I know what the n800/810 did for me. They allowed me to tether to my iDEN phone via BT and take advantage of its always on, GPRS data connection. They still do.

I couldn't do this at first so I came here, to this forum. I learned a clunky work around from the denizens here, learned that it was a bug that should be reported, learned how to report that bug, reported it, and waited for it to be addressed in a subsequent firmware release.

As a result, I have been connected to the net for free with a full featured browser through a cheaper, throw away phone for almost 3 years now.

Historically, that's pretty good for me...

You are right though, if I had bought an N800 or N810 in the last months of that firmware's life cycle and was the first to discover this bug I would be SOL.

The same would be true for any device I buy under those conditions. The difference would be Nokia's involvement with this community.

If the device was purchased from another manufacturer I would have been SOL from day one and would likely still be. Nokia also takes it on the "sales" chin for its involvement with our community because we may know more about product life cycles and can use that history you speak of to make informed decisions regarding future purchases. Because these bugs were reported and fixed during their life cycle, 770's & N800/810's continue to be very useful. Their build quality keeps them coming back into the used market also affecting the sales of newer devices.

I am not "leaping in" to defend Nokia or any other manufacturer for that matter. It is just that as I am getting older I find that I may have actually participated in some of the history that is referred to, and that's what prompted my response. The eventual payoff for Nokia imho may be that because of that history, more and more Nokia devices will end up in the hands of future users.

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In getting back to the OP's topic...

The N900 gives me a much faster data connection using a familiar browser and interface that has improved over the past 3 years. Now I can do this from the same device instead of having to carry two.

@petur yes you are correct in what you said me being a previous n810 owner but then again the n900 has taken the internet tablet in a whole ne direction now with cellular capabilities, 5mp camera and other features so this device although is technically still a internet tablet is in a different field. The n900 has more supporters and more consumer users that aren't that tech savvy and Nokia knows this so hopefully they will obviously pay more attention to the n900 than previous internet tablets due to the increase in demand and popularity. I only knew of the n810 because i stumbled upon it on ebay but the n900 is everywhere on youtube and most of my favorite mobile review sites.

True. And I never had an N800/N810. They weren't useful for me without the GSM capability.

However, before Maemo 5, BOTH the 770 and the N800 eventually received the newer operating systems.
It is said that they would also get Maemo 5 if their hardware would allow it.

So, it is rumored that the next Maemo device will have the same hardware as the N900, so (and here comes my speculation) I guess the N900 will be able to run that.

However, I really don't care if it does or doesn't. The N900 and Maemo 5 is what I waited for for years... a tiny computer that can do all the essential things, and has in-built phone features.