I can't see big application development for Maemo5 unless other vendors begins to release Maemo5 devices, which is not going to happen.

Nokia really needs few devices more than just a N900 to gain some ground and hopefully few vendors more. It's very rocky road if Nokia thinks they can make iPhone/Android level development community.

This is what I think will be Android strongest selling point and what makes it a top dawg. There are 12-15 android phones on the market right now.. with another handful slated for release in the next year. This is a smartphone operating system running on every type of phone from cheap text-phones to expensive "smart" phones all over the place.

I think this will be why Android becomes a competitor to Apple... or at least - where it has a chance.

So far, Maemo's only chance is the fact that there are already millions of developers for Maemo out there. Anyone familiar with GTK/QT apps would take a very minimal learning curb to start developing for Maemo. But - whether that learning curve becomes worth it or not is the problem - currently.. with only 4 devices out, and only 1 of them being a "smart" phone equivalent... it hasn't been.

Hopefully the N900, or it's successor, takes off.. but I'm not as convinced it will when you're fighting Apple's and OHA (Open Handset Alliance). It has to bring something to the table that nothing else does... unfortunately "openness" is not a very consumer friendly idea. They want something unbelievably never-before-seen right now, or they'll just go with whatever their friends have. "Potential" isn't really a selling strategy.

You have to remember that Maemo 5 that the N900 is running on is a debian based system, as so it's using the Linux kernel. This should make it possible for every application that runs on debian or Linux for that matter, to run on Maemo 5/N900. The only thing is that it has to be compiled for the ARM processor.

what if a android-phone uses an arm-processor?
these android-apps dont have to be recompiled for arm-processors, right? so why is recompiling needed if its for n900?

or doesnt android run on arm-processors?

Don't forget optified and Hildonized. But like I said in my post.. anyone that has developed for Linux could easily learn to develop for the N900.. it's just whether or not they *want* to.

Thankfully, due to the open nature of most linux software - the community here can grab most Linux software source code and make the necessary changes without the need to try and convince the original coder to do so.. However some of these UI's are immensely complex, and not so good on the small screens.

I don't see these 2 conveniences to be enough to generate the kind of interest the iPhone and Android phones have generated. Mostly because this isn't an iPhone, it's a very different type of device that appeals to a very specific set of people. Which means you're only going to get a very certain type of developer.

So I don't really see Maemo reaching the "millions" of apps anytime soon, whereas I do see android getting up there. For me personally, that's fine with me... I would like to see Android overcome the iPhone because I find android to be a decent OS, and it's phones good phones - but I don't need millions of apps, and I don't care for the invasiveness of Android.

The N900 would allow me to stick an almost-desktop linux in my pocket and not need to also carry a second phone.. this is perfect for me. I don't need all the fancy "smartphone" crap as much as I want to box up my main computer and take it on trips. But again, this type of thought is in a significantly smaller portion of the population than people who want really cool phones that also happen to do some functional things.

The same strength is its weakness (though this reason is why I think Android will eventually dominate the market). But with smaller markets for Apple's devices and Nokia devices.

The problem with having so many different phones and different manufacturers is unless you specify an absolute minimum in specs, applications won't necessarily work or work well on all devices. Likewise if you are a developer wanting to make money you ideally want to target the mass market (e.g. lowest common denominater). So you won't be developing something that requires say the Droid to run.

Android is *entirely* different. Yes, Android has a very small relational somewhat linux base... meaning somewhere in the the very beginning stages the linux kernel was compiled and then used for android.

However, "Android" in it's completeness is very intensely a java-based system that runs atop that linux kernel. Almost all software development is done in a very modified Java environment and then each application runs inside it's own java "virtual machine".

This allows for just the base of the OS to be written (or compiled) to work on a particular piece of hardware, and then all applications will (theoretically) just work on the new system. Google did it this way so the various companies in the Open Handset Alliance could pick any device they wanted, and get Android to work - and they will all use the same "Android Market".

This of course isn't as perfect or seamless as the theory behind it sounds... but it is close.

There is no such thing as stupid apps... just stupid users.

and to some degree it was, until microsoft fumbled the push mail ball to rim, and apple used the ipod halo to bootstrap iphone after seeing feature phones overtake ipod on dap...

Google is a speedier Microsoft, or Microsoft cubed (far more effective than squared). Sorry, I tried to stay away from Google bashing lately (and I've done very well), but it looks like it's time to end that session. What M$ can possibly do within a certain time, Google can do the same^3.

Simply put, Google has almost unlimited resources as well as the ability to make something popular by prefering such keywords in the search engine. Of course, they have access to everyone's habits as well.

Remember, Google services are "cheaper than free". [http://abovethecrowd.com/2009/10/29/...usiness-model/]