After pondering the possibility of a maemo phone, I find myself looking forward to its possibility. I would like a phone that gives me access to the command line, understands python gtk and/or qt and lets me install open source apps alongside Nokia apps or purchasable apps. If the phone can do this, I may end up getting one.

In fact with such a phone, I suspect the N810 may start to gather dust alongside my Zaurus.

Do you know how many internet tablets or zaurii I have seen in the wild? Zero. The number of people I see each day with an iphone or blackberry or in the past a treo is too numerous to count.

When I first got my internet tablets I kept going back to my Zaurii and pining away for all the features of the Zaurus I had come to love. You know what, after using the N810 for awhile now, I don't use my Zaurus. Although I still have nostalgia for the Zaurus and the community built up around it. What I found is that while I lost some things that the Zaurus had, I gained some other uses I hadn't envisioned or appreciated.

I suspect with the N900 it will be the same. Some features will be lost; however, the N900 will potentially enable so many other uses that I expect I'll look back at the N810 with nostalgia but won't pull it out too much.

For me personally, I think that 3.5 in versus 4 in is close enough that what I use the N810 for I'll be able to use the N900 for. Yes the smaller screen may make web surfing a bit more difficult -- but I also haven't heard anyone complain about being able to use a web browser on a blackberry or a an iphone.

Also, for me I have some uses for which a 4 in screen is not enough and for which I would like a larger screen. For a desktop in the pocket, something like a UMID with Linux may work for me and would be a complement to a mameo phone. For reading unflowable pdfs, couch surfing, and perhaps pulling out at the hotel to do some light office work over citrix I need a 7 to 10 in screen in a thin tablet with a bluetooth or detachable keyboard. That is a niche that hasn't been filled yet for me, although the Touchbook looks intriguing.

My vision is to be able to choose my device based on what I am doing, but to have one set of data (not on someone elses's servers). When I get home, the phone communicates with the tablet so I can pick up the tablet and all my data is there. I can do work on the tablet, grab the phone and all my new data is there. I get in the car, the phone communicates with my GPS device with a bigger screen so I can pull up a new contact and meeting location and get directions.