I have some sympathy for you on a number of the points you make.

I am still a little uncertain as the the central problem you have. When I read your post I began thinking you were talking from a developer's or hacker's perspective. For the N9, Inception would seem to have solved many of the early locked down issues.

From an end-user perspective, yes I agree. Surely there are other platforms that offer gazillions more apps. However, their app stores also have gazillions of apps that "display celebrity pictures, web links" so be careful as to which ecosystem you run to.

N900 was a hackers device. It was released in October 2009, right? It looked like a hackers device then; a big block and no mainstream marketing. Great for hackers, but no appeal to the real world.

The N9 was a compromise, a semi-consumer device that [should have been] mass marketed, but as we know, Nokia strategy changed. And in my own heart, I can't blame them for that, they were not in the same position that, say, Apple was when it first released the IPhone, Nokia couldn't start from the beginning again. Nokia is a mobile company, not computer company. So they went with WP. o.O'

The N9 still has huge appeal, and from what I see on these forums, there is still a significant amount of development and calaboration going on, which will make the 'normal' consumer able to enjoy the device for the typical lifetime of a smartphone; 18 to 24 months.

I guess it is horses for courses and really depends on what you want a smartphone for. 600,000 apps = iPhone. 500,000 apps, clitchy OS but cheaper and more open that iOS = Android.

Smart UI, elegant, elitest and great community = N9 and Maemo6/Meego.

(In my humble opinion)