Hi all, *waves*, & Happy New Maemo !

My name is Sam. I'm a long time lurker, first time poster.

I live in Ely, near Cambridge, UK. I'm an IT Architect who commutes into London via the train a lot....

One lunchtime in November, I casually strolled into the Nokia Flagship London store (high celings, lots of flat screens, funky staff & a Maemo den !) ago having done quite a bit of google/youtube/maemo.org research, and walked out with a shiny new N900.....

I *Love* my N900. I know it's only a phone but I spend so much time with it that I regard it as more than that. Hence me joining this forum. I want to contribute to making this device better, and to learn more about Maemo. My technical background is mainly Windows - right from 3.1, through NT 4, Server 2003 & Citrix. But Windows is designed around the mouse & not for phones.....I've also dabbled in DOS, AIX5.3 & Red Hat so I know my way around the command line....although my experience of Debian Linux is limited.

So far I've been blessed with only a few hangs..usually due to the bad signal on the train in the Fenlands on the way home. The Vodafone UK 3G signal is patchy outside of the cities...but it's excellent in London & Cambridge. I hope the 3G signal will only improve with time.

Why the N900 ? Well apart from a brief affair with a SE W800 I've always owned Nokias & have a bit of brand loyalty. I owned the 2110i, 3110, 3210 in 1993 & my favourite: the 6210. Recently I've been using a 6124 which although it mostly met my needs, doesn't surf very well & has a tiny screen. Wouldn't say I was a fanboy so much. Although I've never been a huge fan of Symbian.

Althought the iphone is an impressive smartphone for the handbag market, I've never been impressed with Apple products right from the ipod upwards. My main gripe is the lack of full OS access & exploitation of music.....plus the lack of FM radio support. My generation grew up listening to the radio.....and Apple doesn't promote that since it can't make money from it. Maybe I'm an idealist but the iphone is locked down in so many ways hardware & software. If I spend so much money on a device with an OS, I expect it to do precisely what I want it to do - like on my PC or laptop - especially where the OS is concerned.

My main uses are phoning & texting & surfing. I would like email as well but only during work hours.....(is this possible on the n900)

Anyway, enough of me wibbling on....I have quite a few queries for all you Maemo experts.....Looking forward to meeting you all on what is already looking like a very busy ....but forward-thinking.....forum !

Cheers,

Sam

P.s. Forgot to mention I had a Psion 3a too.....and the N900 keyboard gives me major deja-vu...in a good way !