letter (or let me use you signature for the purpose of it) it would be greatly appreciated.

Matt.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Even though you changed it, you're still making an utterly baseless claim. Stop fearmongering and making "Letters to Nokia" when you have zero backing for your statements.

I welcome you to prove your point, however.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Some questions:

In what capacity have you been "Working with Nokia" for the past 8years?
What makes you believe they will take your letter anymore seriously than a troll post on a message board?

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

What device are you talking about? N900? MeeGo doesn't mean Nokia wouldn't support N900 and the existing Maemo5 platform. In fact, the PR1.2 software update is being worked on as we speak - with numerous bug fixes.

Talk about dropping the support...

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Meh, it wouldn't hurt to sign.

Everyone, please repeat after me: Maemo 6/MeeGo should be available for the N900 no matter what.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

I was all sold on buying the SonyEricsson Xperia X10 until i noticed N900 with debian based Maemo. I use Ubuntu on my desktop which also are built from debian. I changed my desktop to Ubuntu cause of my disliking of rpm. If the Maemo project had gone on my next device would probably have been a Nokia. Now i am not to sure anymore.

My three demands are:
1. Free and Open
2. Debian
3. GTK+ apps

I think the merge with Intel was correct but the move from debian to rpm crazy. I do not choose a device be cause of hardware. I choose it be cause of it's operating system.

/Daniel.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

@ wmarone, previous experience with Nokia as a company and not holding to it's product roadmaps (mostly due to wrong supply chain management). I strongly believe that we should be either assured of the fact that n900 will be supported by meego, or that it wont. So people may stop buying phone that will be dropped (probably also by quite a few developers) after half a year.

@Strive, in sourcing/procurement for both NPI and already existing product lines.
I'm in Nokia every month on average, and I believe they will take at least the time to reply to my email purely because they know my face for years. And them ignoring it would be purely rude.

@mattiviljanen, well I would expect major bugs to be fixed to be honest. That's the unwritten promise we all got form Nokia when buying a device that was still in 'Beta' stages.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

I'm in my girlfriend more often than that and she still ignores me most of the time so that doesn't mean much.

Also, don't you think it would be highly unprofessional of you to use your professional/customer connections in order to convey your consumer concerns?

I can only imagine if a vendor came to me and wanted to bring up some 'open letter' he had crayola'd together with a bunch of anonymous people on the internet...Don't think I'd be using his services again.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

I can't help as I don't feel let down. Maybe that's partly because I'm relatively new around here. Maybe it's because I don't see the changes (for the most part) as a bad thing. But...

a. Jaaski blogged - from his N900 - that the N900 and users will not be forgotten.

b. qgil has made a point of extending an invitation here for the Maemo community to take part in the new MeeGo community yet to be developed.

c. Support for the N900 has not ended. On the contrary, it will get at least one more major update and compatibility with future software has been assured through Nokia's support of QT 4.6 in Maemo 5.

d. Nokia has opened up Maemo/MeeGo even further than it was, not less, and increased the chances of the platform not just surviving but prospering with a wider choice of hardware and software.

e. I feel better communication and information around here than I did in my Android days.

Other than that, I feel horribly abused...

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Man, I thought we got a firmware update today.. I guess it was just me then, weird..

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

@tintin, thanks for your concerns. If I wouldn't be sure that it won't harm my professional relations with them I wouldn't do it. And using my contact with them to address the issues i'm concerned about? I think there is nothing unprofessional about it. Just helps to address the issues to the right people and get some responses and not be just trivialised.

@crashdamage - Neither his blog or nokia people on 3GSM said that n900 will support MeeGo. And that we wont be forgotten? I heard the same thing on google's I/O about wave, and developers. Well, we all kinda forgot about it, and wave - if wont hit back/will be massively implemented died. So sorry for not taking peoples word on everything.

If there will be a press release, or some official news about it, I think it will make a lot of people much happier.

@vode, Sorry i'm not happy by a sloppy firmware update and making the £500 device usable more than for watching movies when im on the toilet. I've got first n900 in October last year, and well, looking at what changed in the past 5 months, more could've been done.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

I don't see get the issue. Nokia never promised Maemo6 or MeeGo on the N900 and whilst I'd like to stay current I appreciate that's not really how this market works. I'd be miffed if OS updates stoppednow - I expect a few firmware patches yet. I've not seen anything anywhere that even implies that nokia are not going to issue any more updates. Quite the contrary.

Nokia don't talk to us much but then who does - Apple? Google? Microsoft? Sadly to say that Nokia are probably the front runner in comms.

