I don't want to debate but I think you are wrong on MyPaint's benefits on the n900...

This thread especially shows the benefits of MyPaint...

Sorry here is where you are wrong. The iPhones awesome kinetic scrolling idea is perfect for content consumption but it surely is a handicap for content creation. It disables a lot of other gestures you use everyday on your computer, just to provide one thing: scrolling. Let me give you some examples.

App: Browser
Type: Content consumption
Task: Scroll around
Desktop style controls: Find the tiny scrollbar button, hit it multiple times until you go where you want.
Thumb-friendly steps: Drag where you want.

App: E-mail
Type: Content manipulation
Task: move 10 emails to another folder
DSC: Drag to select 10 emails in the right pane. Drag them to the folder you want.
TFS: open the menu, tap move, tap 10 mail messages one-by-one to select them, tap ok, tap the folder you want them to be moved in, tap ok.

App: spreadsheet
Type: Content consumption
Task: navigate around very large spreadsheet.
DSC: catch the vertical scrollbar position bar and estimate where in the height the info you want to see is. Catch the horizontal position bar and go where your data should be. Repeat until you find the info you want. (or press ctrl+f and type)
TFS: Drag around until you find it, pinch to zoom out to have a better overview, pinch in again.

App: spreadsheet
Type: content creation
Task: autofill 30 cells
DSC: struggle a bit until you hit the tiny dot in the cell corner and drag
TFS: select a cell, open the menu, hit autofill, enter the number of cells (which you must remember), enter direction, press ok.

App: spreadsheet
Type: content creation
Task: move cells
DSC: drag to select, drag to move
TFS: open the menu, press move, select cells one by one, press move, select destination press move here.

More examples:
Make everything bold -> ctrl+A ctlr+b
Fill arbitrarily positioned cells in a form-like spreadsheet -> type, enter, arrows

I challenge you anytime in handheld spreadsheet editing, and to make it even more fun, I'll bring my N810 and bring your iPhone5 (to match screen sizes)

So it's not mobile-optimized, it's just content consumption optimized which is good, but not enough for me. Coupled with the lack of hw keyboard I'd continue to use desktop like applications on a phone every day. Less fun to use but much more easy to create content.

(Without getting into the money argument, as all those desktop grade applications are free on the N900, while the "whatever best spreadsheet app there is" is at least €9 in the app store. The only free ones I've seen have either ads or limit to 100cells or save csv only)

And while I believe that a fine spreadsheet app is worth 10 or more €, I use (occasionally) about 20 such applications which sum up to a pretty big total. Also having the odd app that I will use only once in a lifetime handy, and not have to do market research before I do the things I want to do is worth to me too.

The same happens on windows on pc. There are infinite apps, but you can't possibly know if it's adware, malware, nagware, crippleware, or even if it's marginally ok to use. While on the debian repos I'm sure I will find an acceptable app that does the job and respects me even if it's not the best app for the job ever made (sometimes it is).

I agree that the above thread shows what mypaint on the N900 can do with the right talent and patience, though I also had issues with the navigation and screen size when using mypaint. To the point where it ruined the creative flow for me. Others might/do feel different about it

Dousan...

e: I actually use my 4S to draw on and even though the screen size is the same the multitouch is so much better for the work flow, despite missing pressure sensitivity. I spend most time drawing on my IPad with my pogo connect (pressure sensitivity stylus) and that is just awesome. There's some pretty nifty drawing apps for IOS. I use Brushes and Procreate

[QUOTE=qwazix;1292942
App: Browser
<snip>
Task: move 10 emails to another folder
<snip>
Make everything bold -> ctrl+A ctlr+b
[/QUOTE]

That reminded me of three occasions I've had some introduction into the world of iThings. All indirect: I've never had an iPhone so cannot confirm the validity of any of that.

Case 1:
Someone at work asked by email how to get pictures off an iPhone. What an idiot, I thought, just plug it in a USB port and copy them off. Surely every mobile device does that. From the discussion that followed, I figured out it wasn't that simple.

Case 2:
Someone posted a request in a forum I was reading at the time to write an iPhone app for reading that forum. What???, was my reaction. Do you need a separate "app" for every online forum? Don't you have a browser?

Case 3:
Just overheard, but apparently there is no copy&paste on an iPhone.

Of course, who could possibly need to copy pictures off an iPhone, use a single "app" to access all the online forums on the planet or copy text between applications? That's just silly.

There is copy and paste on iphone, and very functional one. With regards to app request, if you are visiting a site a lot, why not get an app?

o.O

1. Yes you can get your pics of an iPhone by simply plug it in to a computer. It might need to install a driver first, but then it's just copy them over as you do from a digital camera.

2. It might be someone who want's an app like tapatalk to work on a specific forum for the ease of it? The browser works just fine.

3. What? I have copy/paste on my 4S.

4. Surely you must be joking? Or trapped in the past?

Dousan...

Possibly. As mentioned, none of that I could testify with personal experience. Thanks for clarification.

it But here you were talking about speed.
By the time you search for a spreadsheet App, download it, try it, find a way to load your sheets (upload to email and download in App?), then do your editing, convert to correct format, then email that back to your destination... that is going to waste time.

Now compare that frivolous task with Maemo, write your own Application (hours/days/weeks), upload (quickly) to N900, edit (quickly) with mobile UI, upload direct (quickly) to destination.

So, yeah the iPhone is still faster.
This is just an example, you can make the point about anything.

True words: Developers, Developers, Developers!!

Er, no, not quite what I am saying. On my desktop machines, I do most of my serious work using a Unix shell. And I do that on Maemo, too. I edit my source code (and, well, most of my other files) in vim. And yeah, I do that on my N900, too. I've almost constantly got a podcast of one sort or another running on gPodder; that is, when I don't have a podcast running on gPodder on my N900. And if I did need to edit a spreadsheet, I'd probably just use a tool like Gnumeric on both devices as well.

Sure, it's fun to run apps on my cell phone, just like it's fun to run apps on an iPhone. And yeah, I do write my own apps too. But when I want to get serious work done, I have access to a suite of tools that can be used across my entire collection of computing devices. I've already invested years (decades, actually...) learning how to use these tools, and I appreciate the ability to leverage that investment on every computing device I have.

It appears your usage is different, then. I much prefer a full desktop application, even at the sacrifice of speed if necessary. It's saved my *** too many times...