I think Nokia killed the enthusiasm by pushing forward Qt as the sensible framework to program in on the N900 (and upcoming Meego) and yet, there is no easy way to deploy and use these apps before 1.2 is released. We are in app limbo and that's something you can pin on Nokia. I sometimes wonder if they are afraid the N900 might become too popular, if they give it too much support. They can't afford to steal the Symbian thunder from N8 and other devices.

To answer your question: I think Nokia choked the excitement to death. Shame on them if they could've released 1.2 earlier and chose not to. =(