AbelMN, thanks for the post, a very considered response.

I know Canola has too few options right now, but that could be fixed without changing its thumb-based interface. It's the interface I'm interested in, not the lack of options.

I do agree that a strength of Nokia's portable devices is that they can do stuff, they all have free SDKs available to anyone who wants them along with development forums and websites. It's not all open source, but Nokia's far more open than most device manufacturers.

However, a certain amount of "blingbling" wrapping is needed to get the sales coming in to grow the platform. I'm not talking about a "look what this can do!" thing but interfaces where people can immediately see how to do something. For example simple things like labelling the icons would help, and putting shortcuts to the most frequently used applications on the front page of the interface would be a good idea.

Just to put this in terms of new users, when I've shown Canola to newbies they've been much more interested in the device and willing to explore its features. I think an interface like Canola would help get the tablets off shop shelves and into people's pockets, which is the most important thing that a software platform needs to succeed.

It's worth remembering of course that we're just talking about the interface here, not the application platform. The apps could still run pretty much like they do now, it would just be a question of how people get to those apps. I think a Canola-style interface offers a more intuitive and logical means to find applications.