For what it's worth, if you compare the 770 with the most similar devices out there, i.e. PDAs, the practice of coming out with a new model every year (or more often!) is the norm, not the exception.

On the other hand, the idea of slacking off the support for older devices is one that has backfired on more than one PDA vendor. Palm, for example, which has always had a very _very_ loyal customer base has p*ssed off a lot of people lately because they concentrate all the effort on the latest Treos, while they won't even come out with the simplest, smallest updates necessary to let the owners of older devices BT connect with the newest phones or more providers. This has made a lot of people angry and sent them over to the PPC (MS) crowd instead.
I've got two Tungsten T3's myself, bought a spare when they stopped making them because none of the newer devices are as good a match to what I need, but it sure is annoying to be left behind.
Hey, I'm getting an N800 now :-) We'll see how that turns out..

Oh, as input to the thread: What about printing from the device? As for usage patterns, I plan to carry it around from meeting to meeting in the office, instead of that chunky laptop. The N800 has got a reasonable screen, wi-fi, BT keyboard support if I need it (I'm fine with stylus keyboard input though) web browser and email reader, so it should be good for this. Better than my T3 I hope, because of the larger screen (480x800 vs. 320x480). Thus some of what I need is approx. like this:
- VPN, specifically OpenVPN (the kernel has TUN support, right? Shouldn't be a problem then?)
- If I'm on VPN I should be able to print PS and PDF files (i.e. normal cups/lpr support) over the network
- The email support should be good, if I get something that works as well as versamail+gmail on my Palm PDA I'm happy (I don't have my N800 yet but I mention this because I've heard that the standard email app on the 770 isn't much to write home about)
- Good PDF reader. PalmPDF works great on the Palm (depends a bit on the PDF file though), and it's based on xpdf (but looks nothing like it), so it should be possible, right?

(Maybe I'll edit and add if I think of more)

(Edit: Corrected screen size typo)

I absolutely agree TA-t3: I want to see printing. There has been such silence on that subject...

I had the N770 for over a year now and use it frequently. I use it for casual browsing and as my car media player. One thing I really miss is a keyboard though a stowaway could easily fix that. Is nokia considering a version with a slide out keyboard or at least bundle a BT kb that doesnt cost $100. ANother question is when is the Navicore bundle going to be available for the US market.

DaScud

See developers forum.

Seconding you on VPN and printing. For interoperability's sake, a client that's feature-compatible with the clients in Windows and OS X would be nice (PPTP + AFAIR an L2TP client).

For PDF reader, have you tried Evince?

I bought the 770 in the last days ($100 rebate) and I am happy with it, but I am surprised that it was replaced with an incompatible platform so quickly.

Such is life, but it might be nice to allow for a "turn in allowance" a-la what they did for the Pepper Pad, because that would take the sting out of the upgrade price if you were so inclined.

After all, they are taking some risks at orphaning the platforms, and make it up by attracting the later adopters, though with the "iPhone" the later adopters will gravitate towards that if it really does everything they say it does, and Nokia shows a track record of orphaning hardware.

If Nokia were to offer a tade-in allowance of $100 towards the new one, I would probably jump on it. I doubt they will, and I will then save my pennies for an iPhone or get a UMPC. The N770 is fun enough, but without support it won't be fun for long - since it still has some glitches...

I will agree that Nokia may want to do these things due to "fast paced development" and so on. But leaving a track record of unstable, orphaned hardware will ruin the entire platform. The suits will blame the "iPhone" or some such I am sure, but not taking care of your base is what does it.