Several things..

First you have to understand the history and where most of the old users come from (as well as the history of Maemo). Maemo is a Debian derived OS used on the Nokia Internet Tablets. While some of us used it as phones (due to its SIPP functionality) it did not have a cellullar radio in it. This meant WIFI or tethering. I just carried around (what's now called a dumbphone) and the n800. Using the campus-wide WiFi to use my n800 as a phone whenever I needed it.

This forum talk.maemo.org was changed over from InternetTabletTalk.

Thus the history of this site and its original focus was taking Internet Tablets (mostly Nokia ones, the 770, n800, and n810) and pushing them to do things Nokia didn't do with them. This meant things like alternative operating systems, chroots, all that fun stuff. When Penguinbait was here we had a pretty nice working KDE3 installation on the n800. There were even attempts to get Ubuntu on the device. Thus some of the older users here (not necessarily all of them) are interested in using the device for that reason. I joined this community for that reason. I was looking at an iPod Touch and the n800, and got the n800 cause it did alot more. And to a certain extent, it still does alot more than the iPod Touch although the hardware is terribly dated now.

And yes I do use the N900 as a phone. But just as a phone, it makes and receives phone calls. Phone calls in which I get once in a while (if the person hasn't realized that the best way to reach me is through IMs). I don't expect anymore smartphone functionality from it than I would receiving a SIPP phone call on my computer. Would I appreciate more smartphone like features? Sure, who wouldn't. Though I wouldn't want to sacrifice any more features (we've already lost quite a few features sadly). The keyboard in the N900 as of the PR1.2 update is one of them. -_-. Luckily some developers in this community are interested in those things. Best of both worlds. =). But many people (including me since I'm now a Masters student) are interested in using the N900 as a NIT with a cellullar radio slapped in for internet access anywhere.

Though do note: I think that once I'm done with school, I don't think I have as much a need for what the N900 provides. . I'll probably buy an Android device or an iPhone (if Apple stops being an *******). Or Meego if some other company besides Nokia makes it.

Nokia Marketing and retailers can call it whatever they want, based on the history of the device (and what it seems like Maemo just slapping a cellular radio in it) it is more similar to its tablet roots than a smartphone. Remember, that marketing and retailers want to sell you the device. Most companies don't care what happens to you after you make that sale. Nokia is likely one of those companies.

And while there wasn't any information on the N900's support from Nokia (I do agree Nokia has been a ****** about supporting the black sheep of the family) you could've probably figured it out how well Nokia supported the previous versions of the internet tablets.

I know plenty of users (including me) are annoyed at Nokia for their previous (and what looks like to be continual) lack of support for Maemo. It's a shame, since Nokia could've done the proper thing and support it after the n800 was a successor. Make a better user interface (but still leaving in the underlying guts for people in this community) for the regular users and they wouldn't be in the position they are today. Which is trying to organize and get Meego running with Intel and partners while Android continues to march and conquer.

Actually I hate seeing company logos on the device. I don't mind Apple since it's a symbol and not the text Apple. But seeing company names like Nokia, Motorola, Verizon (the last two being on the Droid) bugs me. A shame the Otterbox case doesn't cover the Nokia on the N900 (my previous cheap case did). Oddly it doesn't bother me as much for game consoles and handhelds. So it's just the way it's displayed on smartphones and computers I guess. I have a giant sticker slapped over the Sony and VAIO on my laptop lol.