Thread: What I want in the 770 follow-up...
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2006-07-03 , 22:08
Posts: 1,245 | Thanked: 421 times | Joined on Dec 2005
#13
Originally Posted by Bowie
Easy.

1) GET RID OF GNOME/HILDON. Simply put, it's bloat, and doesn't deliver the bang-per-buck that a simple X11+WindowMaker or other GNUStep desktop delivers. Not only would our tablets be faster and more responsive, but we'd have oodles more memory available. Unfortunately, I don't think this is ever going to happen, primarrily because the people working on the 770 have never seen a Linux box that didn't have GNOME or KDE installed. *sigh*. I'm on the verge of doing this myself, just to see how big the difference is.
X11+Windowmaker is not going to sell Nokia 770s to the general public. And kudos for insulting the linux experience of people that decided to build their operating system on top of linux. Maybe next time they'll choose Windows Mobile just to spite you (or to make you happy?).

Originally Posted by Bowie
2) MORE APPLICATIONS. Don't just release the tablet and expect a cult following! Maemo is a good start, but there should have been boatloads of programs already ported before the device even hit the shelves. It can't be that hard. The 2006 OS just came out, and the application package shelves are still bare. What the hell have you guys been up to in the past year?
The device does what it is intended and advertised to do. If that's not enough for you, don't buy it.

Originally Posted by Bowie
3) GIVE UP ON HANDWRITING RECOGNITION. Nobody uses it!
Hard to argue here, although there are at least a few people using it, and this is something that could actually be improved at the software level (i.e. without a hardware upgrade), so I don't think we need to give up on it just yet.

Originally Posted by Bowie
4) USE A LOW-POWER CPU WITH AN X86 INSTRUCTION SET. They exist! Solves problem #2 in one fell swoop, too, while making future applications that much easier to eventually see running on a 770 as well. I write apps for X11, and the only thing stopping me from writing apps for the 770 is the whole ridiculous gnome/hildon/maemo/arm mess that I neither have the time nor the patience to learn.
I don't see a problem with the arm processor, and using an x86 processor would most definitely not automatically solve "problem" #2, especially if you're also taking out the gnome infrastructure. What more would you be able to run? xeyes? Yee haw. (By the way, I'm pretty sure xeyes could be built for an arm processor.)

Originally Posted by Bowie
5) ENCOURAGE HACKING. Word of mouth = $$$.
I think they've done a pretty good job of this. I had never been a part of a serious open source project until I picked up my Nokia 770 and decided that I needed a better navigation system than GPSDrive (which is, by the way, a perfect counter-example to your "problem" #4). Oh, and an open-source gnome infrastructure greatly encourages hacking - taking out the gnome part would reduce the hackability for those of us already familiar with the GTK libraries.

Originally Posted by Bowie
6) INCLUDE USEFUL TOOLS. It's been a year, and there still isn't a useable rdesktop client out there, or a clock/calendar that makes any sense. VNC is a mess. Where's the standard slate of PDA tools? Yes, I know, I know, it's an "internet tablet", not a PDA. But guess what. It's a PDA.
Is this the same as "problem" #2? This non-problem is worthy of two separate "problem" enumerations?

Originally Posted by Bowie
7) MAKE IT FUN. How long would it have taken to get MAME or at least an Atari 2600 emulator ported to it? Hell, most PDA game shops are struggling to survive. A couple free 770's and $5000 cash would give any shop a real boost, and something cool for everyone to use.
Buy a PSP. The Nokia 770 is not a toy, although 3rd party development may someday allow it to perform some of the operations of one.