For a reader, a large screen without a keyboard makes a lot of sense. For a communicator, a small(ish) screen and a keyboard are mighty useful.

I'm pretty sure that in the future we will all carry electronic reading devices in our bags (rather than books), and communicators in our pockets. Perhaps a "workstation" (aka netbook) in our backpack. I'd like to see free software running on all of them. Maemo and moblin are forging ahead by focusing on specific use cases.

uh... no. the G1 has a VERY nice 5 row keyboard. Not dumbed down at all.

And this is why the bad N810 keyboard (and maybe its sucessor's) is a shame.

1. Come out with ground-breaking R&D device (770) that defines a new nich for internet tablets

2. Lose the metal cover, and follow up this device with a much more capable and versatile internet tablet (800). Add cool features like 2 SD card slots and a FM radio.

3. Shrink the device slightly to make the device more pocketable. Add a keyboard for thumb typing. Lose the radio. Abandon SD cards in favor of mini-SD cards to keep size down. Substitute 2 GB internal storage for removable storage.

4. Release another device. Experiment with wi-max, then abandon it

5. Continue to develop the maemo software

6. ???

7. Profit

It looks like the N900/maemo phone is supposed to fill the gap between (6) and (7). Actually, the fact that Nokia was willing to invest quite a bit and release three devices (four if you count wimax) before they got to the "???" step says a lot about them. I am sure quite a few companies would have dropped out long before.

No dpad? Is there even an xterm? This looks more like a phone to me.

IT'S A TRAP!!!

Hahaha.

I think that about sums it up.

I was one who supported adding phone capability, but this is not what I meant. I was imagining a reved-up N810 with a phone stuffed in somehow.

Welcome to the sixties!

I realize what you're saying ... but, frankly, the reason I'm here is for Maemo, not the tablets.

The N800 was great, as was the N810, but they aren't what "sold me" on the platform (and, frankly, while they're great devices, they're not THAT great). Maemo is what hooked me. And when I started looking toward other devices, isn't wasn't Maemo that caused me to drift away, it was the deficiencies of the tablets themselves (nothing bigger than a pocketable, and no pocketables that are also phones).

The thing I like about Mer, isn't "a new, up to date, OS for the tablets", it's the potential for an even more open version of Maemo, on more devices (ie. not just on the tablets).

If Mer doesn't duplicate the well integrated and consistent user interface of Maemo, and ends up looking like Ubuntu (or worse), I wont be interested. Why would I be? If I want to run Ubuntu on a MID, I'll run Ubuntu on a MID. To my mind, the value of both this community, and Mer, is Maemo. If Mer doesn't end up being like Maemo, it's worhtless to me. And if this community becomes just a legacy tablet enthusiast community (like a pocketable version of Edsel or Tucker car clubs), it will also be worthless to me.

It is funny to me how much people complain. Now, I am not a user from the very beginning, but have had my n800 since the day before it came out. I carry it everywhere and love it. I tether to a t-mobile phone (non-3g, not like they offer it in San Luis Obispo anyway), and only wish it had a few different things... a better camera, a keyboard, gps, video out, and more ram. I know, I know... why not get the n810? I have had the order placed and removed many times, but this upcoming solution seems so interesting that a little loss in screen size is just not a deal breaker. It has, on the whole, so much more than anything else out there. Note, I am far-sighted, and this still doesn't cause me heartburn. My programs are always run windowed (except movies) and I think that once it gets in the hands of users, we will all be pleasantly surprised. I thank Nokia for taking this step -- as opposed to not giving us anything at all... and perhaps forcing us to "the other guys" with closed, "pay to play" systems.

Thank you, Admiral Akbar.