Then it seems I've completely misunderstood which post you were replying to. Sorry.

But since you asked: Honestly, I'd rather have Nokia provide the N810 WiMAX (and I'd rather clearsprintxohm hadn't botched it royally with delays) and let the community provide a browser. Bundyo doesn't have the resources to produce shiny hardware, and Nokia doesn't have the freedom to start work on Tear when they're already committed to a Gecko browser.

I do not resist "change". I resist a big regression in what is supposed to be the next device in a line of devices that I use a lot.
A small screen is a big regression - the big screen was the defining detail of the line so far.

To anyone who suggests "hold the device closer to your eyes", I can only suggest - replace your desktop screen with an 8" screen and look closer. Replace your living room TV with a 4" set and sit closer. Buy the microfilm version of your favourite book and hold it closer to your eyes. That's how much sense the "hold it closer" suggestion make.

[QUOTE]
Mark my words; I predict that, no matter what we might be saying about the form factor described in these (apparently) leaked documents, the actual Maemo 5 devices will change the marketplace forever. Just think of the impact that a fully open Linux phone (including the telephony stack, thank you, oFono) is going to have on the industry!
[QUOTE]

Will it be an open phone? Will the t-mobile version allow you to add any repository in application manager? Will it install easyroot package from extras? Will this package even be in extras? Will trying to install a package not approved by Nokia/t-mobile warn you that you will lose your warranty?

I am not willing to bet on the answer to any of those questions.

Good point FPP - there are many advantages to having seperate devices for seperate needs - as also advantages to having an all-in-one device (of course I am not including the kitchen sink into it).

I was also againt convergence when I used the Zaurus (starting from Zaurus 5800 the dev version). I liked the laptop style keyboard of the clamshell Zaurii. I never thought I would want a phoen witha PDA together. I never even though I would want a camera with a phone together.

But its those same real-life situations which made me go for a N95 - exoplicitly for a decent instant-available camera on a phone together (cause as you can guess in real candid situations, I found I didn't have my largish camera with me all the time). That was one point when convergence won me over.

Same goes with my phone tethered to my N810. Since I have a phone all the time, sometimes I leave or forget my IT when out and about - and lo and behold I need to access the full internet, or I need to post a blog with photos or something for which the IT is much more nifty than the phone itself. Or sometimes I had my IT, but didn't carry my phone for some obscure reason- and damn the IT was like a brick for me at that time.

Right there I feel if I had my phone-camera into the IT itself - it would save me at these moments when I missed out one or the other.

So overall convergence is not a take-it-or-leave-it choice. Its a choice we slowly adapt to considering the situations we face and the lowering of the price and technology barriers to having all-in-one devices.

Can you consider that around 10-20 years ago cell phones didn't have SMS capabilities into it. It was JUST a phone. Would you carry such a phone today ?

Yes, but the community has also been told by Nokia employees that the five step plan for Maemo that Ari Jaaksi outlined so many moons ago shouldn't be looked upon as some sort of holy scripture. The five steps illustrated Nokia's plans at the time of that presentation; however, that was a geological era or two ago in the fast moving mobile market, and Nokia may well have adjusted their timeline and strategy since.

My worry is the crater size from such an impact

... like they may have skipped what was supposed to become "Step 4" (including the Maemo-version that would accompany it) . Somebody once said this was what happened in 2008.... Oh, it was me!

After pondering the possibility of a maemo phone, I find myself looking forward to its possibility. I would like a phone that gives me access to the command line, understands python gtk and/or qt and lets me install open source apps alongside Nokia apps or purchasable apps. If the phone can do this, I may end up getting one.

In fact with such a phone, I suspect the N810 may start to gather dust alongside my Zaurus.

Do you know how many internet tablets or zaurii I have seen in the wild? Zero. The number of people I see each day with an iphone or blackberry or in the past a treo is too numerous to count.

When I first got my internet tablets I kept going back to my Zaurii and pining away for all the features of the Zaurus I had come to love. You know what, after using the N810 for awhile now, I don't use my Zaurus. Although I still have nostalgia for the Zaurus and the community built up around it. What I found is that while I lost some things that the Zaurus had, I gained some other uses I hadn't envisioned or appreciated.

I suspect with the N900 it will be the same. Some features will be lost; however, the N900 will potentially enable so many other uses that I expect I'll look back at the N810 with nostalgia but won't pull it out too much.

For me personally, I think that 3.5 in versus 4 in is close enough that what I use the N810 for I'll be able to use the N900 for. Yes the smaller screen may make web surfing a bit more difficult -- but I also haven't heard anyone complain about being able to use a web browser on a blackberry or a an iphone.

Also, for me I have some uses for which a 4 in screen is not enough and for which I would like a larger screen. For a desktop in the pocket, something like a UMID with Linux may work for me and would be a complement to a mameo phone. For reading unflowable pdfs, couch surfing, and perhaps pulling out at the hotel to do some light office work over citrix I need a 7 to 10 in screen in a thin tablet with a bluetooth or detachable keyboard. That is a niche that hasn't been filled yet for me, although the Touchbook looks intriguing.

My vision is to be able to choose my device based on what I am doing, but to have one set of data (not on someone elses's servers). When I get home, the phone communicates with the tablet so I can pick up the tablet and all my data is there. I can do work on the tablet, grab the phone and all my new data is there. I get in the car, the phone communicates with my GPS device with a bigger screen so I can pull up a new contact and meeting location and get directions.

I've only been using Linux/Unix since 1996 or so. I guess I'm a youngster then

No machine I've ever used has had the shell configured to use vim mode by default.


Michael

Assuming the rx-51 actually is the leaked device here, I'm willing to bet it will do fine as its own product. The crux will be "is this the ONLY new Maemo device". If the rx-71 is a more "traditional" sized/featured NIT, then I bet all will be fine within the Maemo community.

If the rx-71 is the rumored Nokia netbook instead of being a NIT ... then I'll be happy (because it fits my device strategy), but I understand that the rest of you probably wont be :-}

The mobile industry could use a few more smoking craters. Germany emerged from WWII as an industrial powerhouse because all of their legacy equipment had been cratered in the war.