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.
Man, I dunno about your iPod, but in a 5800 it is a problem.
Not the accelerometer itself, mind you, but the way it "helpfully" rotates your screen.
And I still do not understand how it is related to the smallish screen size planned for N900.
Not giving any. First, I was not talking about wanting or not wanting to buy it, but simply of not being the "target audience" for the device. Secondly, notice that I have used "pretty much none of us". So, you've still got your ticket into the target audience lounge
Actually, it does, if you consider that many consumers (adults too) would rather save those extra $400.
[...] I'm happy for those who want an open Linux converged device. I can't see why "my group" can't likewise get an updated NIT. I want you to have your cake and for us to have ours, too.