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ArnimS is offline ArnimS
2007-04-02 , 08:47
Posts: 1,107 | Thanked: 720 times | Joined on Mar 2007 @ Germany
#14
Milhouse,

I feel compelled to raise questions in response to your comments:

Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
The quality of the applications on Internet Tablets is very, very poor - they're full of bugs which are never addressed which sets a general tone for the devices and prevents them from being taken seriously.
I can only speak for the 770 (and this is a 770 thread), but since upgrading to latest IT2006 i haven't had any Nokia app crash or even behave strangely. What bugs are you talking about? Could it be that your post is full of allegations which are never supported which sets a general tone that prevents them from being taken seriously?

Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
In my opinion the apps shipped with the device should be excellent quality or not shipped at all - the sub-standard dross (Email, RSS, general lack of integration and UI consistency)
So you would prefer to pay a third-party company a lot of money for applications of 'excellent quality', developed for a new OS in very limited time. OK then: Divide the software development costs by the number of end-users of the app and then divide that by the fraction of people who would actually pay for (rather than pirate) the software to get the marginal cost, per app, that your proposal entails.

How are these 'sub standard dross' for bundled applications? Can you name for us a free application bundle - developed in-house for a comparable device in a comparable timeframe - that are 'excellent quality' by your ineffable standards? What do you mean by 'lack of integration' and what UI elements are inconsistent, exactly?

Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
The total lack of control that Nokia have over the browser shows a lack of ambition - Nokia should replace the browser with one of their own (Minimo, S60, whatever) which would allow them to drive the platform forward rather than wait for Opera.
The total lack of analysis that you have provided shows a lack of cognition - How is Minimo, S60 or "whatever" better?

Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
Nothing about the software shipped with the tablets screams of quality, and it's expecting an awful lot from third-party developers for them to ship quality products built on such a shaky foundation. Canola is an excellent product but is often flawed and limited by underlying problems with the stock Nokia firmware. Same goes for mplayer.
Nothing about the comments contained in your post screams of quality, and it's expecting an awful lot from third-party developers like myself to understand what you mean by 'such a shaky foundation'. How is Canola 'often flawed' but not always? What do you imagine to be the underlying problems with the stock Nokia firmware? What causes you displeasure with mplayer? I find it to be one of the most flexible and powerful media players ever made, and with the accelerated YUV/RGB it just 'screams' on my 770.

Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
Nokia customer support for Internet Tablets is a farce. The promised but apparently now "not going to happen" support for 770s is an outrage.
What encounters with Nokia support lead you to call it a farce? I own a 770 and just installed the latest maemo2.1 released in November 2006. That's a free, current OS upgrade that has made my device rock-solid.

Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
The missing-in-action accessories (the N800 case? Where's the freaking case?) smacks of ineptitude - they remove the hard cover but are incapable of offering any alternative screen protection within a reasonable time frame.
Here is your first concrete point, and I agree that the n800 would have been better with a cover or a case. But if you decide to purchase a product without a case, you will get a product without a case. Do you also publically slam the manufacturer if you buy a jacket without a hood? Did Nokia falsely advertise the 800 as having a cover?

Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
"Half-assed" is being kind to Nokia. I'm a big fan of what they are trying to achieve but even I am slowly losing my patience. Between now and the "N900" they need to step it up, or frankly just give it up and not bother.
Comparing my 770, where over 90% of things are 'right', against your post in which over 90% of your claims are unsupported, I wonder whom to respect more; Nokia, who develops a new OS and creates an entirely new category of low cost Internet tablet, or someone who doesn't 'bother' to create a constructive, cogent critique?

To be taken seriously, a critique or analysis of a product must reflect some understanding of the field; it must compare like products based on similar technology being sold at a comparable price point.

To not be taken seriously, a critique or analysis can compare bundled apps for a new OS on a niche product with a small user base to high price commercial software, or to the best-of-breed open-source software from the PC world, or to some thoughtless users perfect personal fantasy wish-ware.

Arnim