I stand guilty as charged. But not particularly sorry.

Anyway, to get back on topic...I say Nokia is ahead - not behind! Hear me out. BTW,a large part of what follows is from a post I did in the MeeGo forum...

As has been said, Apple got where they are by bringing out a (seemingly) new, (somewhat) compelling product and expertly marketing the hell outta the thing. But they - and other companies - have been in such a position before and fallen. History shows that eventually, open (or even semi-open) systems will eventually break the stranglehold of totally closed ones, even if a closed system is technically superior. Monopolies never last forever.

Support of an OS by many companies against that of one company is how Microsoft overtook Apple's early lead in PCs and how Android will likely soon overtake the iPhone's early lead (leaving Symbian aside for the moment). Like Apple did with PCs, Sony tried to rule VCRs with the closed BetaMax system, allowed on only their hardware, but were overtaken by the VHS system because it was supported by many manufacturers. Choice and price eventually wins out. Nokia and Intel aren't ignorant of that kind of tech history.

In America advertising is everything. Americans are generally tech-stupid. They buy what they're told or popular, not what's best. The same can be said elsewhere, but we Americans are particularly gullible. Nokia realized promoting Maemo by themselves even with a massive and expensive ad campaign probably wasn't going to be enough for Maemo to get where it needed to be in terms of market share and developer interest. For long-term survival in the smartphone/pocket computer marketplace against Apple, RIM and Android, it's obvious that it would take strength in numbers - really big numbers. So Nokia smartly teamed up with another absolute monster in Intel to add clout, resources and respectibility to MeeGo. And open-sourced MeeGo to add further incentive for other companies to get on board.

Add to all that the fact that Maemo/MeeGo is the most capable, advanced mobile OS currently in sight. No, the most technically advanced system doesn't always win in the marketplace, but it can't hurt that it's the one mobile OS designed from the start for pocket computing, not simply as a smartphone OS. MeeGo will be ready for whatever future hardware and software can throw at it for the next 2-3 even 5 years.

All the above is kinda obvious to readers here I know, but I just wanted to state clearly why IMHO MeeGo + Qt is a solid plan. Why I say Nokia has in fact not been left behind, but is actually ahead! Back when they were developing the N900 Nokia was already thinking in terms that other companies hadn't seriously considered - not of 'smartphones' but real pocket computers. And that if their plan is properly executed it could make MeeGo huge in 2-3 years. Now, what would be properly executing the plan?

1. Get MeeGo on hardware from multiple manufacturers.
2. Apps, baby! Lotsa apps!
3. Market the hell outta MeeGo!