I know what the n800/810 did for me. They allowed me to tether to my iDEN phone via BT and take advantage of its always on, GPRS data connection. They still do.

I couldn't do this at first so I came here, to this forum. I learned a clunky work around from the denizens here, learned that it was a bug that should be reported, learned how to report that bug, reported it, and waited for it to be addressed in a subsequent firmware release.

As a result, I have been connected to the net for free with a full featured browser through a cheaper, throw away phone for almost 3 years now.

Historically, that's pretty good for me...

You are right though, if I had bought an N800 or N810 in the last months of that firmware's life cycle and was the first to discover this bug I would be SOL.

The same would be true for any device I buy under those conditions. The difference would be Nokia's involvement with this community.

If the device was purchased from another manufacturer I would have been SOL from day one and would likely still be. Nokia also takes it on the "sales" chin for its involvement with our community because we may know more about product life cycles and can use that history you speak of to make informed decisions regarding future purchases. Because these bugs were reported and fixed during their life cycle, 770's & N800/810's continue to be very useful. Their build quality keeps them coming back into the used market also affecting the sales of newer devices.

I am not "leaping in" to defend Nokia or any other manufacturer for that matter. It is just that as I am getting older I find that I may have actually participated in some of the history that is referred to, and that's what prompted my response. The eventual payoff for Nokia imho may be that because of that history, more and more Nokia devices will end up in the hands of future users.

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In getting back to the OP's topic...

The N900 gives me a much faster data connection using a familiar browser and interface that has improved over the past 3 years. Now I can do this from the same device instead of having to carry two.