Yes, new tech comes out and the newer tech is better. Yes, older tech gets left behind. The thing that keeps getting brought up is how the N series is open source and we can always continue OS development on our own. The reality is, there hasn't seen an update since 1.5 years after the N770's release that's stable. OS2007HE is as far as I dare go. There's the bug where if there's too many hot spots, or perhaps an N router around, the N770 will not give you a list of hot spots. The way to get around this is to "hug" the N770 and block the extra signals until you get a list. It's a known, well reported bug and it's yet to be fixed. Do developers like hugging their N770? Wouldn't this be something to fix? All the N770 developers have moved on... The support isn't any better than if you just bought an iPhone or any other phone. The possibility of continued OS development doesn't exist in the practical sense. There aren't enough developers to support the N770, N800, and N810 in the long run.

Lesson: If a particular N series meets your needs today, buy it. Don't expect support for more than 1.5 years. Open source will not help you, whether that's due to too many components being closed or developers moving on. There's no advantage to open source /in this case/ (not talking about desktops/laptops/netbooks).