hmmm. In a thread about what people would like, a wishlist of sorts, and this is the type of responses from you people?

I pass... I had a small-ish list lined up, nevermind if this is the mindset of you people.

Good. I guess. Then let's hope it or a better variation of it is standard on the N9xx's and won't require downloading and compiling and line commanding and adjusting and... .

Too bad. But it is a problem for me and I'm suppose to be a repeat customer (it's hoped).

No. We don't. We have ThemeMaker, which has some drawbacks and not a lot of good documentation and swapping and icons have to be done on the command line.

For someone new to Linux, this seems rather excessive to have to do for what should be a simple task (like choosing applets and background images are). If you have a customer who was entranced by the idea of the product *despite* some anxiety of being Linux-based, the least you can do is let them stay engaged with the unit by allowing easy cosmetic changes.

Pandering to the masses? Well. Yeah. Nokia won't make money or see any point in extending the line if it doesn't get the unwashed masses intrigued (and I speak, of course, as one of the unwashed).

I mean, if the core customer group is suppose to be a guy who really likes tweaking his different Linux distributions and tricking out his gadget, great. God knows I benefited by some good free applications from these people.

But how big is that core group ever going to be and how much more market penetration can you get into that core group of potential customers?

I'm thinking not a whole lot more, especially with this recent opening of other Linux-based cheap tablets and ultraportables and whatever newer phone-based things are already out there or on their way before or concurrent or soon after a N900 release.

So what's so unrealistic about expecting Nokia to dress this thing up a bit in some easy frou frou to make it more appealing to those not too far out of the range of my hypothetical core customers? Especially if it's not too difficult to do?

Of course, the line could sway over to the mapping segment of their market. But then the product becomes a good GPS device with added benefits in a market of a lot of other good GPS devices (I should say here that I'm talking right through my hat on this one since I don't have a car and I just don't have any real use for a GPS so I have no idea how good it even is now for that function).

Great site for the basics. If it expanded to include "unwashed masses speak" for some of the applications out there, it would be fantastic.

I did want to really make use of my device. I'm the customer. I'm the one that paid for this thing. *I* get to decide what those wants are (and if they've been satisfied).

And who *is* the market for these devices and who *will be* the target in the future? I mean, really, I'd like to know from Nokia themselves since they make the things and they have whole marketing and r&d departments.

I mean, once you slice off the market segment that includes people like me (the curious-but-not-particularly-tech-savvy) and once you have to face competition from cheap ultraportable pcs that have the advantage of running Linux and Windows :::shudder::: and the inroads of iTouches and iPhones and smartphones into your markets, at what point would Nokia say, "right. We now have a smaller market for these NITs, we're facing more competition from other companies with other products that mimic a lot of what the Nxxx product line does or used to do when it was more of a market leader, maybe the $$ should be spent on developing new types of products and let the Nxxx line run it's course."

If Nokia wants to accept this new market, fine. Not my company and I hold no stock in it. But I'd expect them to at least find out *why* certain parts of their market groups are falling away from the brand and the Nxxx line and I'm just offerin' some of *my* feedback about what I'd realistically like to see in the N900 line that would keep me interested and loyal. You know... another view point, another part of the market audience so that they don't end up preaching to the converted and being in a smaller and smaller congregation.

Maybe, in the end, I'm not their core demographic market for the Nxxx. But I'm incredibly valuable because I *did* pay for the N800 and I'm far more likely to be a future customer than someone walking by and seeing the N900 in a window (if that happens often in North America).

And if they lose customers with this kind of background because they can't incorporate some feedback from customers like me and throw us some bones into the N9xx, then they effectively cut themselves off from market penetrations and $$$$ (or "concentrate and focus" on a smaller segment while trying to figure out how to wring more profit out of the market).

So, like, I'm just sayin' "don't snark the messenger, man."

I sort of agree with Betty to an extent - I'm what I'd call an experienced and interested end-user rather than any sort of technical expert but I very quickly found that I was struggling to make the most of the obvious capability of my N810 due largely to (a) not having a clue about anything Linux-related and (b) that a lot things require quite serious investments of user time (getting a video on it, for example).

BUT, I then found PB's debs (a words I had to wikipedia) for KDE (something I'd never seen before) and tried it out. The N810 has since become something that's with me constantly and used to such an extent that I need to recharge twice a day.

Anyway, wishlist from an end-user who doesn't know what OMAP3 is:

1) A stick-like cursor controller (think ThinkPad nipple) rather than the 5-way D-Pad. Maybe something like what was on Noklia's 9300.

2) Better keyboard, no squishing against the screen.

3) Clamshell format

4) KDE ships as a standard option, making the N810 more of a UMPC than an iPod competitor (Quim! Throw PB some cash and get him on the case for the N900!)

5) Micro, not mini, USB (or vice versa, can never remember but you know what I mean.

6) Faster, more storage.

IMO the worst idea is putting clamshell and touchscreen together. It's like destroying the whole purpose of having the touchscreen.