Further if somebody used a business relationship with me to moan about support of a consumer product, I'd throw the letter in the bin and your card would be marked for the rest of our relationship. Is it worth it to you?

(Oh - the USB port repairs - you can write about that if you like - that is out of order)

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

How about we lock this thread, since it's obvious what it will devolve into.

It's another thread of baseless claims, smears, and FUD.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

@wizbowes, thanks for your concern but im sure my relationship wont be jeopardised by it. And as a part of maemo community I feel there is a need for it. Concerns (as a customer) that i've sent to my contacts at RIM definitely played a role in them changing certain hardware in the 8800 update.

And, on top of everything companies like Bloomberg or CQG will not be porting their application on Maemo cause of being uncertain of Maemo's future. For me that speaks for itself.

And a newsflash; cisco won't be porting their voice application to N900 either.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

they will not? have they confirmed that?

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

oh god, and another one rears his head...moan moan moan, blah blah blah, yadda yadda...for gods sake, i'm sick of coming on here and seeing whinging ********.
Did you not do some research before buying it?

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

@dancairo, of course I did my research. If you would check my other posts you would know that. So do your research before posting stupid replies.

@Viipottaja, bloomberg did a while ago. the most we can expect is a dummy stock follow application port from iphone.
and I just spoke with Cisco in NY about telepresence and they have no plans of creating anything apart from VPN client for n900.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

I wrote an open letter to Nokia a few weeks ago, when I was new with my N900. A few things have changed since then, (for good), but I still angry for being treated as Beta tester rather than premium customer

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

[citation needed]

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

@freemanamg, did you get any reply?

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

that is what i am so excited about. more choice for the consumer (without apple or google)

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Could you post a link to Bloomberg's confirmation that they will not develop any apps for N900/Maemo/Meego? Thanks.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Gosh, your so dreamy, your like the Shaft of these boards! Go get 'em tiger!!

Or...

Cut it with the self importance rubbish. If you were that 'in' with Nokia, your mates would have told you this is how it would be. Considering your 'inside knowledge', you seem a little surprised at how things have panned out.

And what exactly did you expect from the first device to run a new OS? Did you not see it coming that things would take time, and there may be some teething issues? And if you don't like it, sell it and buy an Iphone. Open letter to Nokia, honestly! Founded on gossip and whispers.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

@Viipottaja subscribe to bloomberg professional/anywhere and ask your rep.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

I think there's a VERY BIG chance N900 will be supported by MeeGo... just because it's available today. Can you imagine what portable device the developers will be handed off to start developing on MeeGo's (alpha) builds today? Yeah, N900s.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Does anybody buy a device this days for what it does? Not for what a blog somewhere says it will do. Or imagination, or dreams. I was about to feel the same when it was announced that the n800 will not get a new version after diablo. Than I realized that my tablet is not less useful after knowing that new updates will not come.

Now that MeGoo (who thinks this names?) *might* not work did you loose multitasking ? native aps ? (as oposed custom crap on top of a kernel android) openness? debian? keyboard? fast cpu? web browsing?

If Microsoft will tell you that it plans releasing windows 8 128 bit that won't work on your current laptop will you curse and scream at hp/lenovo/whatever?

I still use an n800 daily even if Nokia dropped suport some time ago. Guess what people still develop for it, updates still come, and usable mer (maybe with 3d acc.) is just around the corner.

Heck if the n900 will run MeGoo everybody will start wining when Nokia will announce FeFloo.
Common, get over it! When you bought the n900 you didn't even know what the $%^& megoo is. Now everybody is wining that it won't work on the n900.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

not at all stupid actually...use the search to look for 'boo hoo my phone isn't all i'd imagined it to be' and such rubbish...
it's a great gadget..it works now and it will for the forseable whether nokia drop it or not...enjoy it and quid whining.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

The LG GW990?

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

if the OP actually worked for nokia he wouldnt be posting here unofficially and not knowing what is happening with the N900 (esp. since he speaks with execs)....

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

I never worked _for_ nokia Robert.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Although I think your first comment is quite hilarious, thank you for that, I have to firmly disagree with you. There's nothing unprofessional at all about a business relationship being used as an advantageous channel to address consumer issues with a company's product or service. Any channel available to someone should be used as much as possible! When is the last time you saw any major effort on a company's part based upon a single consumer complaint?! It never happens... that's why fortunately sometimes someone has a foot in the door and it allows him or her to get something addressed that is otherwise ignored or just pushed off to the side for "later review"

I often get product enhancements or design flaws addressed because I happen to be in contact with someone in the company on a regular basis. Any and all outlet to effect change is GOOD!

