Funny you should bring that up.... check out how the OVI launch is doing then search this forum to see if some of the issues were presented to Nokia in the past. I know one issue was brought up here almost 2 years ago.

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This thread has been interesting... For me, not so much because of the specs but to help understand how Nokia researches a potential market.
I think everyone understands the need for objective data and therefore, why maemo.org members or other Tablet enthusiasts are not part of any focus groups. However it does raise the question of what role does maemo.org play, if any?

Were any maemo.org member ideas ever solicited?

I know Nokia sponsors the summits and absorbs costs for some developer devices but what percentage of our membership lives with in a 300 mile radius of a summit or for that matter, what percentage of our new improved (itT added) membership was accepted by a developer program?

The answer isn't sponsor more members, the answer might be simply to provide a mechanism where the membership could vote on a feature request or two to be added to any future market research or... Politely tell us that maemo.org is just a way to placate loyal and enthusiastic customers or people who might influence a future market.

For me the proof of the pudding is always in the tasting. From the quality I experienced when using Nokia products in the past, I'm sure this device will be very useful.
If these specs are correct, I also suspect that regardless of quality, it will have to be the most expensive device Nokia offers or other product sales might be cannibalized.

What is the projected price of this gizmo?

I have to agree. And that's partially why I don't have an iPhone. And it's why I moved on to owning a G1, instead of continuing to carry my N810.

It's my dollars being spent. I'm going to buy the device that makes me happiest, and the device that will make me happiest is the one that suits my needs ahead of the needs of the masses. :-)

Something that did EVERYTHING that both my N810 and my G1 can do... that would definitely get my dollars. Removing features from that list, even if it makes the product more attractive to more consumers, makes me less and less likely to buy that product.

They should try to avoid this kind of headline:

Best Buy lists unsubsidized "regular price" for Palm Pre at $850; punch in the face is no extra charge

In some ways, it wouldn't surprise me if they had listened to all of the conflicting arguments in our past, and those influenced some of the design decisions.

Not the 3 row keyboard ... that was probably drawn from the N97. Or, at most, misinterpreted from people being enamored with the overall design of the N97 (NOT including the 3 row keyboard) -- people here HAVE advocated a maemo phone based on the N97 (myself included). I just meant overall styling and tilt screen (and I said "put the dpad back on the face!").

But the "it should be a phone" -- lots of people here said it, including me.

And I know I said, within the last 9 months "I don't miss the larger screen [since moving to the G1], 3.5 inches is enough".

There have been many people here who advocated for a more iPhone like finger friendly interface (which can be interpreted to support "no dpad", even though that's not what I meant when I was one of those advocates).

And, there have been people here who have said it needs to be a smaller device.


Factoring in misinterpretations ("liking the N97 means the 3 row keyboard will go over well", and "wanting a finger friendly GUI means we can remove the dpad"), I have actually advocated all of those, at one point or another. So, I don't think the fact that we all seem to hate it means that they didn't listen to the ITT community. Some of it is a matter of interpretation, and some of it is a matter of the fact that, as a community, we don't really all agree on "what the Maemo platform should be".

(and, hopefully that last post of mine isn't now going to get me blamed for the leaked design being such an abomination )

saddest thing about this is so many more months to wait, me being a European

My experience has been that ANY concern expressed by posters here (for one) is immediately and soundly rebutted--regardless of the merit. The decision has been made and nothing further, despite how poignant or relevant, will alter the destiny of the device in question.

That has been a big problem in Nokia, but Nokia leadership does not see it as a problem... just compounding the problem.

Nokia has been consistently hammered, IMO rightfully so, on its general portfolio being too broad and in some cases self-defeating. Last year this was brought up to OPK at a gathering and he reiterated the standard line that Nokia's portfolio approach is what it is (ie, lacking flexibility for markets that need it) and won't change. Sure, there can be a sharp tradeoff between making 60 or so devices to cover a broad spectrum versus 10 that are highly configurable, and yet it's been managed by other companies. Nokia is just not nimble enough and this is a reflection of its rigid (and antiquated IMO) organizational structure more than anything else.

This structure often leads to severe disconnects between Nokia product development and consumers. It also induces significant lag between identification of a segment and release of a product fitting that segment. Nokia spends much more time in the tails of novelty than the heads.

I once remarked to an unnamed fellow here that in trying to bridge the chasm between open source and commercialization, Nokia would find that customers would want even more say over product decisions than those involved in the standard we-make-it-you-just-buy-it-or-don't segment. IE, my point was that Nokia would find people here more capable of "driving the bus" than the current drivers. That remark was met with strong resistance-- but I still believe it is accurate. And the more Nokia as an entity argues and resists that reality, IMO the more share it ultimately stands to lose to companies much more willing to embrace the unconventional.

/soapbox

Overall, I am not as concerned about the reduction in screen size as what I think may be the ramifications and inherent compromises of moving Maemo from the comfortable niche it currently resides in to what appears to be a mass market phone device with carrier branding. This transition could be a big win for Nokia and potentially eventually a big win for our community -- although a big Nokia win may or may not mean a big community win.

My usage scenario is that I have a cheap phone and use the N810 for everything else. I need at least one pocketable device that is open linux in the pocket. If it is a phone too that would be acceptable. I also hope to buy in the future a 5 to 7 in linux tablet.

Concerns with the introduction of the phone for the "N900" is the potential cost (I don't have an inexhaustible gadget budget), whether I can get it unlocked, and how tied down it will be to the carrier and the types of services the carrier will try to sell me.

As far as the reduced screen size, this is disapponting; however, in terms of e-book reading I read lots of pooks on my Palm II/II back in the day with their crappy screen so I don't view it as a huge deal. That being said, my close-focusing on my eyes is going, and I would prefer a device I don't have to use glasses for constantly.

The market for this device seems to be the iphone, blackberry, palm-pre, android crowd. If Nokia can successfully enter this market and expand the number of users and developers of Maemo **without** sacrificing the openess and community spirit, I think this is a big win -- even if the initial device is a phone with a 3.5 in display.

If Nokia can maintain its openness, then this N900 device could become what the OpenMoko Freerunner could have been. Although with T-Mobile on board, maybe not.

Also since Nokia seems to be pushing Maemo into the big arena now, it is going to be playing with the "big boys" and will have to be able to hold its own with them. This is a different playing field than the R&D internet tablet niche that Nokia has been playing around in with us.

There are a lot of "IFs" wrapped around that, some spoken and some not, but I'm in line with your thinking overall.

Notwithstanding the rest of your comments, as a consumer I've had my opinions solicited via a number of "give us your feedback on the Nokia N810" surveys. I believe they showed up in the Tableteer RSS feed, and enticed participation via headphone draws etc.

Now, of course, that's not a maemo.org participation mechanism - and, as you say, we have no formal (or even direct informal) method for feeding back on hardware designs :-(

My gut says "lots" :-(