Hi all,

Despite the risk to become the ‘devil in disguise’, I would like to let hear another sound about Nokia’s decision of killing Maemo and Meego. I am a so called ‘tech savvy’ user and have interest in Linux and other operating systems. So in the beginning I was quite happy to get a Nokia N900 offered for free from my provider. After all, looking at the specs it seemed quite promising! After some time though I got more and more the feeling I was missing out on something. Software, to be exactly. O yes, there is a lot of open source stuff available for Maemo but to be very honest: most of it falls in the category ‘geek ware’. It took a long time before I was even able to open a PowerPoint presentation, a quite common file format in everyday business life. A good graphics viewer isn’t there also. There are some options, but most of them are extremely slow and are not even close to what is available on other platforms. Most N900 software keeps living in the pre-beta phase, version 0.0x and so on.

Yes, the ‘motor’ (community) behind it all could have made it something really wonderful. But –as happens often with open source projects- many programs are abandoned after some time. Or are forked in 10 different varieties. Maybe interesting if you want to have the in open source so cherished freedom, but for the average end user it only creates chaos. The N900 has a huge potential of hardware possibilities, but only a fraction of it was ever used. Most open source programmers are either not paid for their work or do a N900 program as a pet project in some lost working hours. That means deadlines are non-existing and also design goals are not clearly defined. This was also visible in the ‘updates’ of the N900 firmware. The phone had and still has many flaws and strange behaviours. Yes, I got used to them but you can’t sell it to the masses. And from whatever viewpoint you look at it: somehow a company has to make profit to keep the business running.

In my opinion, the move to Phone 7 does not have to end fatally. Yes, Nokia will lose some hardcore fans, but let’s face it: what is the size of this group in comparison with ‘Average Joe’? Maemo, Meego. Who has ever heard of it besides a small group of technical enthousiasts? I work in the field of journalism, some IT magazines and others. Even in this environment, both Maemo and Meego are not widely known and not well known for sure.

In short –and this is my opinion even despite the fact that I DID like Maemo!- pure open source is not the way that leads to success when talking about mobile phones and even tablets. Customers want a good backup of applications that make them easily do their work and their hobbies. Maybe you puke on apps like Google Earth, Facebook, Mobile Office, photo editors and games but for most people they are essential for the ‘experience’ of a phone/tablet. In that respect, even Android has its problems thanks to Google’s decision to not include Market in every device. The results are already visible in reviews, forums and so on. People simply don’t like to have no access to a large base of software.

And no, I don’t work for Nokia, I have nothing against Linux or whatever. But I do see the advantages of an iPhone/iPad, Phone 7, Symbian or whatever other commercial OS. And those are –partly unfortunately- the advantages that sell the best to paying consumers. Had to write down this to let hear ‘another’ sound. Not to bash or irritate, just to be realistic.


Regards,

Ronald.