If I couldn't choose to do "a whole lot of nothing," could I be considered free?

I can't help feeling that you're just seeing what you want to see.

In statistical terms, the promise of FOSS is very similar to an unsupervised clustering algorithm with good data. The cream will organize and rise to the top.

Apple is being steered by a deeply passionate visionary dictator.

Although diametrically opposed, both strategies can be very successful, and both strategies can coexist with an uncorrupted or fair rule of law. I'm slightly more optimistic than texrat.

I'm not sure that it matters, but I don't think you even own an n900. So as someone that does, and as someone that also enjoys a freedom that very few will ever know, I have to disagree with you. The freedom to do everything produces the only things worth producing.

And I'm playing freedom's advocate.

To be fair if you read any review for the N900 you would find out about its weaknesses pretty fast. I was also disappointed with Nokia post meego announcement. They acted like a headless chicken and let the hysteria build up. It almost seemed like they had no roadmap concerning the N900 at that stage.

But at some point I took a step back from the window into the future and looked at the black slab in my hands. It does everything I want, I haven't spent a cent on software for it and being a newcomer to the linux scene, the community is amazing and continues to surprise me on a daily basis.

hehe...OK

Bluetooth, see here: https://bugs.maemo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=9606
Petrovich also fails.

SSH: I already use it

USSD: I have no need for it, but stumbled upon this issue on the forums here.

V.

lol...............

Family Guy version:



I really had to do it.... xD

This has got to be a joke. I can't believe the amount of people defending Nokia. I used to love all my Nokia phones, and especially the symbian ones.

In the case of N900, Nokia dropped the ball! Almost as annoying as Apple fanboys this is getting out of hand. Not only the amount of people that are defending Nokia, but also the amount of people starting new threads on how they are losing faith!

Facts are facts, Nokia is hardly rolling out any support for this phone. I mean seriously, it's been about 5months since I got the phone and Ovi store is still in beta with no useful programs (no, I'm not talking about games!). I'm not looking for an apple appstore here, but just a normal store that can get me what I want. Only thing I can say that is good about phone (or computer as some of you like to call it to make yourself feel better), is the web browser and even that sucks from time to time!

at times my music will jerk when I open a new page. or the screen will stay dark when someone calls me. or when I accidentally rotate the phone when I have an incoming call and now I can't answer it!

Get it already, it's a phone first and a computer second! I shouldn't need to overclock anything hoping for the phone to work better, it should be a standard feature.

The real sad part is that the phone has been released for about 5 months, and we have gotten one large update. If the phone was released today, with 1.1 features there would still be many people that are not satisfied. This just tells me that Nokia are not putting enough resources to make n900 owners happy.

Yeah yeah, blaa blaa blaa, this phone was never supposed to be controlled by nokia and the community is working on it. I've seen couple of arguments on how it's better to know that atleast someone is working on it, rather than be kept in the dark. Not true! I don't mind being kept in the dark if the freaking thing didn't have that many bugs on it!

The fanboys really have to give me a break, the defending of Nokia is getting out of hand. Just admit that they screwed us over on this one...

@Mengs

Sure enough I can see your point and they are valid, so sell the N900 and move on, you'll be happy and the fan boys will be happy.

As for Nokia resources, well that needs to be aimed at Nokia not in here. They have jumped into bed with Intel and Apple are thinking of buying ARM so there's obviously a plan moving forward but support for the N900 will continue.

Nokia "Management" are to blame for the current situation.

As it stands, Nokia are about to lose the smartphone market entirely.

Which basically means Nokia's "only" market will be low to mid price mobile phones. The days of selling high-end devices are beginning to drift past Nokia.

Now Nokia still have the majority marketshare of mobile phones in general and will probably be that way for some time. They are very good at it.

But markets change and technology moves at a very fast rate.

Unless Nokia get MeeGo right then the last chance of being a smartphone player will have passed.

One of the major selling points of devices like iPhone and android is the availability of applications. Both Apple and Google understand this very well and Nokia completely misses this.

My friends who recently bought either iPhone or android all say the same thing "I want download and play with the cool applications".

This is beyond Nokia's understanding and this is why they are doing so badly at the moment.

The OVI store is a joke. My partner has a nokia 5800 and has downloaded a couple of apps from the store. She says she won't pay for any because "It's only a mobile phone and only cost me couple of hunded pounds". She likes my n900 but she hates using it to phone people. She thinks the gui feels wierd and prefers using her 5800.
(I know, I know the n900 is "not a phone" but it is still important)

I spent £500 on my n900. Would I buy apps for it?
Yes, I would.

Do you see?

If Nokia got the app "ecosystem" right then they would have been in a strong position to compete in the smartphone market.

At the moment Symbian is the dominant platform on Nokia devices and thier focus is on this. Which was fine until now.

I guess Nokia "Mangaement" are saying:

"Why should we change our strategy? Our mobile phones are selling really well. All we need to do is create a premiuim device with Symbian and use our existing strategy - it always worked before."

"Let me get this straight you want to use the software from our tablet devices and use it to make a mobile phone? But Symbian is for mobile phones not this new-fangled Linux stuff you kids are talking about!

Tell you what we'll increase your budget and you manufacture this tablet/phone. Present it to the board and if you are lucky do a limited release."

"Wait a minute! What do you mean you want to expand the tablet/phone Linux programme?
Are you nuts?
We are losing marketshare to Apple and Google and we need to respond quickly. We've earmarked a budget to release 3 new Symbian-based phones and going to undercut these so called 'smartphones"...."

You get the picture...

if I was a shareholder I would be going completely nuts!

I think the people directly responsible for creating maemo and the n900 have done a fantastic job but I think they are being hamstrung by Nokia "Management".

Unless something changes then Nokia will become just another budget handset maker.

@shugg

True, I could just sell the phone and get an android (or whatever), but that's not even the point!

I think that if I paid ~600€ for a phone, that's what I should get... or maybe I paid 600€ for a computer, but trust me that that is not what we're getting either. Pretty much what we got was a 600€ phone that tries to act as a part computer, but fails at both.

Talking about reality distortion... market shares up (smartphone market), profit and turnover up, by far the most successful smartphone vendor in the universe (>40% market share), and they're "about to lose the market entirely".