Ah, trolling. Who doesn't love it?

At least he's consistent.

Oh wait-- that's the hobgoblin of little minds when it's foolish.

Am I too late to witness/experience the torching!? :-)

I don't know if the Nokia Internet Tablet hardware will falter (or will be abandoned out of the blue like the Wimax edition and the (dis)continued development of Maemo for the N8x0) in 2009, but I'd like to hear honest opinions on why Android is popping up (being adopted) everywhere and Maemo..? Well, the planned next Maemo is too good for the current hardware so that particular ecosystem will have to start from zero again, sometime in late 2009.

I mean, Nokia's been at it in their own inimitable way for several years now and there may now be more (NDA-encumbered) OS developers than previously but this community appears to be strangely ankle-chained to Nokia's corporate decrees and hardware (development and pricing) policy.

How many times did you feel genuine excitement about a new Maemo app (or even an update to older app) during the whole of 2008? About Diablo and its bug-fix SSUs?

If you felt any such excitement about Maemo, did you miss the part where different hardware manufacturers actually compete for your patronage?

So Android isn't actually even shipping everywhere yet, but there's something to be said about its significant advantage in developer, manufacturer, media and user/public mindshare compared to Nokia's Maemo.

PS. My N800 has been generally useful for simple stuff despite being occasionally troublesome with maintenance, but this thread was about the future challenges. I am quite aware that nothing can kill the existing tablets any more than they can kill the Zauruses/Zaurii.

I don't think Wimax edition abandonment is out of the blue. I was sounding alarms months ago. Hopefully Maemo 5 builds upon previous versions, and does not start again from zero (or even 10%).

There are a lot of reasons for the Android/Maemo dichotomy. Google pumped a lot of resources into Android while Nokia is less accepting of risk.

And yes I do miss that Maemo is not licensed to different HW manufacturers.

Peet,
From my personal perspective, the other devices do not compete.
Each device has strengths and weaknesses.

As for maemo being licensed to other manufacturers, I have seen Mer running on x86 as well as the tablet itself.
The core improvements to the Fremantle OS are available and open and accessible for us to build a community distro with.

Who knows, maybe we should try to port it to the G1 or iphone

What I've grown to require in a mobile device at this point can only be fulfilled by the n810. Now that isn't to say that I couldn't pare back my requirements and go with a more limited device, but thankfully I don't have to.

The next logical step for me isn't hardware accelerated graphics or even an hd camera, but cellular connectivity. As ubiquitous as wifi is, I can't use it on the road (while my wife is driving, of course). Setting up a connection for each hotspot to re-route my traffic through an encrypted tunnel gets old. I want wifi at home, mobile broadband on the road.

I predict Nokia will no longer be offering the Internet Tablet line by at latest the year 2743.

As far as I know there isn't anything that competes with the NIT that makes Nokia want to drop the price. If someone wants a portable laptop they'll get a netbook. If they want a music/video player with nice apps they'll get the ipod touch. If someone wants an open source device to play with and has features no other device has then they'll get the NIT.

Sony's Mylo 2 is the nearest competitor to the NIT. Compared to the N810 it runs for $200, has a better camera and 1GB memory built in. Too bad it isn't open source, is a little bulkier, uses Memory Stick instead of MiniSD, and has no GPS or bluetooth. For some people the $150 difference isn't worth the open source GPS and bluetooth, for others it is.

As for UMPCs: Those things are crazy expensive compared to a tablet. They are pretty nice though. If I had the money and if they were smaller I'd buy one instead of a tablet.

The devices pretty much match the buyer's personality. So go buy whatever you want and stop bickering.

There are many components that are open, but Maemo as an integral whole is not open and is not licensed (AFAIK). I would be happy if at least Hildon was open, but it is not (AFAIK). As to Mer, I am not familiar with the licensing status and would appreciate a clarification if there is one. Running it does not mean it is a legitimately licensed. Thanks.

It would behoove you to get your facts straight before making judgements about the platform. Hildon, both the desktop environment (which includes the Application Manager, Control Panel and Hildon Desktop) and the GTK extension, is (and always has been) completely open source.

Maemo is about 80% open source with Fremantle, with most of the closed-source parts coming from 3rd-parties (Flash) or Nokia differentiation areas (seamless connectivity, battery life, and some UI features).

Please don't denigrate the good people working on the Mer project by so lightly assuming that they don't comply with licensing terms.