I suppose just blatantly missing features that any modern device with the same hardware and pricetag as the n900 is a fair trade off for some nebulous concept of FREEDOM.

Oh look, there's the starting line... I think we're ready for another loop

I think for most users it's the difference between buying a DIY kit and an assembled model. It's not about not wanting to learn something new, but they just don't see the benefit of learning and incorporating *nix to their current workflow... and for the general public, there isn't much benefit to 'learn' that.

You mean the very obvious fact of not being treated like the enemy by my property. See Motorola crippling their devices using TrustZone. That alone was a huge factor in my getting the N900, and yes, IMO it is worth the trade off. I'll not be treated like an idiot or a hostile target by those taking my money.

You are welcome to insult me now.

I had no issues with the device as I saw it, nor having had it for ~7 months now. I suppose I could moan, whine, and b*tch here about it (despite no one here being able to do anything about it) or I could simply go on with life and do other things.

The short answer is:
It was released as an unfinished product (that will slowly be patched up by the community).

The long answer is:
Its a Step 4 out of 5 device

Seriously, how many products have you seen abandoned after about half a year of World Wide release. And its a premium branded and priced product to boot.

I would like to Quote the great Mr. T here but I will refrain from doing so.

Instead you got suckered in to buying a half finished test OS for full price. But hey, at least you can play your oggs out of the box... oh wait you can't. Did they ever fix that bug with oggs not displaying album art correctly? as I recall it required a patch to operating system. Surely with all this freedom we can submit a patch to fix some of this broken stuff and have it distributed as an update in short order?

Nokia can't even get open source proper.

Interestingly I don't use OGG files, no gain over AAC. And don't say -anything- about AAC not being "open," it is, and the only issue is patents and it's highly likely OGG runs afoul of some too.

The fact that Nokia can't get being open source right is entirely orthogonal to the fact that my device isn't locked down by the vendor under the assumption that I'm an evil, evil thief.

But go ahead, mock me for not wanting to be treated like a prisoner or allowing the vendor control over my device post sale.

I would disagree with this. Anyone would think Nokia were not a phone company.

Their role was to use their investment from the tablets to make a mark in the phone business.

Getting what they did into the size they did was not an achievement on hardware specs, especially if they didn't add a camera. I would say the presence of a decent camera (as well as the mini screen) is a "smoking gun" sign as to their intentions.

I'm sorry the providers in your country are evil? This thread isn't about your lousy providers though, it's about Nokia producing a high end device that lacks basic features that one would expect from one half it's price.

Thanks for your contribution though, really. The handcuff imagery was particularly evocative if irrelevant.

I'm sorry... but did you mean N900... or N800?

Because if it's the latter, then allow me to say that it died the moment Maemo 5 was announced. If you mean the N900, well it died (of sorts) the moment MeeGo was announced.

Sony and Samsung are not really known for frequent updates either. I've had friends that have endured with their P1i phones with only one update in two years. Samsung, same thing.

Updates for phones is a recent happening and it's not really guaranteed. Even Apple only updates (mostly) once a year. Blackberry updates when bugfixes are necessary, and that usually leads to more bugfixes of the bugfixes... but you get what I mean.

So Nokia isn't really out of step for that. It's just odd that the N95 got an update within the last year, years after its release whereas the N900 will get only PR1.3 which will introduce Qt Mobility and not much more. No more planned/announced updates past that.

Now that, I find odd. Support the N95, albeit a better selling platform perhaps (?), but not the "most powerful Nokia offering to date" N900.

Regardless... where's that support? If you expected it, you didn't take notice how no other Maemo device has had mainstream support from any other company before. Maemo 5 still has no DRM and that's going to really put a crimp on who puts their stuff out there on this open device because it will be torn apart, bought once and shared many times... like Angry Birds (level updates) were.

So where was the support? It was never to come for this Step 4 out of 5 device.

I just don't think people expected a Nokia phone to have so few things as far as options in regards to what it could have done... different ringtones for people is nice to have. It's on other Nokia phones. MMS? Pull that card... the community answered that one with fMMS. Copy and paste in e-mails - there's a workaround, but let's be honest, that should have come from Nokia directly (fixed).

But if anything, look at things realistically. Point newcomers to the information that does exist. And be as nice to them as you want people to be to you in this community.

Exactly, truly intelligent people do not have such primal, head in the sand, counterattack counterattack counterattack at all costs mentality.