It's also an incomplete list, just some of the initial supporters. As Gen Antilles said, "Fujitsu, Qualcomm, Samsung and others were in the room..." Those 3 major players weren't even on that list of initial supporters I linked.

Part of success is showing 'this is how it will work' instead of 'this is why it will fail'. Much easier to complain and point out weaknesses than to stay positive and work to your strengths. That's part of why more businesses fail than succeed.

When I got one of the first G1s, I'd show it to people and they'd be curious because of the Google thing, but then disappointed and put off by how little it could actually do and the total lack of apps. Android had one phone with 3G that worked on one carrier, T-Mobile (in the US). But I knew Android would be a monster.

With the N900 it's kinda the same thing all over, but Maemo/MeeGo is already much more mature and in a better position now than Android was then. It's a more powerful, more open OS on better hardware and with much broader manufacturer support already. And again I have a very good feeling about where MeeGo will be in a couple of years.