It appears one of Nokia strengths is also one of its perceived weaknesses.

Let me start by saying I bought my Nokia 770 (and n800) to do a specific job; replace my laptop when I travel. I need simple applications; email, web, remote access (to our business systems) and a way of giving presentations to customers. The nokia does all this and fits in my pocket: Job done!

Now compare it with other platforms (windows mobile for example) and you discover its amazing strength and weakness. And as an aside you also become aware of the difference between the Microsoft and Nokia approach to the market.

I used to use an xda 2i. It worked well for email, was limited for web browsing and useless for remote access (even though it came with the remote desktop software). But from the day I got it out of the box until the day I put it in a cupboard it ran the same software and had the same limitations! There was a small range of third party software product available - all of them over priced for the functionality offered.

So to the utopia that is my n770 and then n800. The email client is no doubt weak but claws-mail isn't! A free, stable, easy to install alternative - oh yes and fast! The standard web browser is fine 90% of the time but can't access our company intranet because of the windows security but minimo does - no problem...oh yes and it was free, stable and easy to install. (I think I can see a pattern)...RDesktop (version 0.1 worked for me....version 0.4 is much improved)...VNC (a little messing with the first releases but they worked, the current version on my n800 is excellent).

The point is simple: n800 is a very diverse platform and can be moulded to the needs of the individual. My requirements are the next persons requirements and what nokia has achieved is to build a trully portable platform (it still fits in my pocket!), with good battery life AND made it so that people can extend the platform with software.

So what to criticise? Well I can understand; the standard email client and web browser have limitations which really give a very poor perception - and beyond that video stopping after 20 minutes or so was another limitation (now fixed on my n800).

If this was a Microsoft device the platform would not exist because commercially it is too hard to control. Who is the typical n770/n800 owner? What do they want to do with the device? What is important to them? These questions are hard to answer. So Nokia have simply thrown out a rather "unfocused" device and said to people "See what you can make of this". As I result my expectations of the n770/n800 may be vastly different from the next persons; who may have even more different expectations than the next person.

The price of this freedom is organic development. Which means that the software I would like to see developed might happen very slowly but the software you want happens quickly - for example I have no interest in Canola! (It does sound like a pasta dish to me).