I've found the irony here is that most posters on this thread talks down iOS and Android without actually knowing the platform, just like if an iOS/Android noob would talk down on n900 based on it's out of the box experience and without any mods/tweaks.

Killing him maybe a little extreme. Personally I'd make talking about technology with your friend a no go area. He's obviously happy with his I-phone your obviously happy with your N900. Leave it at that.

However what you could do is swap with him for a couple of days. Maybe you'd only confirm your likes and dislikes but maybe you'd both learn something. If he won't swap it would prove he is not as open minded as you are, or worse afraid of what he might dscover. Blind loyalty or believing what you read all the time is a symptom of a lazy mind.

My wife has an Android phone and she's always asking me how can she do the same things I do with my N900, specially regarding UI customization (not nerd things). Most of the times, after googling a lot the answer is no, you can't.

On the contrary, I don't miss very much from her phone. Some features that most people usually complain about, are useless or very buggy. I would only like to have a better integration with Google services and some of the Google apps, but nothing really special.

that is a awesome idea, but i had the iphone 4 before,and i sold it xD. i am totally sure that my friend wont swap the phone with me,so i leave it. I hope that he enjoys his wonderful iphone


And now I am gping to tell what happened to me last week:

The last week, while I was shopping, I entered in a mobile/acessories shop. When I entered, I asked " Do you have screen protectors?" a girl answered me " Of course, what phone do you have?" So I said her that I had the n900. She obviously unknowed which was that phone, so I showed it to her . And then, she said "We are so sorry, we don't have anything for old phones like yours"
....old...phone? what the...?

I'd say that the reason, why there's always haters, is this : they're unsure. Since the iOS came to the game people have seen what the UI can be and how easy using the device can be to use. Then came Android, which tries to do the same thing.

Now, if I'm right, this has never been the goal for Maemo. Maemo is for more of a "nerd" audience. As someone else already said it in this thread, you need some sort of skills to use this platform, it's not meant for everybody. Unfortunately though some users still go and buy it and then dislike it and move on.

So those, that come barging in and bash the OS, those are the wrong users for this platform. They are expecting too much from the platform and thus bash it, it's that simple. That's why we have the hate on Maemo. People just expect too much from it.

So for those users that so far have disliked Maemo (whether you've got a real reason or not) and are expecting more from the OS, I have one word for you : MeeGo.

Some people on both sides can't seem to see the forest for the trees. I fall kind of in the middle, fairly technologically competent, but not a programmer. So, I can get a lot out of the N900, but can't fix the shortcomings on my own.

I love my N900 for all that it can do, but it can be frustrating at times. Sometimes, it rings, I pull it out, hit answer, and have a nice conversation. Other times, I miss the call because I'm trying to hit a moving target as the N900 flips between portrait and landscape. Other times, it doesn't even ring.

For everyone who says how many apps the N900 has, think about how many times you've seen warnings on having testing or devel enabled. Enough to scare a normal user or even a slightly techy user away. Without those enabled, there are far fewer apps to install. Think about how many you'd have installed if you only used extras.

Many of the most annoying things about the N900 (for me) involve the closed Nokia apps for which there is no alternative, which makes it no better than (or possibly even worse than) iOS or android.

A lot of people dismiss the number of apps available on iOS or Android, while proclaiming how many linux apps are available. I enjoy golfing, and would like to track my scores, or use GPS to see how far from the hole I am. Apparently not a lot of linux developers golf. It's a simple apps that are useful, that people are missing despite the vast quantity of linux apps available.

Personally, I think there were a lot of people that looked a specs, thought the N900 would be a great phone and got one. Or, saw it and figured it's a Nokia, so it can't be that bad. Let's face it, it's not a great phone, not even mediocre. It's so much more than just a phone. IMO Nokia really dropped the ball with support and focusing on MeeGo (which looks to me like it will be incredibly slow getting out of the blocks). So, many people came in with high expectations, and were disappointed, and as such have some "hate".

For me, I'll hang on to mine, because it is more than just a phone. In the meantime, I picked up an Android tablet to fill in the gaps on the N900. Next phone likely won't be a Nokia either.

Nokia's almost dead in the water right now. Symbian's becoming obsolete and Meego's going to be a flop. Yes, I know I will be flamed for predicting the demise of Nokia. I used to like my N900 but it was too clunky and too fat to be my daily phone. I have now switched to a Palm Pre Plus and can't be any happier. I don't hate N900 or Maemo, I have move on to a better phone that works for me. Maybe all of you should too.

Don't worry too much. While it was quite different in the past, it's now basically impossible to have an opinion without at least some people strongly ... disagreeing for lack of a better word. So, you know, just carry on, and stop worrying.

warning, long rant.

As for Nokia, it's far from dead in the water. At the tonnes it has, the momentum itself will carry it for a while longer, while they still try and peddle as fast as they can. The brand name still means something and that's what keeps them alive.

