I agree that the life span of the N9 is only a fraction of the N900. This is rather strange actually, since the N9 sold 10-20 folds even more compared with the N900.

The N9 has the design, Linux and Swipe and it is definitely a modern smartphone. The N900 was (is) more of micro sized Linux box with phone capabilities.

I have had the Lumia 8000 a couple of weeks now, and except for apps (not as good as Android, but WP has some pretty high quality games, and lots of other stuff), it is already getting old. I have had some Androids, and they have also "aged" very fast. The N8 though is almost 2 years old, and is still going strong, both as a phone, but also commercially.

Why is that? WP is easy. It is designed to be boring. It is designed for people that don't like smartphones. The problem is, people who don't like smartphones gets dumb phones, or a feature phone at the most, they don't get smartphones, I mean duh. At the same time, more and more day to day stuff are being incorporated into the smartphone (banking, tickets, payment etc), so even though lots of people don't want a smartphone, this doesn't mean their lives wouldn't get easier in a everyday practical sense with a smartphone. Still, IMO those people have no need or urge for games and apps. They only want the services, and they don't like paying loads of money for big screens, quad processors etc that are only good for games. The answer for these people is a cheap Android, not an expensive WP.

Do a bit of (polite) trolling on any WP fan site (for WP fanboys). The impression you get is that they try hard to convince themselves and others that WP is what they need and want in a practical sense. WP gets the job done. They may be right, 100% right, but WP is not what they desire. The SGS3 on the other hand gets everything done and satisfies all their desires. This is ancient knowledge actually. People chose technology based on desire, they aspire for something with lots of possibilities even though they would never use any of it. WP leaves nothing to desire.

WP is a total commercial failure. The people who have no desires for smartphones/technology walk out of the store with a cheap Android because it gets the job done. People who do desire technology/smartphones walk out with a top end Android. The rest, people with no desires and no clue about their needs, walk out with an iPhone, because it is the easy choice.

Back to N9/N900. It's essentially the WP problem. The N900 satisfies the desire for a pocketable Linux box, whether you actually need it or not. The N9 does not, even though Swipe is nice, the design is beautiful and so on. The N9 is just a phone, and not a particularly desirable one if you look past the design and Swipe.