@Iball

Good. That means Nxxx is good for IT professionals, now task for Nokia: make it work for other types of professionals.

N800 is king. Here at my school Penn State, we have a stubborn VPN network that makes any portable(not laptop) wifi device utterly useless. Everyone here is always dismayed that iphone or ipod touch or similar devices cannot take advantage of our school's wifi. Then comes Nokia with its N800 which miraculously has tools like VPNC which just simply works. I swear, watching wikipedia load up on my N800 using PSU's VPN was the "clutch moment" of my N800, and it has won me over with that feature alone. What good is an ipod touch to me if it can't even connect to my school's wifi? Worthless.

I find that most people consider the Nokia a hobbyist device for the same reason the desktop computer was considered a hobbyist device for so long.

Simply put: it can do so much that they have a hard time nailing down just what the thing is. No two users use it quite the same way. So they fixate on the overall UI and the lack of standardization across apps and leave with the impression that 'it has no real specialization' (which isn't even a bad thing).

But it leaves everything up to the user. So when you run into a user with a lack of a particular need, or a simple lack of imagination, they don't know where to start.

I also find that when people say they prefer the iphone browsing experience, they're generally referring to the OS' responsiveness. microb generally does a better job, of actually delivering web pages, ime. And the constant tapping to zoom in and out just to browse around on that dinky iPhone resolution is pretty annoying.

But the iphone UI very rarely hitches. Even when a site is mid-render, you can flip to another app or tab, zoom in on a section that's already loaded, etc. - and the OS doesn't miss a beat.

Totally agree here - I've just had my first hands on demonstration of an iPhone and the UI responsiveness is simply astonishing when I compare it with my N800 or Symbian UIQ smartphone.

I've never understood what kind of definition these people use for 'hobbyist'. I started using Linux on the desktop years ago because of _professional needs_ which nothing else (certainly not a certain 'legacy OS') could provide, and I bought and use my N800 for _professional needs_.

Another excellent analysis from you, and I agree. Which is why a while back I likened the 770/N800 experience to the PC AT/XT experience. The tablets currently require the same sort of sophistication those devices did. And that's actually to be expected given their little computer nature-- which is why I think that those impatient for the "it should just work" advent are missing the point. Yes, the tablets definitely need to get there... but as long as Nokia is in this for the long haul I have come to where I don't mind slow, steady, deliberate progress. But then, I have a personal stake here... as for other users, I would think that if they hold no allegiance to Nokia then they will happily move to whichever manufacturer gets this market right (I doubt it will be Apple because I think more openness is required). That is the challenge to Nokia: patience has its limits. Hopefully the development is being managed properly behind the scenes...

Milhouse,

Your comments are always appreciated and I enjoy your critical approach, without which we'd have no progress. I am, however, of the opinion that "de-emphasising" the "internet nature" of the tablet is not right. Quite to the contratry, it is the very nature of the improving services on the internet that makes me have no use, really , for 'local' apps that are in sync with my pc. After all, it's getting so you can keep eveything on the internet. Me, I am google child, but it's just one way of doing this. I read my mail, keep my calendar, store my documents, keep my journal, post my photo albums, and listen to music, all online.

Why download it all if I can just get to it whenever I want? Of course, we don't have ubiquitous wif-fi...yet....so of course you have to be in a wi-fi spot, but then, if I'm reading my mail, why would I do that in a place where I can't, a) have the latest content and b) reply? I can, of course, use my phone if I'm in a pinch, but mostly I can just wait till I get to work or back home, or the coffee shop, etc.

This brings up an issue I've thought of but don't see addressed (often) here. This is about the ownership of content. Why do I 'need' to 'own' my content? What I really want, is to 'get' my content. And, the more of it that I accumulate, the harder is is to keep it organized unless I use the internet. All these Google tools are no accident, of course. It takes a while for most people to realize that the way they 'own' and 'get' content is changing. Maybe we don't all need 300terragig (made-up word alert) drives...maybe only Google needs one of those.

