Great post from Ryan of Ars: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/...o-5-device.ars

I hope he attends the summit again this year.

Have no fear, for every company that tries to lock something down. There's plenty hell bent on unlocking it.

Sometimes, just sometimes, the attitudes here bewilder me...

...people ask for better tablets, then complain when features are added in.
...people ask for standarization and better tools, then complain when the old stuff that can't work with the new tools aren't supported.
...people ask for a device to do more, cost less, and use fewer resources, but...

...just sometimes, I feel like when I come here, the psychology of the user base undermines the intentions of the users to actually see that they are getting what they want.
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Again, there's nothing in Nokia's history with locked/unlocked devices that stipulates that they will offer this device only in a locked condition in all of the regions that it will be sold. I'd recommend reading the FCC filing again for the RX-51, and considering, just for a moment, that you might have more options for purchasing this than you think.

I'm completely the opposite of some people. A tablet is useless to me unless it has a 3G radio in it. I seriously WANT a Zune HD but I may just end up skipping it in favor of the rx-51 just because it has 3G.

I mean seriously, there's no reason NOT to want a 3G radio in this thing. It replaces everything in my pocket: tablet, phone, mp3 player, gps. This is PERFECT.

And you can NEVER know that you'll NEVER use it. You may have a change of heart in as little as 2 weeks and crave that radio in it for some reason. I pay extra for things that I think might come in useful, even if I doubt I'll use it.

I think the problem is is that you're treating the individual opinions and desires of separate users like some sort of self-contradictory community consciousness.

It's really as simple as different people wanting different things.

My personal experience with Nokia handsets in Spain is that they have always sold them unlocked first, then subsidized through one or more carriers (those are SIM locked, except those offered by Orange).

I have always purchased them unlocked but only because I wanted to have them soon after launch, but then again you pay a premium and also It will cost a lot less a couple of months later..

AFAIR, Nokia has never played such silly game here.

I've got a contract with Orange UK at the moment, I needed it unlocking so that my missus could use it for a few days while her phone was going for repair. I rang Orange and they unlocked it for about 10GBP, it took about 5 minutes to do - so I don't really see a big issue with "locked" phones, unless it's locked in the iphone kind of way.

and thats why i "love" the usa == world that seems to be the norm in this forum...

still, i would love to see a phone-less device myself, as i have a perfectly fine phone already.

Three things:
a) I have an S60 phone and I must say that if that is all Symbian can offer Symbian is already death. (have not seen N97 running). The system is unresponsive. I don't blame it. It's been a long road for symbian and it never had an older brother to help it improve multitasking like windows or linux for desktops and servers.
So that means Nokia NEEDS Maemo to run in a phone. At least one.
b) The problem is always the same. Maemo should run in two very diferent devices. One of them is a N97 sized tablet so you can carry it around with all your best software on it. If that has a phone it is ok for me (in fact I prefer that to have a phone). So RX-51 is a great step in that direction.
Then, there is another device, that can be as big as an small kindle, that connects wiressly to the phone and let you make all things you'll do with it but without taking it away from your pocket. That device don't need to have any phone capability (like N810) yet it should extensively use bluetooth to work with the phone so well you simply forget it is not a phone. A little bit like what happens with 3G Internet connection in N810. Once you paired N8X0 with a phone it actually has 3G internet built in. It becomes easy, fast, and transparent as if it had a SIM on it.
That device should have a much bigger screen, loud speakers, nice integrated keyboard, ... Much more portable than a Netbook and usable as a phone, as a PIM and as an Internet Tablet.

3) If RX-51 is going to have phone capabilities that means it is going to have a good integrated PIM. Hope they build it having very clear that that PIM should work seamesly as a SIM phone and as a virtual phone attached to your real phone using the protocols we alreardy have: bluetooth headsets, headphones, bluetooth PIM, bluetooth data, ...

SIM locks are only half the story. Subsidised handsets also tend to have useful features crippled (UK example, or google for a seemingly infinite number of stories about crippled bluetooth in the US) if they don't quite match the operators' revenue models.