More like differences of opinion than anything.

yawn.

Oh yes, because I want my pen to be be both mightier AND sharper than the sword, just to be on the safe side.

Now, "I'm feeling stabby!"

I just don't really understand all this angst over the lack of a single feature. Because I don't need it, I guess, and I realize that means nothing to those who do. But I think mostly I just have different expectations for the N900. I mean, just because the N900 is called a "mobile computer' I didn't expect it to be able to do everything my home Linux box or mini-laptop can do. I do expect it to be able to do most - but not all - the things they do, without wires and from my pocket. My truck and my wife's Mini Cooper S will both get you there, but the truck will carry more stuff while the Mini does it quicker and makes it fun.

And that's the difference to me. The N900 is meant to be mobile, far more so than even a netbook or tablet, used totally wireless and utterly portable, except for charging or hooked up as a mass storage device now and then. To me, that's what it's intended and designed for - totally portable computing, and hooking up DVD drives, external HDDs, etc. etc. are not in my definition of totally portable pocket computing. That's what desktops and laptops are for. Each to it's purpose.

If I want to do more than the N900 was intended to then I fully expect to have to find hacks or alternate methods to do those things. I wouldn't be mad at the device designers because I'm expecting more of it than it was designed to do or standards they didn't write.

The N900 won't do everything my desktop box or laptop does and that's ok. It's still a computer - a very, very mobile computer.

Umm. Except the USB problem I haven't found any feature which was taken away yet. Care to elaborate?

D-Pad? Two SD-Cards (which the N810 didn't have either)? 3,5" screen?

The title:

"N900 will not allow USB OTG!"

should actually be read:

"N900 will not allow USB OMG!!!!!!"

Guys I told you I am on the fence with this device...
after the rumors that it cannot cook nor wash dishes... but this USB mising pen sharpener is clear from Mars is an earth-quacker / dealbreaker ... I want to officially declare a break on my engadgment with this device...

I've been following this thread... and I remember getting yelled at by many members about how Bluetooth OBEX wasn't a big deal to me. Yet it was to many.

Apparently USB OTG is a big deal... and again it's not such a big deal to me either.

I mean, sure. the N810 can do it, but there was no guarantee that the N900 would. The N800 had dual normal sized SD chips... the N810 had that funky miniSD ordeal... and only one of them.

But... it does make me question the whole "mobile computer" term now. What does that fully mean by Nokia's standards and not opinion?

A whole lot of freaking out about something that's been possibly worked around at least 3 times in this thread alone. More soon down the road... I'm pretty sure of it.

Listen to JayOnThaBeat!

WAIT TILL THE N900 COMES OUT!

Then we can see if host can be enabled through a hack.

If it can't, then fine. If it can, then good!

If anyone with a n900 can enable host mode, or try to, please please please do.

This is not a "deal-breaker" for me, but it is important.

Edit: Seriously Jay, I messed up your username by one letter...

Many thanks for this thread. The way I expect my mobile computer to exchange files with my desktop and other computers is via flash drive. If host mode can be hacked into the N900 or implemented later, that'll be great. But for now I'm not interested in elaborate workarounds. I've cancelled my preorder.

(sorry for answering like 3 pages after your post) You seem to continue with the same mistake: this one is just a USB hub with incorporated bluetooth dongle and card reader (a union of 1, 2, 3 with just one connection cable). For the rest it still needs to be attached to the USB port (see USB cable between images) of a Host device (pc/laptop/N810).
What we may need (if the bluetooth limitation is good enough for the others), if I understood well of course, is:
N900 -> [bluetooth] -> (selfpowered) Bluetooth Hub with female USB port -> USB flash drive (or any other USB slave device)

for the rest, pointless to discuss about air... ^^

find a solution to the USB host thingie, and in a couple of months max, a N900 will be mine... ^^
otherwise, time will tell.

I vote for silence till we have any real possible solution... bye