It worked very well in the Psion Series 5(mx), 7 and netBook devices, IMHO.

But why does that destroy the purpose of a touchscreen again ?

I mean its never been mentioned that a touchscreen has to be always facing the user at all times. You could very well close it down (added protection for the screen) and pop it up when you want to use it.

I have used a Clamshell Zaurus extensively and not once have I felt the clamshell defeating the purpose of the touchscreen on the Zaurus.
Of course the added bonus with the Zaurus was that the clamshell factor could rotate and lie down with screen facing up in portrait mode too as well as sit down laptop like in landscape mode.

No gerbick, I dont think that GeneralAntilles is the typical intended recipient of this list. I think this list is intended for other people with more class.
I was holding back judgment on him, figuring that his curt rude words were from simple immaturity, and easily overlooked.
After reading the last few responses from him, which were all rather rude and condescending, I can only guess that he is either one of the execs I have been ranting about, or he is a very young developer that is in love with the Nxxx series and if you say anything but "It is the most wonderful purposeful device ever devised and it will rule the world", He gets defensive and rude. He often sounds like a stereotypical tinkerer. One who is happy to fix and futz with a device for funs sake, forgetting how it was marketed.
GeneralAntilles, watch the marketing video that is on all N800's, and the same one that you can easily find on youtube. Do those people look like devs to you? Do they look like geeks who would even want to see the command line? No, they don't. They look like people who want a connected life, and that have found that, at least in some part, in the Nxxx series. That is who this series is marketed to. Betty Woo is the forum poster child for the intended market, if you go on the marketing that Nokia has done. She has no desire to see the command line. She wants a device that does what the ads and installed software lead her to believe it can do. Pretty simple concept. Why cant you get that? Look, I don't know you, and for all I know, you might be a great guy with coding skills God Almighty would envy. But here on this forum, to more people than you might care to admit, you come off as a snobbish, arrogant, elitist, and close minded jerk who has a knack for repulsing people. If that's not you, re-think your words you use here. If it is you, oh boy. would someone get this dog on a leash please?

OK, where to start. First, I'm sorry for anything that might have been perceived as an intemperate tone. It was late, I was on a tablet.

Second, WorkingOnWise, you pretty much missed my point entirely. I am not a developer, nor have I ever claimed to be, and I am no tablet fanboy (I'm quite vocal in my criticisms of the platform as anybody who pays any attention can tell you), your own assumptions are simply that, your own. The rest of your rant really isn't worth addressing.

This was in response to this, and several of Betty's other posts about font sizes and readability that I don't feel like digging up.

Hardware wise, the NITs are not 5"+ form-factor devices, nor are they 7" form-factor devices (though I hope they will include these sizes among their lineup one day, that day is not today—nor this year, even). If you have problems seeing the text on the display, the device isn't for you.

Software wise, the NITs really aren't ready for somebody who wants to do everything they can with their device and never touch a commandline, and can't handle the idea of running into a wall trying to figure something out. They may be one day, but, again, that day is not today—nor, again, this year. The device Betty Woo is after is likely to come with step 5 of the plan, sometime in 2009 or 2010. For the time being, this isn't the platform for Betty.

This was not an meant as an insult to anybody, but simply a reality of the facts—the NITs are not yet ready for people who want to try to use their devices to the fullest while investing zero time in understanding what makes the system tick. For end-users who just want to browse the net, IM a bit and play some solitaire, sure, for power users and developers who are willing to invest that time, sure, but for Betty, no, not right now.

I've explained the implications of OMAP3 many times in this thread, so anybody wondering what this means simply has to click back a few pages and read.

Maybe we are on the same page more that I think GeneralAntilles.
Yup, I formed the opinion that you might be a dev based on some pretty loose observations, and no claims from you.

Maybe the greatest thing Nokia can do with the N900 is market the thing properly. The marketing and software all say, or give the impression of "Internet Tablet, PIM, Multimedia, and potential for portable office suite and mobile blogging."

The reality is very different indeed. I wonder how may N900 sales they have lost because of the marketing lies that buyers of the current products have seen...

I personally love the size weight and feel of the current Nxxx series, and hope that Nokia leaves it a tablet. Everything else Betty said I totally agree with, but I think that horse might be dead now

Of course, if Nokia and you would just concede that I am right and build the N900 my way, why all this would be much easier.

I'd rather use the touch screen to click rather then drag, that's why I like the idea of a kind of scroll wheel. I just got the N810 last week and the first thing I've noticed is dragging webpages and scroll bars isn't that great.

A lot of the ideas here seem to be about the software more then the hardware, but the software doesn't have to be just for the N900, it could be also be for the N8X0. It almost seems offtopic. The other thing is that Nokia could start making more apps for it, but then you end up with the microsoft problem, like the fact that when I bought my laptop with Windows on it, I also paid for a web browser and a whole bunch of other software I didn't use :P.