N900 came out in 2009, but back then I was stuck with a Symbian phone (the lame Nokia 5320, the 3G-less version), and still thought I was "good" at messing with phones... Until I read on the net that N900 as well as HD2 can run multiple OS and has great raw processing power.
Then in 2011, time to change my phone, I made a wishlist of all sub-$500 smartphones available, including competitors like HD2 and Milestone 2, but N900 finally persuaded me because 1) it has QWERTY and 2) it is Nokia.
It has been in active use for 2 years, during which it led me to a far more complicated and interesting realm, thanks to its Linux interior, and even served as my Android entry device that helped me grow attached to and know more about Android (NITDroid still rock!) But this spring, when it's once more used for calls & SMS, I found its battery life extremely disappointing (compared to my other Android devices) and opted for something else in June - a Nexus 4.
But guess what - on the same day I purchased the Nexus 4, I got another phone I longed for: an N9! Yep I've been drooling over N9's design and its better hardware for too long, I've even test drived NITDroid Alpha 5 (JellyBean) on my classmate's unit, and now I have my own unit to play with! It's now my second-in-command device, though battery life is still not ideal, it's now capable of serving me some more months until I put both N900 and N9 into my collection box...
And yes, there'll never ever be a QWERTY device as good as an N950. I long for one, as a dream, forever.