I believe I can see where you're coming from/what you're getting at, but I'm still not convinced.

For the iPhone/Pre/Android crowd Nokia is obviously shooting for, as I wrote in some other post somewhere, you're probably right.

But for *us*, as you write at the end of that first paragraph ? As in, us here on itt/tmo, already using tablets ? I think we fall in one of two camps.

One is the Wifi-only users, some of which have repeatedly and firmly stated here that they have no mobile phones, and/or want nothing to do with data plans for various reasons. I don't think a "convergence device" will change anything to that.

The other camp is all those who do have a mobile, a data plan, and already tether their tablets. All those things you describe, and more, I have been doing since December of 2005 with my 770 and N8x0. As you say, it *is* a paradigm shift : I actually bought my first personal mobile phone *after* and *for* the tablet, and it's become a way of life.

What I really don't see yet is how this "convergence" thing benefits me, personally.

Do I resent carrying two devices ? No. Sometimes I have three (a 10" netbook).

I already have a phone that does two things the tablets don't : GSM voice and PIM sync at my workplace. Tethering the tablets through it with bluetooth works a charm. Why should I need something else ? I can't think of a good reason, but I have plenty of reasons why I don't...

Let's count :

1) upgradability : tablets still don't have decent competition right now, but phones are a dime a dozen. This is my fourth (second-hand) modem/phone since I got started with the 770. Along the way I went from EDGE to 3G to 3G+. What if I buy a 3G+ N900 this year, and 4G starts rolling out next year ?

2) independence : tablets are unshackled, phones aren't. Over the last two years I switched operators three times in the hunt for the best data plan. What if the N900 is sold by only one operator in my country, like the iPhone was until recently ?

3) dezoning : you could buy (or sell) a 770 or N800 anywhere in the world, it didn't make any difference. With the N810 there is the pesky nag of the keyboard layout, but one may choose to compromise on that. But if your cell radio is CDMA or GSM or whatever, you're pretty well bound to those networks.

4) battery life : two devices means two batteries. The tablet's takes care of computing, the phone's takes care of transmission. And those 3G+ speeds are real greedy leeches. My E71 has the same battery capacity as the tablets - that's twice the juice.

5) versatility : yes, I use my tablet a lot. But sometimes I don't have it with me, or it's just quicker and simpler to whip out the phone for something really simple (weather etc.). The phone also does VoIP more naturally and with less fuss than the tablet. Then again I sometimes spend a day in a meeting with my netbook, which I also tether to the phone for net access. That's three devices I can use that single data plan with ; four, if you count my home desktop when my DSL line is fubared ; six, given that I happen to have three tablets :-)

6) resilience : phone dead ? Buy/borrow another and stick the SIM inside. Stuck in a corner of a room with poor reception ? Position the phone a few meters away near a window and use your tablet/netbook from your seat. Etc.

This all practical, real-life experience. At the moment all that "convergence" stuff is purely virtual to me. Maybe in a year or two I'll see the light and change my mind, but for now it does sound like somebody else pushing their own interests, rather than mine...