Does any one of you lucky people to have got your sweaty mittts on an N900 have any comments on the useability of the device for people who need spectacles.

I will need my reading glasses for browsing and stuff like that. But I'd like to know if it is possible to use any functions - the phone and SMS are obvious examples - without my glasses.

Most phones really fall down in this regard. Even when font sizes are settable, they usually don't apply to all fonts on all pages.

Conversations (the section that does chats for SMS, IMs, etc) uses a fairly large font IMO. Its probably only web browsing where you will have a less than optimal time having to zoom more than the rest of us.

That said, I have only seen videos and the SDK which is not a true test.

I need bifocals but don't have them... so I need to take off my glasses and hold the N900 close to read anything.

This is obviously a subjective matter (depends on just how bad your short range vision is), but the N900 is, apart from two or three screens (like manual dialing and incoming call) by default quite unconsiderate. Most dialogs and screens operate with letters that are the roughly the size of the 'N900' mark on the device and it can only be changed in a handful of applications (i.e. the mail client, RSS). To make things worse, variable font size in chat (that includes SMS) is officially wontfix.

If you are one of the lucky nearsighted, as Texrat mentions, it is just a matter of removing your glasses and holding the device close to your eyes, and you have a view like a car at a drive-in -- remember those? It can be awkward sometimes, like when you are trying to hold your tablet, your glasses, AND a cup of coffee, but there are ways to make it work.

If you are far-sighted, removing your glasses wouldn't work. To the extent that you could read a normal book, in a pinch, without glasses, I would expect you could read a tablet without them. However, it probably wouldn't be particularly fun. I would guess that most people could use the phone even blindfolded in many cases.

I have Aniridia (%3 sight with one eye, other one doesn't see at all)
I currently use an N95 8GB and don't have a lot of problems using it.
Only thing is web browsing doesn't really work of the small screen
How does the N900 compare to the N95 8GB?

To avoid confusion - the screen is extremely sharp and contrasty, so if the letter size is not an issue, it is very pleasant to use. It's just that some apps are very stubborn in determining which font size is best for the users, and the author(s) or presumed target audience is apparently not farsighted

Is there any sort of zoom thing where the desktop is scaled up and you only see part of it on the screen and pan around to get it all?

That's do for me, but everything would have to be scaled up.

No, there is not.

But someone could write an app for this?