Originally Posted by GeneralAntilles

Let's look at it another way. How many people with very modular desktops ever upgrade them (install a new graphics card, CPU, hard drive, whatever)? How many people with modular laptops ever upgrade them (RAM, hard drives, wireless connectivity, whatever)?

I don't have any hard numbers to back this up (other than observing friends, family, and coworkers), but I'd say very few people ever upgrade their computers. They're much more likely to simply purchase new machines.

Originally Posted by GeraldKo

I don't plan on spending big bucks like you have to for iPhone connectivity. If Nokia is coming out with two models, and both enable a cellular data connection, my hope is that Nokia has cut a deal to allow it to be used with a cheap, prepaid data solution, analogous to T-Mobile's prepaid phone card, for those of us who are generally happy to rely on WiFi.

If I had my druthers, Nokia would also come out with a non-celldata-capable, no-hardware-keyboard model -- that is, an N800 that was faster and smaller than the original (while keeping the same screen size and resolution), and cheap. It would be the iTouch-competitor for people who are willing to sacrifice a little (though not as much as currently required) on bulk in order to gain a bigger, and 800x480, screen.

And, yeah, as far as I'm concerned, I'd prefer a stylus, too. But even if Nokia dumps the stylus, if they can make an interface with the sensitivity to make a finger as precise as a stylus, I'd still like this new Son-of-N800.

Originally Posted by GeneralAntilles

Let's propose something else. What if, instead of a costly (to the customer) modular option Nokia offered several different devices for the Maemo platform. Each with a different set of options, some lower-end, some higher (much like Nokia's current cellular phone lineup).

That way, you could pick the device that suits you (say, the lower-end $250 tablet without 3G, accelerometers, FM RX/TX, GPS, or a hardware keyboard etc.) and somebody else could pick the device that suits them ($600, all the fixin's, hardware keyboard, etc.) and you're both happy without having to deal with the modularity compromise (which is a big one to swallow on mobile devices).

Originally Posted by GeraldKo

At least for the United States, you have to figure that Nokia is working hand-in-hand with a carrier (or carriers) to compete with Apple/AT&T. More than we wish, the carriers have a say in what gets built.

Originally Posted by Jaffa

Perhaps not. Lots of other non-phone devices have SIM card slots: UMPCs, MIDs, netbooks and laptops. Do the carriers get a say in how they are built? Do the carriers there control what Microsoft can do when running on them?

...

I wouldn't be expecting the primary sales route for the Maemo 5 devices to be through mobile phone retailers and carrier contracts.

I think they'll be sold as high-end, unlocked, unsubsidised devices primarily.

Originally Posted by Jaffa

Earlier comments by Nokia, shortly after the Maemo 5 announcements, were along the lines that adding the cellular hardware didn't add much to the end price, and that you wouldn't have to use it.

Originally Posted by GeneralAntilles

... applications are being designed to assume a data connection

Originally Posted by GeraldKo

Doesn't this contradict General Antilles' remarks that
?

I'm speculating that there will be no physical pencil-like stylus and stylus holder in, on or around the product. Has qgil said otherwise? A guitar pick dangling from a string doesn't count.

Originally Posted by krisse

Perhaps they dropped the stylus keyboard because they expect it to have a physical keyboard?

Perhaps the screen will be physically so large that there is no need for a stylus-only keyboard (i.e. the finger keyboard will only take up a small portion of the screen)?

The 5800 has a stylus built-in, the plectrum is an optional phone charm mainly there because of the 5800's full name (5800 XpressMusic).

I have had a 5800 for several months now and I've never used the stylus at all, it just sits in its compartment.

Originally Posted by daperl

Your 5800 vs. n810 thread inspired me to take a closer look at my current gadgets. Notice my phone is slightly larger than the 800x480 screen. That's all I need. If Nokia would make the screen close-to-flush with the edges and put all the buttons on the side I would be very happy. (The n800 screen is the same size as the n810 screen.)

Originally Posted by krisse

The thing is, that's sort of what they're doing with the N97. The resolution isn't quite as good as the tablets, but it's pretty close. Here's one of the official pics to give an idea of scale:

This is a pure guess, but I would assume (or hope!) that because the N97 is already covering the N810-size territory, they'll move Maemo devices onto the market for even larger devices, approaching netbook-size.