Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

LOL. That's cool. I'd actually love to see the "shop".

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Texrat, if you see any of the ever so elusive Nokia "cases" lying around please blag one for me - I'll pay for shipping! ;)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

I'm more likely to see the Loch Ness Monster.

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

LOL, you're probably right... or Elvis. :(

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Wow, it's very warm here in Helsinki today (5:35 PM my time). My poor colleague didn't expect that, and brought the wrong clothes. I'm glad I listened to someone over here before packing...

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Always glad to help... :D Bring back some juicy rumors while you're at it.

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

I am so, SO pissed. :mad: :mad: :mad:

I had a great visit with Quim Gil today, and went to maemopeople to blog about my experience. I pressed the save button, received an unusual error about an invalid URL, then *thought* I was going back to review the work-in-progress---

...but was met with a blank page instead.

So maemopeople ate my homework.

I am beyond pissed. I liked the way that article had come together.

I am going to have to consume mass volumes of alcohol before trying again.

:mad:

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Look at it this way : it's still far, far better than if you had had a terrible encounter with Qim and had blogged about it without a glitch, no ? :-)

Have a few and come back to tell us what happened :)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

As if there wasn't enough sunshine tormenting me already... :p

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Auto-saving is a bit difficult on web, and so this happens quite easily.

I prefer to blog using desktop tools like MarsEdit for this reason.

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

... or you could use something like Maemo Blog, which would actually use the IT itself :)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Yes, of course. Though, I'm not 100% certain Maemo Blog is more stable than your browser at this point... ;)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Absolutely not. That thing crashes left and right. Of all the times I've tried, I've never gotten it to successfully blog anything.

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Speaking of crashing: please VOTE! I see many, many bugs on maemo bugzilla with few or no votes. If we want this stuff worked on, we need to say so. Voting (and commenting) on bugs is our most focused means of helping Nokia prioritize tablet software efforts.

https://bugs.maemo.org/

Vote now, vote often!

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

But what about that blog entry. I'm also interested knowing your conclusions after the meeting. :)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Arg, I was SO frustrated by the glitch on that! Next time I will save the content in notepad before committing.

I'll redo it, but it won't be as great as it was. Reconstructions very rarely are!

But in a nutshell, I truly appreciated your hospitality Quim and hope I can reward it by brainwashing- er, persuading more people here to have patience. ;)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

I STILL cannot get this t post at maemopeople!!!

But this time I saved the content. I'm publishing it here in case I can't figure out the problem at maemopeople:

A visit to the Mothership

I tried to post this a few days ago, but the blog application choked on my post and refused to regurgitate it. Having finally recovered from my nuclear fit, I'm ready to give it another go (backing up the contents in a text editor, of course!).

As many who frequent the <a href="http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/">Internet Tablet Talk forums</a> know, I've been riding the fence between Inside Defender of Nokia Tablet Business and Diehard Supporter of the Tablet User Community-- and occasionally taking shots from both sides. I knew it was a dangerous assignment when I set myself up for it though. However, the role had reached a stalemate prior to release of the latest OS and community frustrations were mounting much like a bad memory card (or a really sad analogy).

Eager to stimulate productive dialog between developers and community, I challenged anyone in Nokia to improve outbound communications (and by the same token, processing of feedback). In hindsight I can see that my approach lacked both a sense of timing and helpful finesse, but in the end the result paid off: the infamous Quim Gil stepped up to the plate, <a href="http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showpost.php?p=57628&amp;postcount=157">popped into the ITT forum</a> and began what turned out to be, in my opinion, the single best exchange between the two camps. As the Big Bang waned and the talk entered Long Tail mode, Quim extended an invitation for me to visit his gang at the <a href="http://www.tsi.fi/nrc1_e.html">Nokia Research Center</a> while I was in Helsinki recently. He claimed I had no excuse not to; my new manager in fact gave me her blessing, proving him prophetic and putting me squarely on the hook.