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Listen... I would be EXCITED for such a move if I did not OWN an n900... But now that I do own one... I can't help but feel disappointed... I can't help but feel that now the "flagship" phone is going to get bumped down (only been out a few months) on their priority list and once the new MeeGo devices pop out from Nokia it will even force the n900 further down. That is my problem. I feel like the life of this device has been shortened prematurely. Other than that I am interested to see the future but sad that I just bought this phone 2 weeks ago. I would have waited had I of known about this.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Hi Groeit, i just want to thank you for your engagement after reading the hate of the know-it-all types. You never know what's coming out of it until you try.
We just shouldn't expect a revolution - but speaking of me i only want Nokia to take a stand. I think they should play with open cards and tell us clearly what they want the future of the n900 to look like - so i appreciate your initiative.


Groeit, you asked for support, so i'll try to be constructive. I'll list some points i think should go into the letter. Of course it should be factual and we should try to not make it look like we want to threaten them, if we want to be taken seriously.

IMHO the main purpose of the letter should be to ask for clarification about whether Nokia will bring MeeGo to the N900.

It could also provide some possible disadvantages for Nokia if they do not plan MeeGo support for our beloved gadget.

E.g. I don't see a good future for enthusiastic community support if half of the current developer base is left behind. They should not want to destroy our trust.


I might subscribe the letter in the end. After reading it. ;-)

Woohoo! good vibes to the forums! :D



Edit: Since i think some people have misunderstood our concerns. This is not about wanting to have the newest and most shiny OS for the N900, but about the want to have a device that is relevant for a reasonable amount of time.

--
Grober Unfug? Feiner Fug!

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

In Turkey, we say "if you say something 40 times, it will happen".

I'm scared if there is a tiny little bit of truth in this saying, as this "meego will not run on N900" is mentioned about 40k times (still counting) in maemo forums.

Why can't people just be patient and see what days will bring?

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Simurg,
i bought 14 n900 devices for my team at work, hoping to be able to use it as a portable computer (we're all tech savvy and we know what we're doing with it). I am reasonably happy with it, and as we'll be considering move back to RIM (we've got already BES, no sign of that being ported on n900). That said I was a strong lobbyist of n900 for the whole company (32k employees, 99% with company blackberries). I'm happy i decided to get it for the team only, as an experiment.
I need to plan my moves a good year ahead, and (where I work) I am responsible for hi-tech market. As much as from hardware side i knew about n900 , changes etc... I wasnt aware of the software implications.
More - I didn't even pay for my n900 from my own pocket. I'm just being concerned as I do not wish nokia will make even more stupid decisions that will loose them thousands of customers.

@gobuki - thanks for support!

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

why am I afraid writing a letter to nokia here is like fuc*ing for virginity...? 80% of this forum's readers are n900 users, what else should we hope for ??

on the other hand, haven't you heard the man today saying they have not decided yet?

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Well what I can only say is that sending them such an email will not harm anyone. And 'we haven't decided yet' means - depends how much it will cost us. Basically.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Cisco doesn't need to port the SCCP client. My N800 works fine using the standard SIP client, in the Communications Manager ver 7. Also tried with 5, 6 and the beta of 8 and works with no problems.

Oh, and it also supports the presence status.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

Well said. This is why manufacturers dropping support for older products as they release new ones is of little concern to those who have been using open source software for any length of time.

Re: Letter to Nokia.
 

I completely agree. Call him troll or whatever you like but the sad truth is that Nokia doing what Groeit is suggesting they might would be them following a pattern and certainly not a surprise on any level for me.

The N900 is a fantastic device, but it is not finished. The basic functionality is seriously undermined by half-hearted attempts at the communications software which although full of flourishes of brilliance, is seriously under-specified.

Nokia do not communicate their intentions re: device support properly, if at all. There have been numerous phones in the past (N93 for example) which have had support promised for them only to be left unfinished, buggy and unstable. The N900 hardware is such that there is just no excuse (save poor planning, lack of interest or lack of profit) for not keeping it current and bringing new OSes to it.

Nokia have not really ever given cast iron assurances the N900 will ever be finished. Sure there've been a number of firmware updates so far but everything in the future is left to rumour, speculation and extrapolation by end-users. Nokia need to stop the marketing double-talk and just level with their customers.

A prime example is the fact that even as I write this I have no idea when the firmware update will come for my UK Vodafone N900, nor why when the rest of the world already seem to have it we don't. Nokia could and should be better than this... there IS a reason why Apple have done so well... they understand their market and how to communicate with it (/whip it into a frenzy)!