If the N9 is to be a replacement for the N900 then it has to be because of the usb port fault that forced Nokia into a new design as they sure as hell don't want a repeat of the usb problem.
What you should be asking yourselve's is IF the N9 is going to have the Meego platform will it be possible to programm the same OS into the N900 and if so then what i have said all along is the N900 is no way dead and buried as it is completely programmable.

This will depend on Nokia making the OS of the N9 directly programmable into the N900 bearing in mind there will for sure be new hardware involved and will need the N900 drivers to be incorperated into the transition to N900.

If this happens then there is indeed a future for the robust N900 but we need more information about this N9.

What are your thoughts regarding this?

Moderators could this thread be checked for the right section as it is all about the N900.

what does have a usb port fault on some (minority) N900 devices to do with a completely new device?

And yes, there will be two versions of meego for the N900, so it is far from death.

You should look at the MeeGo subforum for info on MeeGo to the n900

zehjotkah unfortunatly because of the design of the usb port on the N900 i am afraid to say every single device will be prone to detachment but alas there is a fix that i have now fully tested and it only requires scraping the paint off either side of the usb port on the pcb and soldered, this does stop the port itself from moving as the problem was the pads are far too small to hold it in place.

What we all need is some good constructive talk on the future of the N900 as i feel it is very much needed, i am sick of negative talk and bad feedback for the N900 when it actually does have a damm good future ahead of it with the help of this community and Nokia.

My opinion after working on the m/b doing various mods, i am absolutely positive it is the best device yet from Nokia in the sence of being upgradable on both software and hardware (i have worked on almost every device Nokia ever created).

I'm not question your intentions, abill_uk.
I know that you can be a really nice guy, if you want to.
But I'm not seeing the connection between a hardware fault on one device, and the release of another, new device.
Since your fix seems to be so easy (by the way I never had any problems with my N900, no reboot loops, no slowdons, no stuck/dead pixels, no dead mic, no weared off keyboard, no loose USB port (despite connecting it several times a day)) why Nokia would have to design entire new hardware?
The N9 is not intended as a replacement but as a successor.
Was the N95-8GB a replacement of the N95?
No!
And there is a much greater difference between N900 and N9.

Thankyou for the positive words on your N900.
I feel strongly that many people are starting to lose faith on the N900 because of various reasons, and as Nokia seem intent on moving on, it would be really good for every 900 owner to know many things are indeed possible without the need to go out and spend even more money on a new device.

I am waiting for the people involved in the further development of the 900 to input some positivity on this thread.

I myself have almost finished work on usb otg and have done a few mod's over the last month that i will share once completely tested.

I want constructive talk not negative trolling to make people realise the N900 is a fantastic device but dont yet realise it.

I am one of the many that had USB port issues (within 2 weeks of new). I do not know what the difference between my old device and my replacement is. But the new device has been used very heavily including a few accidents and is holding up fine.

I am so far very happy with the N900.

But I think Nokia has really failed to earn this communities trust. When developing a device for the open source community you need to be open about your plans.

Bringing out new devices is to be encouraged. But if you are rellying on a volunteer community to support and build software for these devices then it is important to keep contact with the owners and developers of the new devices.

Nokia started to see negativity here after the 770 was replaced with the N800 and backwards support was lost. The N900 has only reinforced that opinion.

If Nokia wants this community to continue as a unbiased supporter of their ITTs they need to be more supportive of the users with older devices.

The main hope we have now is that Meego will allow us to move away from Nokia.

EDIT: TL;DR

If you want people to invest both their money in a new device and a huge amount of their own time producing software to make that divice useful. Then you need to convince them that the divice will be supported longer then the average cell phone.

Since the N8 isn't out yet, which the N9 seems to be derived from; this is mere speculation. The USB port problem is at motherboard level, not casing design issue that leads itself to being fixed as aforesaid speculated.

In fact, the reasoning behind the N9... if that design is to be taken as real (it is unconfirmed at best) then it finally brings the Maemo products into design parity with other N-series products.

Typed on my N810

You can't develop for any platform if you haven't got enough money to keep the lights turned on. New models will always come along - generally they should always be trending in the 'better' direction, and hopefully they'll remember old models for at least a couple of years.

I, for one, love the N900. In so far as operating systems go, maemo is pretty damn nice. I like it significantly better than all the S60 variations. Sure, a few things are missing, but it's open enough for anyone to fix these deficiencies. Should this be Nokia's problem? I don't know, maybe, but it doesn't matter to me, it was money well spent.

There are few SDK's floating around, have an itch to scratch? So scratch it already : )

Ugly peace of **** like N8.