I would hope that once the next device is announced, Nokia will shed some light on their future plans. Much as I might like too see them now, I know that isn't going to happen. But after the rx-51 is official, there shouldn't be too many surprises left. Particularly support and possible upgrade paths. The rx-71 will either be a phone or not.

Something like a 5 yr plan with expected os releases and an idea of what type of platform is expected to be available on the different os (phones/tablets/netbooks).

If Nokia wants to bring developers on board (and customers too), it would be nice to let all of us know if the future is phones only, or if more robust(keys/keyboards, usb, video, etc) hardware (tablet/netbook) is in the works.

Nothing too basic , but not necessarily very detailed either.

I would like to see documentation for programs -- how tos, help files, game rules, and so on. It's very frustrating to try to use a program, have it not work, and you have no idea what's wrong.

Why include a program like Mah-jongg and not give instructions?

Oh, and a way to delete pre-loaded apps that the user doesn't want. I've tried using 'apt-get remove', but since the darn package names aren't the names of the programs, can't do it that way.

All in all, I have to say that after 2 years of trying to make my tablet useful, it's not. I really want this to be a great platform, but........

So... a hardware roadmap listing products and family products, introduction of new device features and approximate shipping dates - to be shared only within the community and out of the sight of competitors.

Right.

In this iteration at least the pre-release SDKs have revealed most of what there is to know about the hardware internals (CPU, camera, HSPA, FM, accelerometers, touchscreen technology etc) often even down to the specific chips used. I find it hard to believe that competitors (whoever they may be) were really hindered by keeping relatively trivial details (like the keyboard layout or the presence of a d-pad) secret.

Ah, yes, support roadmaps! We could have avoided so much friction here, in bugzilla and in the mailing lists if the OS end-of-life was known in advance instead of slowly realising there would be no more updates.

I think there is more potential in enhancing the status with Maemo OS roadmaps than with any HW related roadmaps. Nokia has a solid strategy on how to handle HW launches, and I at least would be somewhat pessimistic about seeing major changes with it. (Then again, I also would see much more disadvantages than advantages with publishing HW roadmaps.)

I have to agree with the doubt, and that's why I was asking anyone who voted for the detailed roadmap option to offer a way to make it work.

Even though it was in parentheses () can you elaborate?

Well, it's a long-winded question. I won't say too much, but...

... Quoting for instance Peter, it's about managing and presenting the first impression the way we want to do it. (I hope nobody is fooling themselves in thinking that any possible product leaks would be done from Nokia on purpose.) You cannot do launches too soon, otherwise you would be like ... launching the Chevy Volt.

Second of all it's about avoiding copycats and knock-offs: also a very valid concern in the current marketplace.

Peter's third point I think many people are perhaps missing: "And lastly, you always need to balance early excitement versus influencing your existing sales." You don't want to publish the next greatest thing since sliced bread too early, because then people will start to wait for it and not want to buy current devices. The next thing is usually always better. That's why we do next things.

It's a bit like the Osborne effect, I think.

If Apple would announce the iPhone 3G+++ with ... rocket launchers and multitasking and what not, coming in 12 months, many would start to wait for that. And nobody would be really happy: not those people that are waiting, not those that feel already that their current device is outdated (even though it's not!).

Nokia is larger than just Maemo. If Maemo would be a separate company, the considerations might be different.

While I can certainly see your points, they dwell on worst case extremes to the exclusion of a reasonable middle. Proper management can mitigate the risks.

On a somewhat side note, I have a difficult time understanding why, in this forum, honest and objective questions are commonly met with extreme scenarios in answer, particularly worst-case extremes. This creates a culture of pessimism. Where is the "can-do" spirit? Where is the motivation to defy negative prospects and exceed expectations? Why the acceptance of defeat?