maemo.org - Talk - "Surging iPod touch eclipses the iPhone" ... while Nokia stupidly abandons tablets!

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Re: "Surging iPod touch eclipses the iPhone" ... while Nokia stupidly abandons tablets!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sjgadsby (Post 452024)

... as one of those rare dwellers of that tiny island at the opposing pole, it was comforting for a time thinking a company as large as Nokia finally wanted to serve my niche. I wouldn't be holding an N900 right now were it not for those previous, "pocket Linux computer that's not a phone" devices. I wouldn't have a cellular phone at all...
... it leaves some of us who grabbed on early as Maemo rocketed past our strange little niches slightly bewildered as to where we're going and whether it's safe for us to keep holding on.

Thanks for expressing my core sadness around the direction Nokia is taking Maemo so well. Yes, the N900 is a wonderful product, but it feels like such a abandonment, even a rejection, of the "strange little niche" community that formed around the tablets.

I see myself, in future years, using a tablet that comes with Android, but installing Mer or a hacked Maemo on it instead...

Re: "Surging iPod touch eclipses the iPhone" ... while Nokia stupidly abandons tablets!

that is, if 5" or smaller non-phone android devices will be available beyond the next year or so...

Re: "Surging iPod touch eclipses the iPhone" ... while Nokia stupidly abandons tablets!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peet (Post 452120)

But the N900 is still larger, heavier and more expensive, and comes with a smaller screen more suited for telephony than internet or media usage. And it's the only Maemo 5 device there is.

It is NOT heavier, at least from the spec sheets. (226g for the n810. 180g for the N900.) It is slightly thicker, but it is smaller overall. To me, anything larger would be unwieldly, especially if I also had to carry a cell phone along with it.

As for using it for the internet, I've had no issues with the screen size.

Quote:

What anti-cellular movement??

It is in no way "anti-cellular" if some people want to use their tablet tethered to _other_phones_ for cellular connectivity or simply as WIFI or media tablets. You already know that cellular 3G or higher data connections are often limited (e.g. 1GB per month) and outrageously expensive.

Yes, tethering the N900 to another phone isn't a possibility currently, but considering that most of the world is GSM, such connectivity isn't really needed for most. It is only us in the US that has that problem, and even there Nokia chose probably the most open network in the us with T-Mobile. Also, the nice thing about buying an unlocked phone is that the carrier doesn't have to REQUIRE you to use a data plan if you don't want it. (I currently don't.)

Quote:

I understand that you come from Nokia/phone background and desperately want the (top-end) Maemo _phone_ to succeed, but just maybe the larger Maemo platform (and the lower end less-smart Nokia phones) would benefit from a cheaper "companion" tablet device. Do you have any arguments against that idea?

Considering the demand for the N900 has outstripped the supply Nokia has supplied, I think going with a phone has benefited Maemo greatly. It is still in the realm of the geek purchasers and probably will remain so until the apps catch up.

BTW, I take issue with the statement that the N900 is a rejection of what has come before. First and foremost, Maemo 5 is still a tablet OS first with phone functionality bolted on. As a phone, Maemo 5 is still somewhat lacking in some features that most phone users find basic, but it is excusable since this is the first iteration of being on a phone and it is likely to improve.

Re: "Surging iPod touch eclipses the iPhone" ... while Nokia stupidly abandons tablets!

Quote:

Originally Posted by qole (Post 452155)

...Yes, the N900 is a wonderful product, but it feels like such a abandonment, even a rejection, of the "strange little niche" community that formed around the tablets.
...

I'm thinkin' some of us should add "Founding Member, SLN" to our signatures. :D

Re: "Surging iPod touch eclipses the iPhone" ... while Nokia stupidly abandons tablets!

The tablet format has recently (largely due to the Apple's "i-tablet" hype) gained widespread acceptance in the mainstream (and significantly also in the media). Some large manufacturers have already entered the segment or are in the process of introducing their offerings.

The fourth shifts in Chinese sweatshops are churning out a wild range of devices based on an ARM chip (often rev'd-up ARM11) and a touchscreen.

Most manufacturers are joining the Android eco-system, but some large players such as RIM or HP may go with homegrown systems.

On Maemo Planet, EIPI recently highlighted Nokia's abandonment of the "tablet companion" segment, which they basically pioneered some five years ago but gave up on halfway through... apparently RIM are now planning a tablet companion device to tether with their more text-based blackberry phones.

The arguments and opinions in this thread - both pro and con - wrt. tablet companion devices have been interesting, but I still stand by mine.

Nokia with their massive base of S40 and Symbian "sticks" out there (and of course the Maemo and Meego user and developer communities) could have been among the main beneficiaries and leaders of the affordable mobile phone companion device market...

Oh well, the companion device platform still seems to be emerging, but with Nokia and probably also Maemo/Meego safely out of the picture. :rolleyes:

Re: "Surging iPod touch eclipses the iPhone" ... while Nokia stupidly abandons tablets!

Well people are also still buying music players and phones seperate, so I wouldn't explain this simply as something "Apple figured out and Nokia didn't".

Probably many people with iPods have Symbian phones!

Nokia's not in the market to make music players. They're in the market to make your phone your music player.

Re: "Surging iPod touch eclipses the iPhone" ... while Nokia stupidly abandons tablets!

Well, Nokia might have abandoned the tablet, but they joined with Intel for MeeGo and suddenly my hope is revived....

Intel demoed a tablet running MeeGo at Computex, although it is a bit too big for our strange little niche, it is a good sign.

I really liked the look of the pre-alpha MeeGo for Tablets demo. I thought that, after all, the screen was a pretty good size.

http://www.allaboutmaemo.com/images/.../tablet-10.jpg

(video linked to the pic)

So Nokia might not make our dream devices, but they're helping to make the software for them.