Nokia as always had superior flagships in the past, and that name has sold the lower phones. Car makers understand this, that's why companies, every now and then, put out a limited edition jewel, compete in high-profile races, things that put them on the map. Even if the Cayenne SUV makes up for almost half the sales, when one thinks Porsche, one thinks the beautiful and classic 911. With the twin turbo.

And Nokia has sold a lot of phones in the past, innovative, good quality phones, and people bought them because Nokia was synonym with total dominance - quality, build, innovation. No matter what you had, it always had some advantage over everyone else.

This momentum is starting to drag. N900 is a beautiful thing, but it was abandoned. 5800, another attempt at innovation, was a cheap-side, simple touch. All the 5800 XM I ever saw had at least some fault. Screen blinking, light sensor, touch screen, software. Wifi has some issues.

Right now, Nokia is proving to everyone they can't play in the big boy's sandbox. And unless they can put out a device that slaps everyone back to their place, it will never be what it was.

Personally, I think it's bordering impossibility.
* Any phone must be pocketable, so the screen can't be much larger that iP4, and more resolution would go to waste.
* Batteries are limited, and even if they weren't it's easily adaptable so by tomorrow everyone would catch up.
* Since N900 works fine with 600 MHz (if it were correctly optimized), there isn't a massive gain in CPU. Heat and consumption is what it is.
* All phones nowadays are touch, so they all look slab-like. Some have keyboards that slide or flip. that's it. Design-wise, it's kind of ceiled.

So what now? They definitely can't write code like the big boys. What will they do now? I don't think there's enough room for improvement here. New phones already have ridiculous cameras, some way above what optics can handle, and they already crammed BT, radio, TV out, accelerometer, light sensor, IR, WIFI, a-GPS, stereo speakers, USB in it. Some even have compasses and temperature sensors. What else could they possibly add that would put them at a big advantage? A barometer?

They basically have everything a PC/laptop has and still fit in a pocket. What now? PCI-E? RAID? Wait, you can do RAID if you wanted.

I know this is basically what you said, it's dead in the water, I just expanded it a little.

They did their best with N8. Superb multimedia, but tempered with a lower end CPU and OS so that it didn't cost as much as a car, since it has to sell.

N8 was far from a flop, but far from a resounding success. And just to throw some dirt over the body, mine has weird, weird problems. Connects whenever it wants to wifi, widgets sometimes don't update, jumps from portrait to landscape as it darn well pleases. Battery is soldered. It's not stable enough to have a soldered battery.

N8 was the opposite of N9. Minimal geekyness, maximum simplicity and multimedia. And frankly, if you Frankenstein them together it'll probably be too expensive to catch on. Not that you could get 720P on Maemo with all those processes going wild in there.

And this isn't even mentioning the gap it has when it comes to software. As much as I like Nokia and N900, every time I get my paws on my girl's Android, I can't put it down. It's simple, it's fast, it has most of the features N900 offers, plus a few more. A phone is meant to be fiddled with, if you want sales. And boy you can fiddle with an Android.

N900 may have features, but it's the most elegant solution that has the trophy, not whoever duct-tapes more features in a phone that struggles to breathe.

I'd still buy N900 if I were to make the choice again, NOW. But the N900 is standing still and everyone else is moving forward, learning from its mistakes. Like don't abandon platform, users will be unhappy. Like, better to add later than to have it buggy. Like provide at least basic Office. Like users want games. Like it matters how finished the UI looks.

Not to worry, technology is making great strides, soon mobile platforms will have the power to run even better software, desktop software if we're lucky, emulated or otherwise, and all software advantages will be lowered.

They still have a shot at making hardware. Well, design anyway, since chipsets/addons will be TI, ARM, Intel and whatnot. Performance will mean integration, so more and more will be pulled on the SOC/board. The board will have CPU, RAM, bus, most likely wifi and BT/radio, possibly sensors and accelerometers.

Right now, laptops and sub-notebooks have little to do with manufacturers, and a lot more to do with features, chipsets and price. And frankly, when the big boys come to play, it's gonna be rough. Wait, they already huffed and puffed (Dell Streak) once and the result was something better in almost every respect. Including support ("The versions released previously have had Android 1.6 installed, with Dell offering unlocked Streaks with Android 2.2 (Froyo) in December 2010" - Wikipedia). Streak is 9mm thick, N900 is 20mm. Plenty room for a keyboard, maybe a better battery. Perhaps a little smaller and it's there. Hmm, PDMI.

Oh well. Greater giants have fallen. Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!

People say that there aren't many apps believe the hysterical warnings not to try apps in devel or testing. True, if you follow that advice your N900 has few apps and is no fun.

You have to know how to reflash and how to restore from backup. When you learn that the N900 is paradise. Then you should judge it by what it can do and not by what it doesn't do.

My girlfriend wanted a new phone and she said, "Why don't I just get the same as you?" (N900) and I said, patting her lovingly on the shoulder, "Once you've tried to work out how to use your E73 for more than calls and texts, maybe sweetheart. Just maybe."

The N900 is a beast not for the 'unknowing'. I can even remember my first Extras-Devel install (AutoDisconnect) and closing my eyes and being scared to open them again. Silly AndyNokia232!