If you liked the N810, you'll love the N900...

I just released a new Diablo package and so I had to spend some time working in OS2008. It was a real shock at how much better the N900's browser is. It's like all the best stuff from Tear and OS2008 browser, plus some extra cool stuff.

I'm not worried about former tablet owners. If you owned a tablet, and you've been reading here, then you'll be prepared for the problems you're going to face -- yes, the screen is smaller, but it is bright and sharp, which makes up for a lot (but not everything). Yes, there's no USB host. Yes, normal "desktop" apps look terrible on the new UI. Etc, etc.

But you already know these things, and you're prepared for them. That means you'll be pleasantly surprised by all the new toys you're getting, and how well they all work. Because, with the old tablets, you expected everything to not-quite-work, or work-if-you're-patient, or work-with-hacks... So many things on the N900 work well. It is such a pleasant surprise!

New users who have been exposed to neither the tablets nor the iPhone will be simply blown away by the N900. iPhone users will come in with a lot of wrong preconceptions, and so may be unhappy with the N900 at first, but if they stick with it long enough to get used to the Maemo approach to doing things, I think they'll find it to be equal if not better than the Apple offering. But there's that initial learning hump to get over, and I don't know how many long-time iPhone users would want to bother with it, since the N900 really isn't an "iPhone killer", only an "iPhone competitor" or peer...

Honestly I don't know what an iPhone killer would look like. What kind of features would make people drop their iPhones and rush to the new platform? Nothing that's currently on the market, in my opinion...