Couple of other interesting quotes from Dr Jääksi's blog entry:

Hmmm. Nokia device policy (only one top end model; no proliferation in sight) is certainly aimed at keeping their Maemo more or less exclusive. Just maybe licensing has something to do with it as well.

Since my N800 was obsoleted by the "dangerous" Maemo platform (and later its screen became useless for text or images) I've spent more time following the mainstream tech media rather than fanboying around Nokia, but I've learned enough of this Maemo 5 to know that it's not the danger here. Nokia's strategy is.

There are, to put it simply, tech fanatics (incl. us), "normal folks" and then the technophobes.

Nokia's reaching a fraction of the first category with their Maemo (+ N900) strategy and very few users in the other two. Symbian still has some staying power in the other two categories (largely thanks to their massive channel), but that is vanishing fast, especially in the middle category.

Meanwhile Android is almost everywhere, whether you like it or not. Large number of different devices is coming out with it, there's competition, media and developer mindshare, decent service offerings from Google and support for many others, no apparent planned obsolescense for the devices...

Now, I don't even follow Android, but I can't help seeing new device reviews and general excitement or promise thereof... while Maemo news are few, far between and often smell of Nokia's corporate involvement.

So, shoot me for losing my early excitement about Maemo. I know it's more open in some ways, but how does it improve my life (unless I buy the specific Nokia device about to ship later this month, obsoleted by Maemo 6?)?

Nokia's lost this early adopter (and like many others like me, I do sometimes influence the decisions of those around me) and while their minitablet phone is bound to find new customers I still feel that Nokia control and exclusivity over the Maemo platform is indeed a bit dangerous game to play.

Phones are indeed computers, but what matters is how you deliver a good user experience to as many people as possible and not just to the daredevil types.

This soap box is slippery...