Seriously, I'm impressed. After nearly a month with the N900 (reviewing for Brighthand), I have to say that I'm impressed with the N900 and the Maemo 5 platform. I do stand by my initial impressions in that its not enough to move me from my N97, but Nokia's got a heck of a good start.

I don't think I would feel this way if I've not participated in this community. That aspect of the N900 and Maemo 5 has been missed in a lot of reviews. And understanding the device means to also understand the Maemo 5 community (here and beyond). Nokia is trying to swing the ship hard, and I sympathize.

I do think that from a hardware perspective that the N900 is on point. And I mean not just for right now, it should be fine for the next year - easily. The software is a sticky point, and its here where Nokia and this community need to come to some target and push like crazy towards it.

If its a mobile computer, then push the edge of innovation. Use gestures, AR, TV-Out, NFC, services, etc. to literally change computing. But, I think that with Maemo that Nokia/this community needs to get rid of a lot of the legacy thoughts. I don't mean run towards the Apple or Google paradigms, but to figure out strengths, and allow the platform and devices to evangelize that ability. Moving past that means moving past computing norms and while smoothing out the issues with the norms.

When that happens, convincing people that the N900 and other Maemo devices are computing idealized will be easy. Impressing folks comes naturally to Nokia and many folks within Maemo.

*@qole: you were partly right here, I feel similar, just not yet moved.

You are missing the point here of using a Linux based device.

They don't want to give you everything, instead they gave you an open source device and told YOU to do anything you want with it. As a matter of fact I am seeing much more useful apps for the N900 already than for the S60v5 now.


If you are like me and have absolutely no idea what programming is then just enjoy the innovations others are offering.

I think this is a great device because for the first time truly we are given EVERYTHING we want literally.

Eh, apps... if those were the paneca of the computing puzzle then we'd not be conversing on the web

The N900 isn't the point, Maemo 5 is. And its one of those things where the device and platform are enabled by your imagination. Its very similar to the old PalmOS - just with better plumbing.

That being said, when you spend enough time with the device - both with a programmers and a non-programmers mindset (I'd refer you to my background but hey, assumptions are the truth of forum life) - then you start to see items which are indeed impressive. One's experiences with mobile device will be the driver after that...

...for me personally, I'm looking for just a little bit more. Hence my participation here and elsewhere. It doesn't give everything, but it does present imaginations' possibilities.

ARJWright, what are the applications/features/anythings that you use in the N97, and you miss it in the N900?

I'm interested in anything from speed, user experience, some specific apps, etc. It's great you use both, so I think you can give a really two way user perspective.

I am thinking to get a new device after my Palm Treo 680 (the hardware started to give in now, really falling apart), and hesitate between a Symbian device and the N900.
The Symbian is the boring, not very intutitive OS for me, but it is mature, gaps are filled, works smooth. Maemo would be de risky, but higher potential.

I think I have the money to buy both, however I don't have time+energy to transfer all my data and tailor the device for my needs twice, so it would be my next platform for the coming 5+ years. I used Psions for ~10 years, then Palm for ~5 years. The switch from Psion to Palm was quite energy and time consuming, to convert all the data, find the new apps for my taste, and just tailor the device to my own needs.

Thanks!

The N900 is a funny device. It's the 4th ineration of some lon term research that Nokia ha been going since 2001 or so. The first 3 iterations where the Internet Tablets. A size up from the PDA's of 10 years ago. Large screens, decent computing capacity and storage. Each new version of the hardware and of Maemo OS/UI showed great improvements. Nokia was surprised by how well the N770, N800 and N810 sold. And I'm guessing that Nokia was also impressed by how well using open source software and working with the open source community worked as well.

The N900 is the latest iteration of the Internet Tablet series. Nokia liked what was happening so much they actually skipped a step in their 5 stop long term goals. We can see this from these Maemo generation build code names: Diablo -> (Elephantra) -> Fremantle.

So what as have now is a very polished Internet Tablet with a very smooth and elegant touchscreen user interface (aka desktop). (Side note: I hardly every use the stylus). And yet the first version of phone functionality. The phone aspects of the N900 function fairly well, but they are very immature in terms of features. The cause of this is because it's a totally new operating system for a Nokia phone.

