i dont know where u live , but here in greece no provider offered the N900 , it wasnt even on thier lists .
the n900 WASNT advertized , WASNT on shops ( at least the first 2-3 mounths ) the only way to get it was/is nokia stores and they even got it in limited numbers .
the only advert i ever saw was the one on utube . i learned bout the phone from this forum , and i fell in love with it , i had to preorder one from a nokia shop , and got it 3 days after it was released ( they had 10 n900 available for sale ) .


ps : " free" phones from providers are not so " free " , how can it be free when u make a 24 - 36 mounth contract ( thats 2 - 3 years ) with a provider and pay mounthly fees !!!
just to give an idea , i have pre paid card ( from wind ) i have 1500 min talk time 1500 sms ( for wind same provider usage ) and 1.5GB data per mounth FOR FREE , i never paid 1 sent ( well i bought the sim for 5 $ ) , THATS FREE , not 20-50 $ contract per mounth + call + data .