Mmm, finally some OS X software I can use. Thanks.

iball,

I think you miss the point,

You and I are clearly committed geeks, and I agree that it is cool being able to hack perl and python whilst stood up at the back of a bus, but there is probably insufficient world demand for hand held compilers to justify onward development of a minority plaything.

Nokia will be more encouraged to continue development of the N800 if they see commercial success, to get that success they need to grab a share of the real PDA/ small form factor laptop market, they ain't gonna get that without the normal suite of "productivity" apps ie a PIM and and MS office compatibles.

Now I want the N800 to succeed, because then I will get all the goodies that I want, more real memory, better peripheral support etc, but I won't get any of that if the N800 goes down the pan because it is a commercial failure. That is why it is important that Nokia make the N800 more mainstream.

I don't totally disagree with what you say about Palm's last 5 years, although I know several folks who think the Treo is fantastic. Palm's main problem would seem to re-inforce my point, if they are sinking it's because they cannot make their latest devices a commercial success.

So I think what I am saying is, come on Mr Nokia now build on an good hardware platform and add some interoperability smarts that will give the N800 genuine customer appeal

This "not a PDA" theme is silly and, in my opinion, self-destructive.

It ranks up there with Palm insisting Foleo is "not a laptop."

Product differentiation is a good thing and the emphasis on internet connectivity is smart, but doing so in such a way as to hobble the perception of the device is rather stupid.

If you take "internet tablet" literally, it conjures up images of the “web appliances” that were supposed to be hanging on everyone’s refrigerators by now- a dumbed-down single-purpose device of dubious value.

neubie, I'm 100% with you. We've been rehashing this theme time and again, but I think you've summed it all up just right, nice and tight :-)

To answer Liam's question back on page 5....is there a way to speed up the N800

There are a few things on this site that I have not tried yet, but should work.

1. Changing the max connections per server to speed up web browsing
2. Dual booting and running off of a SDCard decreasing bootup time and app load time since the N800 doesnt have to decompress anything
3. (Not on this site) Load up a custom firmware (openwrt, ddwrt, etc) on your wireless router and have the router itself block ads. I find that most sites that load slowly have a flash based ad somewhere.

Hope that helps.

Please don't do this unless you like the idea of a tiered internet.

Yeah, the more people try that, the more angry reactions we can expect from ISPs...

As to "underpowered toy": Yes, if you compare the N800 to your desktop PC with a huge 3D Nvidia 200 watt-sucking graphics card.
However, compared to my other 3 ARM CPU powered devices (PDAs mostly) then the N800 shines. It's good, and it does what I want it to do: It lets me leave my laptop at home when I'm wandering the streets and coffee shops, and in its bag when I'm at the airports. And a lot of other situations.

god forbid should anyone compare their wives to playboy/super models lest they incite the wrath of the 'apple to oranges/melon' police...
consumers will always compare items to what they want to, and in this case, consumers who have no need for the customizing capability will just compare pure speed vs size..

The comparison police should also disallow comparing xbox 360s to ps3s, as both have different processors and design...and SIZES!

You guys sure have a lot of stamina pouring all this energy into discussion of 'labels' and semantics.. what A means to me, what B means for you.. Apples != Oranges.. etc etc etc.

What I do with my little pony in my own time is my own business (and\or problem), OK?!?!