Nokia has a LOT of code they've developed for Symbian. Even if a new version of Symbian comes out and they create a new phone to use it. They have a lot of legacy Symbian code to use as a starting point. They don't have that legacy code to use for the N900. So the N900 really isn't the smart phone for the masses. The N900 is a milestone and devleopment platform for the Maemo 6 phone which will be designed for the masses. And at the same time the N900 is THE device I've (and a lot of other people) been waiting for over a decade,

sljonson - when do you think Maemo 6 devices will be on the shelves?
What do you think I gain if I switch to Maemo now, instead of waiting for Maemo 6? What can be the tradeoff?

Thanks!

I seem to recall from the Nokia show that next Maemo device would be release in the second half of 2010. At a guess I think Oct 2010 would be the earliest.

As to what you would gain, I really don't know. I haven't been involved with Maemo to the extent that other have been. But I'll take a Scientific Wild Assinine Guess at it. All of your personal information (contacts, call history, perferences, etc) are stored in the same manner as they would be on a desktop PC. Upgrading to a new Linux version on a PC is generally seamless. Backup my data, boot up with the new version and run the installer, reboot and it's done. When moving to a new PC, it's simple as well. Install Linux, copy over my home directory to the new system, login and I'm done.

Similarly, moving from a N900 to Maemo 6 device should be fairly seamless. Create a Backup on the N900 (This will get all of your personal information), backup the rest of the information from the MyDocs partition, copy the N900 Backup files to the Maemo 6 device, Restore from the N900 Backup file, then let the Maemo 6 device restore your applications from the Backup. restore all of the MyDocs information, take out the SIM card and microSD card and put them in the Maemo 6 device. And you should be good to go with the new phone.

As I previously said, the above is all pure speculation. I know the N900 is right for me. But I think the question you should ask yourself "Is the N900 the device for me NOW?". You will have to put up with it for nearly a year. It is an immature smartphone and we don't have any idea how fair Nokia is going to develop the N900's feature. If you do get a N900, I don't think you'll be wasting your time in regards to getting your information on it, configuring it to your tastes, etc.

Data conversion from one platform to another sucks!!! The N900 isn't immune, but I'd expect that something better than PC/Ovi Suite that treats the N900 like the *computer* that it is would come along to aid moving from another mobile is a more responsive manner - where the device is the host and the older device connects directly to it.

The UI just doesn't feel as cohesive for my needs at this point. Its close, but still requires too much attention for the device to remain valuable. I get just a little bit more context-awareness from my N97 than from the N900. I expect that to change in the coming year though.

I moved from the 680 to an N75/N800 combo. Having both platforms (Symbian and Maemo) for the same amount of time as personal/professional devices has taught me a lot about how I'd like to live with mobile. Both are coming to the same apex, just from different perspectives. The N97 and Symbian better fits me right now.

Apps don't matter to me. I really get by with a solid web browser and my mobile web server. Anything else that I use is more because others don't share the same perspective and their content is locked in one silo or another.

Yea data conversion does suck. But it's a fact of life, and it's a part of what I do for a living (Systems Adminstrator). And I've had a LOT of mobile devices (and services) in the past. Data sync'ing between different types of devices and software is hit or miss. Even with standardized data exchange formats (i.e. vcard) can be hit or miss.

With all of that I've honed my data keeping to a fine art. I have one master copy in my desktop PC in the application Evolution. Evolution is my master copy, and it's never updated from any other source. Ever since I started doing that. It's been a lot easier to maintain my data (mainly my Contact which what I'm most interested in)

Very interesting aspects, thanks.
There's another aspect for me, which is using my device 1-3h per day for talking on the phone as a project manager. So I expect from the phone side has to be good reception, good voice quality, no freezes, and moderate level polished user interface. This is during worktime.
Then when work ends, in my freetime, and when travelling, I think, if I have the N900, I would use it for a lot of things I don't do now, but I would enjoy exploring, connecting with VNC to my home PCs, lot of web browsing (anything that I need to open up my laptop to order pizza, internet banking, buying movie tickets, look up movie stats on imdb, light photo editing, managing databases in Excel, etc.).
I don't know how would this interfere with my down to earth style calling needs during work hours.
If my device becomes unusuable, or messed up, that is not acceptable. What is installed and runs, it should work error free. This is where my Treo 680 fails -poor voice quality, no receptions in weak areas (where my Nokia 1600 barebones phone has 1-2 bars), occasional freezes in "on the air" situations.

@sljonson
What is Evolution? Can you give a website?