Definitely, even though I'm a developer, from a consumer perspective the closed apps available on the device are extremely important. Obviously I want upgradable firmware and apps which is something we're currently missing in Maemo at the moment.

Also, in response to the post about Nokia providing maps free for MeeGo, well, I don't think that'll happen, becuase that is a weapon Nokia can use against other possible vendors. On the other hand if they want high adoption of the MeeGo platform from other vendors then they'll have to supply it to make it more of a competition to Android. They don't do this for Symbian and look at the other Symbian based handset vendors.

So we'll see. Without license fees there's no insentive for Nokia to provide a mapping framework for MeeGo. I don't think they'll see my previous comment about competition being good for them as I do, but, I truely do believe that competition will help, indeed force them, to become greater than they are now.

Every OS has their problems. And I thought there are dedicated Android communities?

I think the only problem the Nexus One had was the TMobile 3G problem (well and Google's lack of customer support out of e-mail). But overall Google shows Nokia how you do a development device (the Nexus One is the developer phone of choice for Google).

Currently the other hardware vendors are using Android (which likely comes with Google Maps). So their current problem is not a weapon that makes their platform unique, but rather they have nobody using their platform. So holding a card that makes a Nokia Meego device more unique than a X Meego device doesn't make sense when X Meego device doesn't exist. And when you have a greater competitor that's grabbing more and more manufacturers.

If Nokia doesn't get other manufacturers to use their OS then they are going lose to the Android flood. They don't even have the user following nor the customer satisfaction that keeps Apple strong.

I dont participate in thiese threads in general - but do read it and one thing I have realized after quite a few reads of the forums lately ..

Just as you measure the trend of any product or the economy not by looking only at certain pre-defined factors but by the general
movement of the mass population - The MARKET - in other terms,

in the same way I see that by the number of posts in general that complain of issues and lack of an upgrade path (official) and other issues - I get the feel that the "Market" says that the N900 has not been so successfull in an overall sense.

Also dissing what the market says is not a good way to measure which way the market moves.

This was actually all I was getting at.

Yes. I was really put off on Day 1 and I think the grudge has sort of distanced me more than I had originally intended.

I really did want to delve into MeeGo and really start into something big.. but when I looked at the massive difference in functionality between the intel dev platform, vs the nokia dev platform.. it really struck a nerve. I guess I just haven't moved over that hump just yet.

Here's my question. It's simply bad business (IMHO) to put money into a project that you get nothing back from. Nokia is not going to be pushing MeeGo on the N900.. they are not going to be selling "more" N900's promising MeeGo on the N900.. they are not doing anything to get any new userbase to the platform. This to me, implies clearly, that they consider the N900 to be over. So why would they continue to expend resources to it?

I know that a dev platform has to work and function in order to properly develop on it, but it doesn't have to be polished or bugfixed. Once it gets to a certain level of acceptability then I foresee the amount of dedicated resources that you are talking about dwindling drastically, to a virtual non-existence by the time the first devices are out. In the meantime, the only thing of major note that the N900 received since launched and through the foreseeable future was QT via PR1.2.

This, among the other reasons I've stated, is why I believe there are so many people feeling abandoned, and refer to the N900 as a dead platform. And in this, I can't disagree with them. I have my own reservations, as I expressed, about the future - even of MeeGo - because of those hardware components and the legal issues you are referring to. As long as Nokia holds the chains on those (whether they want to or not is not my point) - then when Nokia leaves the platform MeeGo will be that much more difficult, or suddenly need to be made illegal, to port any of the newer community builds or future MeeGo versions because the "blobs", as you call them, can no longer be obtained from Nokia.

This is true, but it's also not surprising and to be expected since this moved from a techie/geek forum to a more user-based forum. Users tend to want to feel safe, secure, and know that their purchase was worth their hard-earned money. They don't usually want to work on their phone they just want to use it. Unfortunately, the impression left by all this debacle from Nokia has left them feeling they've wasted money, were duped, scammed, etc.

Users want someone knowledgeable to tell them that there 100% for certain is a future here with their phone to a level that equals that of the competitors (android and iphone) - and nobody here can say that with any amount of certainty because it's too early to tell with MeeGo, and Nokia refuses to acknowledge any of this or us. The longer that goes on, the more negativity and hatred just festers. This is simply natural.

@nilchak
Do you think that TMO users represent next meego device's main market? What market do you think that TMO mainly represents? What kind of people read gadget blogs and comment on those? Are those people the main market?

One thing I know. None of my friends do those things and I know that next phone they are going to buy is probably mobile device with upgradable OS (Do they care that it´s upgradable? NO). But what it is? I really do not exactly know. Probably depends on marketing, not reviews and market trend in Internet :|

Or maybe they ask me :|

@fatalsaint
Btw. You might be missing one thing when you are saying N900 is bad investment for Nokia. IIRC N95 has gone to developing market. Could N900 have place in that market?

I suppose? I'm unfamiliar to what you really mean there.. but it certainly sounds like that could be the case if there such a place for mobile phones?

n900 is already trying to be flogged to developing countries like India.

Have to link this page here. Probably you have already read it completely:
http://wiki.maemo.org/What_can_we_re...it_a_phone_.3F

Yes I've read that page.. I can't say I agree with some of it. I mean really, it wasn't advertised to users that way.. it was mentioned at a conference, IIRC, and those of us on here knew what it was.. but there are a crapload of users of the N900 that even now still have no idea about a step 4 out of whatever.. or even what the first 3 steps were..

So, they really failed hard at that, IMHO, if they didn't want general users buying the phone.