Of course, I want to 'own' my documents, but where do I want to keep them? In my hard drive where I have to remember where I put them (or do an agonizing search that looks at every system file) or up on the web where I can see, edit and link to them without having to save and file? Using tags makes adds the meta-data that makes it usable as a stream to other content portals (like a blog or photo album). Online tools are good and only getting better. What I really want, and have is a tool to access my stuff like the N800. TR is right, I'm the user that'd move on in a heartbeat if someone comes up with something better. I'm not a programmer, nor a hobbyist, and of course, I love my N800!

In this context, my N800 doesn't have a competitor...yet. Hopefully Nokia will provide it in the form of the N900!

Out of all the portable devices, I think the N800 is the only Nokia device that gets it right with VPNC.
Someone go call Nokia and tell them the world has decided that their VPN kit is not the "standard", definitely not the easiest to deploy, and certainly not the cheapest.
Cisco's PIX firewall is. Even with that crappy Java applet GUI.
Seriously, have ANY of you out there tried to get a Nokia S60 3rd Edition device to use VPN over wi-fi? It's a major pain-in-the-***. The N800 w/VPNC client however, just imports my PCF file and connects in less than a second.
My work Blackberry? Forget it! Requires the latest BES to be installed on the Exchange server so it can push out a VPN cert to the BB handheld. Another pain-in-the-***.
When are the phone manufacturers who keep slapping wi-fi in their devices going to figure out that YES Virginia, there is such a thing as "easy VPN" access?
Face it, "professionals" REQUIRE VPN, period. If you're working for a "professional" company who deploys secure wi-fi on their networks and it's tucked away BEHIND the PIX, then your IT folks are fcuking *****s.
SO far, looking at this from a "professional" aspect, the N800 is the only one who even comes close to getting it right even with the total lack of PIM functionality. I guess if a "professional" needed PIM functions they'd log into OWA 2003/2007.
And true business professionals in the US do NOT use either the N800 nor the iPhone.
They use a Blackberry/Treo/Windows Mobile device.
I know. The company I now work for issued me this strange device called a "Blackberry Curve 8320". Guess who told them what to buy? Me.
Did I want them to issue me an E90 Communicator? Damn right I did, but I'm a realist. No fcuking way were they gong to pay $800-$900 for just a PHONE for me or anyone else. In the end they took my business plan of Curve 8320s for everyone with UMA over the in-house secure wi-fi and BES-deployed VPN solution for those of us who need to get to critical web servers.
Now, with the advent of Blackberry Connect for Symbian, that could one day change if Nokia were to toss out a QWERTY-based device that had wi-fi and GPS and not cost a crapload, but not today.
I find the lack of built-in easy-to-use Cisco VPN capability across all of Nokia's product poorly lacking. That's one thing corporate IT departments are looking for! Nail that and BAM! Sales out the wazoo once they figure out how to market something in the US.

Thanks, though sometimes I think I may rant a little too often (I should cut down on the caffeine!)

Maybe I should clarify my "de-emphasising" comment - I don't mean Nokia should forget about the internet, or stop using the internet to provide innovative services. On the contrary, that should continue however the internet is no longer the be all and end all as far as mobile devices are concerned.

The Nokia attitude is that the NITs are called "Internet Tablets" and their functionality is just that - internet accessing tablets. Not PDAs, or PIMs, or any other device category that may interest buyers. "If the application doesn't access the internet it has no place on the tablet - to hell with what people actually want!" seems to be what they are saying! Even the FM Radio application recently acquired internet access (though I admit the addition is useful, it also confirms my theory!)

I would like Nokia to take a step back, and realise that they have a computing device capable of so much more than just browsing the internet, accessing email, RSS feeds or streaming audio and video. The devices have the communication capabilities to be the mobile phone companion the Palm Folio aspired to be; local applications can use the internet to sync data - maybe Ovi will provide the online data storage services, and PIM functionality would ensure the NIT devices stop being mere toys for entertainment and transform them into useful life management tools.

If left to run unchecked, this Nokia obsession with the internet could be considered harmful in the long run!