These are the things that Nokia should already know and I think that they probably do know that stuff but need a helping hand in the areas that have been left out - namely Japan and North America.

But to answer for the North American crowd; it's rather important in some cases due to location about the carrier, the vendor (accessibility to retail)... the rest isn't about how happy people are with Apple, RIM or Android (Google, HTC, Motorola, Samsung)... but more or less how happy they are with the integration with the pieces of software they already use quite heavily.

The Nokia/Yahoo deal, MeeGo needs to talk that up. Millions of people use Yahoo Mail - imagine if they knew that a phone was coming with an OS that syncs their e-mail of their provider in a fashion that is... painfree and easy.

It's not about much more than that. If I can use the software that I use on my desktop(s) and continue that usage away from my computer on my phone(s)... that would be a good thing. I'm aware that's already in place; but I'm not your average user. I'm an established Maemo user.

But the average joe user in North America doesn't know much more than "I need access to my e-mail" - POP versus IMAP won't ever come up, they don't know what it is for the most part.

Carrier subsidies - it matters in North America. A lot. Not in Europe (as much), not in Asia (as much)... but North America? Until Nokia N-series is sold in more than just two stores (one is closing or closed, so I might be wrong here) and just not online... then the likelihood of buying a N-series phone blindly goes way down.

And stop bringing up Apple. People are happy with them because they were told to be happy. Sounds horrific, but that's closer to the truth than the people are probably willing to admit. I have an iPhone - have had them all, will be getting an iPhone 4 in less than a month. My company gives them to me. Do I like them? Not really.

But I can check a few things without firing up a browser - Google Analytics, stocks, e-mails, IM's et al. And receive regular updates for those apps. Skype's been updated 4 times on Apple iOS in the same amount of time that Skype has been updated twice on the Maemo platform. Fring has seen 4 major revisions since the release of Maemo, it's yet to show up on Maemo (as of June, I believe) and it's been updated thrice on Android (one is in beta now).

I know that MeeGo means "freedom" and "openness", but if it looks like a wide open plain with no trees, no rivers, just... a wide open space and not much more, **** running around in that freedom and wait for little pieces of stuff to come together. People have been in holding patterns, waiting for features on smartphones since 2006. We're tired of it... deliver a more solid experience upfront, or get immediately ignored. For that, see WebOS, OpenMoko. Solid offerings that lacked things people wanted in one form or another.

Again, your (Nokia) brick and mortar retail distribution is so damn lacking in North America and Japan. I don't want to drive 12 hours just for one store to get my hands on a $500+ phone that I might not like and if I return it, I will not get my full amount back due to restocking fees. Sell your stuff at Best Buy for goodness sake.

Giving developers proper tools, giving users the apps they want... it's as relevant as the above.