I would be curious what you see as the difference in technology? The N900 shares its CPU with other smartphones and it is no longer the fastest smartphone CPU. The N900 shares the Linux core of its OS with other OSs. It has a keyboard but so do some other smartphones. It has a less limited browser than some smartphones but with others it's a close race. The revolutionary step in smartphones has been mutlitasking and that step was taken by the Palm Pre and is shared with many other smartphones at this point.

As far as making it do what you need, that's nothing to do with technology and it's not revolutionary, it's reactionary. It dates back to the days when computers didn't come with any software, not even an OS. You made them do what you needed them to do. I have enough trouble making my kids do what I need them to do. When it comes to my smartphone, I would rather buy something that does what I need.

Like it or not, the N900 is a smartphone and all it's computing capabilities are what make it "smart" but they do not make it a real "computer" as the world has come to know that term. It's a great toy for progammers and it has the potential to be a great smartphone but there are still a lot of rough edges and not a lot of good apps.