I'm creating a separate post to go off on a little "rant" here.

Before it was even launched, the 770 had a scope. It had an agenda. Nokia defined the product and laid out their plans for its deployment. That included intended use.

Those last two words are key-- lay them aside for a moment.

The N800 refined this. Suddenly the device had a home: Multimedia Devices (hence the N prefix). Under that aegis, its intended use as an internet tablet was broadened a bit. Multimedia applications were now a must. The argument could be made that the current state of the Internet supports this, as Flash and other media formats are driving viewership. No contradiction, no fuzziness there... just an expanded scope. For sake of the point I'm going to make I'll gloss over the debate over how effective or ineffective this effort has been. The point is the scope.

Users have been of course thrilled over easter eggs like the FM radio, because it enables them to shed a device. It functions well enough that most are happy with this solution, from what I can see. But this can cause confusion for people being told the N800 is an INTERNET TABLET. The FM radio is sweet, but certainly not internet related.

The confusion is compounded further by, of all ironic aspects, the degree of openness and other functionality. A programmable Linux device! With WiFi! And VOIP! That's not an internet tablet folks-- that's a new form factor for laptops. Call it a palm top ().

So here we come to the point: the device's scope is, to an extent, now getting out of Nokia's hands. The users have taken the ball and run. They see potential that isn't confined by the borders of the Multimedia Device defintion. They see that this little jewel crosses into Enterprise Devices with swaggering ease... that is, as long as the support is there.

But Nokia sticks steadfastedly to prior goals. Qgil and ragnar now ask for community input (thank God for that!) on specifics but, we've already provided it, many times. Maybe it needs to now be hunted, gathered, collated and stapled for ease of consumption, but it's there! We've offered our feedback. We've explained our needs and wants ad infinitum. And now we the community find ourselves wrestling for a steering wheel because we're impatient with progress and argumentive over Nokia's current scope for the platform. Nokia isn't going to give up the bus, but maybe we can find consensus. Nokia would certainly benefit from listening to users that represent potential new customers and then changing course where viable to grab more market share.

I don't think the debate needs to be contentious though (we have recent proof right here) nor does it need to dwell on absolutes and unrealistic expectations. IMO what's needed here is a council. That's right: a body of community reps who can distill the chaos here into concise bullet points fit for the Powerpoint presentations that drive Nokia as a company (). I recommend people like Milhouse and fpp and thoughtfix and even that ol' curmudgeon Karel for starters. And there should be strong debate even among this body, so that all viewpoints are presented and no assumptions are presented as data. Maybe we even need a new forum section for Tablet Advocacy...lol.

Anyway, just more blathering from me I know... but what do you guys think?

/soapbox