If you don't mind, there are a few things in what you've stated that echo a lot of perceptions many have said here, which should probably be addressed. This isn't necessarily personally to the quoted person, but it applies to that person and others who share their viewpoint:

There's no platform that doesn't have a specific "personality" or "character" that doesn't take some getting used to. What is more or less shocking is that you went into this platform with the Nokia experience and brand so powerfully etched in your mind that in not getting that accustomed or expected experience, you felt as if in coming here (maemo.org) that you'd get some solace and possibly someone(s) to explain things in a manner similar to what you were used to from your previous Nokian experiences...

...this isn't the Nokia experience that *anyone* is used to. If after watching those videos you still kept this viewpoint and therefore got to this level of disappointment at the level of knowledge and language that this community has developed, then it would be you/the purchaser who needs to adjust.

Speaking first as a reviewer, secondly as a (once) user: there are a lot of items missed in reviews. Given that many of the earlier reviews came from reviewers who either knew the product, or didn't have a Nokian experience to base things on, you should expect a few missing pieces. Even still, most of these issues were spoken about during Maemo 5's development process which wasn't hidden from anyone who was willing to dig into a mailing list or two.

I still resist the notion that the N900 is a phone first. Part of that has to do with its industrial design, the rest with the platform's lineage and design-as-is. To that end, coming from a smartphone and expecting this to pick up where your smartphone (or smartphone expectations) left off is misguided. For one, this device is of a type that hasn't been done before to this scale. For two, Nokia - in announcing the device - were all but open in talking about some of the UX gaps (with many others being exposed by those early reviewers).

Its up to the user to adjust their perceptions, and then evaluate the user experience on that. Its not up to Nokia - at least not at this point.

Spiritually, yes, its a natural progression from the N95/97. Totally. Like the N95, this device and its platform are unchartered areas for mobile, and Nokia knows this. Fans and apologists of this platform know this. And those who adjust their perceptions after doing a bit of homework know this. Its when we are ruled by our perceptions of what mobile in *this device* should be - or, we carry the legacy perceptions and expectations from previous devices - that we are disappointed.

There's nothing wrong with being disappointed. But to be disappointed will always equate to a lack of viewing things in their correct light, and adjusting your boundaries accordingly - or in other words, its not the object (Nokia) that needs to change, but the subject (you, the user).

If there's anything that Nokia has shown with every device, including the N95 that you quoted in having, is that in time that their devices not only get better, but the vision of how Nokia sees them is realized by the users. For those that manage to stick with a device through these iterations, these impressions of being a finished and polished product resonate towards expectations of other devices. In some respects, Nokia has done well in starting from a finishing point (see the N85 to N86), in others not as well (see the N95 to N96 to N97).

Point being, they have improved the device(s) and services offered with them over time. Given the very unexpected and public reactions that Nokia has received about the N900, and the anticipation that many still have about Maemo/MeeGo, they've got time to get things right and make the final impression of the N900 a very solid one.

You might need to learn a bit of Linux, you might have to become active in this and/or other Maemo/MeeGo communities, and you might end up leaving this device/platform for something else - only to come back to this because you were missing *something.* Whatever happens, you make the choice to purchase, and now you've got to make the choice to adjust your perceptions.

Expressing discontent doesn't fix anything. It might spark a few folks towards making a change. But, that will fizzle out in time. Turning your discontent into something that willingly and directly creates opportunity for others is more enabling - and more follows the ethos of what it means to purchase and use the N900. If you (or anyone else really) can wrap your perceptions around that, you'll find less time to be disappointed, and more time to create a better mobile experience.