I am glad for one thing...
That I am not the only person to have felt ...some feelings concerning the affordability of almost exactly what we need ...sans telephony service...and even that is only a matter of little time...before the neo900 becomes almost totally irrelevant....
when an ubuntu pocket 7 inch laptop.goes for under $500
...and all the devel and production and sales surrounding everything from the c.h.i.p. to raspberry pi to pi phones to pi ...etc...for under $100 ...in some cases under $50....
with as much power as what the n900 has..or the neo will have...or more...
I wish I could say that I am demoralized or depressed....
But I am not.
The objective will be reached.
Just not by the neo...
that is obvious and plain now...
We will have linux driven phones...and pocket pcs ...
I feel no demoralization at all...
we can throw a nice maemo skin over it ...
tweak it the way it should be...
and we soldier on.
Neo is hardly the hope of the future for maemo...at one point it was...for a while.
But there were some factors there...

Three factors...

1- it is a hard struggle for start ups....most never make it...
Neo had the stat. odds against it from day one.
that helped slow it down...but not alone ...kill it's relevance...

2- There were ...naturally... unforeseen issues and situations which cropped up which helped stall and slow things down some more...
but that alone didn't kill it's relevance...

3- and 3rd and lastly and most importantly..what did not only help additionally stall , slow down ...but also significantly help kill it's relevance today...
was personality issues....
what started out as a team working on it...and progressing ...deteriorated ...to a couple of people ...one...possibly two who were with the project from the start...who now pump out white papers...on a project which frankly to be even remotely viable as a final product needed to be shipping 2 years ago...
given enough time...
the neo compared to a $50 convenience store disposable.. in specs. alone..will be the comparison of the "VIC 20" to "Deep Blue".

I am not demoralized or depressed at all...
the goal will be accomplished..
But not by the Neo...
It is not relevant any longer in the greater scheme of things...

I am simply becoming very angry...
at the egos and personal politics ...which ultimately cost the project.
the egos who have been paid...the few who still are with the project...who ARE being paid for their work...

Their work...which compared to other comparable start ups who managed to be inventive, creative, and still work together...to produce products which are flexible expandable and up-gradable...
For under $500...
In most cases under $100...
and for some...under $50...

The neo team blew it.

they have plenty of money...
More than most of the other start ups got..
and they blew it.
they blew their window of opportunity.
they blew it fantastically.

that is what makes me upset.

I am hardly demoralized or depressed.

We invested hefty money in the "Woody" , the "Edsel"...the freakin' exploding "Pinto"....of the smartphone world.

I will be waiting for my refund.
given enough patience...
and I DO believe I and many others have been patient...
EXCEEDINGLY patient and highly supportive in fact...
FOR YEARS.

my patience for my refund will run very thin...
then I will have no recourse but to demand it ...instead of wait....