Michael Arrington's just posted this on TechCrunch.

I'm missing the part where the n800 doesn't already meet all of his requirements? Is he talking about a device with a larger screen? I guess he wants something thinner?

We don't have 512MiB RAM, and it sounds like he doesn't even want a d-pad. But it seems like close enough...

$200 target price... good luck, dude.

Looks like he's wanting one of those 'internet appliances' that were being sold a few years back, but thin and wifi'd... Why anyone would want anything so non-functional is beyond me, but I guess for $200...

Where's the sound supposed to come from...? And from the specs he doen't appear to be interested in any video support... hmm.

my impression is a slate tablet pc, stripped to the bone, booting directly to firefox in full screen mode...

15" screen, intel atom, 512mb ram.

hmm, maybe just a scaled up mid would do?

Yeah, "Good luck with that $200 price tag" was also my first thought.

I have to say that I'd personally love a superslim IT that's a bit bigger than the N810 though, maybe with a 7-8" screen or so.

Ah, glad someone here already posted this.

As much as it will be a near certainty that folks here will look at thier N8x0 devices and ask "what the heck," lets call to mind several aspects of the Maemo/IT project that have to make you wonder...

1. If the IT was marketed better, would there have been a need for antoher another group to start another internet tablet efffort?
2. If UX/UI issues were *not* an issue, would there be a need to look elsewhere except in the case of competitors?
3. A browser-based device that relies on the browser as the main UI component and manages most aspects of UI chrome means that app developers would have to concentrate on building programs? Like the Kindle, it will be niche as all get out, but could there might be more apps and faster with that aspect of things handled?
4. The price point is quite realistic given what the OLPC was able to do; does the IT and its current competitors (iTouch, Mylo, etc.) need to respond in kind by dropping their processes?
5. What does this post say about the posiviity of open source development to solve a problem that larger companies have more of a problem solving (speaking from the project initation phase aspect of identifying a problem and rallying stakeholders so that momentum can be realized into something sooner rather than later when that momentum matters none)?
6. What does this say about the speed of Maemo development (not a knock in terms of the question, but developers, Nokia, and hackers have to ask 'what the heck' if so many others are throwing their hats into doing something new where there is already something established)?

Just somethings on the brain. We are an intelligent bunch here, I'm sure things can stay civil

I dunno. I see all kinda comments on that website like "I'd buy this at $500", or "$400", even "$800" or whatever... jeebus, you can buy a full blown laptop for that much, who in their right mind would pay that much for something that does nothing but surf the web, and doesn't even fit in your pocket???

Hmm, a $200 web browser. Sounds like a real bargain...

@ARJWright - I don't see the need to even bring Nokia's alleged "poor marketing" of the tablets into this thread. This $200 web browser isn't remotely in the same idea sphere as an IT. As far as the "positivity of the open source development... yada yada yada"... er, let's see the $200 web browser first, then we can all sing cumbaya.

Actually, they are aware of the NITs, and apparently think they're not half-bad, just not the right size...at least that's how I read a lot of comments regarding the N8x0 on there, like the following (second two commenters are from crunchgear.com afaik):

Anyway, to be honest, I'm sceptical of open-source hardware design in general. Even if they gain enough community momentum now and keep that momentum long enough to actually produce a prototype, it will take them at least the better part of 2 years to come that far I'd assume. In that time, a lot of things can happen in the commercial market...

It seems to me that building an el cheapo subtablet isn't exactly rocket science (anymore). If the people who are now developing the Pandora had left out the keypad, they'd have made one in basically under two years from idea to realisation, without any big corporation and without containers full of money.

The main problem for a tablet, and especially a subtablet, is the user interface first and useful applications second. This is where Nokia's tablets really suck: The user interface was designed without any vision or "grand plan" and the applications are basically retaylored Linux desktop applications. The only people who are content with these tablets are apparently either Linux sysadmins who like to have a portable terminal and people who are only interested in looking at content, not creating it.

OTOH, I see applications around me that might become killer apps for these subtablets. Take e.g. EverNote, a note-taking, information collecting application that outperforms Microsoft's OneNote in all aspects. A tablet version of such an app could -- nay: Is! -- immensely useful, provided that tablet has an efficient text entry system (and for a tablet that means HWR). It is flexible enough that most people won't even need a dedicated PIM and with the new connected features it has entered the "Cloud Era" as well.

There must be other such applications; I'm still thinking about LyX and its flexible screen display system and powerful typesetting background as a tablet alternative for the ubiquitous word processor); something like ArtRage2 that caters for the artistic tablet user (I'm not saying ArtRage2 should be ported, but a program that provides a subset of features would find eager customers)...

Well not to start an argument, but efficient and integrated note taking isn't high on the priority list for many people who simply want a device to surf the web, play a few games, listen to music, maybe do some emails and chats. Fer instance... the device about which this thread is discussing - the enthusiastic commenters over there - for the most part - aren't 'power users', 'developers', sys admins or what not.

Frankly for all this rabble rabble about getting Word document and spreadsheet functionality, PIM suites and even advanced notetaking apps on the tablets, sure there's a market for that but if I'm gonna edit documents and do spreadsheets... sorry, I'm using an actual laptop, not a 4" screen and tiny keys. For people like me, tablets like the N800, and this $200 web browser - dare I say even an iPhone - aren't productivity tools, they are leisure devices.

I think that's something that Nokia 'gets' about it's tablets, that is oft overlooked by people here.