I showed up at lunch time, where Quim bribed me with a delicious meal of beef patty with gravy and mashed potatoes (<em>arg, my weakness!</em>). Lunch was followed by a stimulating discussion about Nokia's commitment to Linux, and I got to witness firsthand Quim's passion for open source. If the few community naysayers could have only been there, and seen the fire I saw, certainly some misconceptions could be handily struck down!

There are of course parts of the dialog I cannot share, but suffice to say the maemo folks are not the source of the aggravation that some express over priorities and lack of progress, real or perceived. Quim pointed out that any assumptions made alleging the team to be ambivalent or antagonistic toward open source are way off base. A safer assumption would be that perhaps, just perhaps, <a href="http://maemo.org/">maemo developers</a> just might have more involvement in open source development than some allege-- including, ironically, areas where Nokia is pointed toward examples to follow! That's all I'll say on the subject... surely you guys can fill in the blanks. ; )

Quim <em>did</em> acknowledge a need to improve communications in general. Given his extensive background in journalism, it's easy to credit him with understanding the need and benefit. What those on the other side of this equation need to understand is that the maemo experience is still new to an old monolithic company like Nokia, long used to fiercely guarding trade secrets and reluctant to share the sort of information involved in open source development. Maemo is thus an agent for change; the change is just not occurring fast enough to appease people eager to see the tablets' potential fulfilled. I also made sure to reiterate how grateful community members were to see the <a href="http://browser.garage.maemo.org/">microb beta</a> and other recent proactive moves to involve them more. It is like there is now a renewed interest among even many cynics!

After the lunch talk, I was taken on a tour of the organization and was not surprised to see a number of people hard at work on improving the tablet experience in numerous ways. As a developer myself, I know very well the sort of dedication one finds in that role. The only thing that can stifle a developer's output is corporate bureaucracy... which Quim is determined to keep out of the way.

I can't pass on much of what I witnessed on that brief tour, but if my word means anything to anyone, rest assured that what I did see supports <a href="http://jaaksi.blogspot.com/2007/01/were-getting-some-feedback-and-weve-got.html">Ari Jaaksi's statments regarding lessons learned after the rough transition from 770 to N800</a>.

In summary, I was heartened by my visit. It was a pleasure to meet Quim in person (as well as some of his team) and observe for myself his strong desire to facilitate the success of the tablet platform, especially in the area of open source. These products represent the next mobile communications paradigm, and I'm newly encouraged that Nokia is highly committed to pushing the industry rather than passivley waiting for some other company to take the lead. At the same time, we users (yes I am still one!) must do our level best to provide thoughtful, objective, detailed input/feedback to maemo, especially through the <a href="https://bugs.maemo.org/">bugzilla tool</a>. Create, comment and vote on bugs! This is your opportunity to be more than simple users-- take full advantage of it!

Hopefully we can all put mistrust and contention behind us and come together in the sort of teaming spirit that has worked in so many open source projects. Rather than focus on negative aspects of the tablet development, let's accentuate the positives and use fact-based persuasion to drive necessary change. It CAN happen!

Comments very welcome.

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Can anyone tell me, offhand, why maemopeople says there's an illegal url in the post? I removed the urls one by one and still got the message...:confused:

I sure would like to post that blog entry...

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...&postcount=157 may need to be:

http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...;postcount=157

i.e. change "&" to "&amp;"

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Ah! Thanks Andrew, I'll give that a shot!

EDIT: crap. No help. :(

This is the error I get:

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Okay, I found the offending link: apparently nothing referencing Ari Jaaksi's blog can be posted on maemopeople. !!! I don't get that... or how I missed that before.

Anyway, here is the article: http://www.maemopeople.org/index.php...the_mothership

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Follow-up: more good news from maemo, and thoughtfix and I get linked in--

http://maemo.org/news

Cynics, at ease! :p

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

You mean me ? Never :-)
I'm glad to learn that all is fine and peachy in Nokia/Maemo land, and again grateful to you personally for the liaison task you took upon yourself ; but at the risk of raining upon the parade (a typical cynic's attitude :-) I will seize the opportunity, once again, to remind everyone concerned that there remains a diehard community here of 770-but-not-N800 owners who have been grudgingly placated with kind words since january this year, and have been waiting all this time for Nokia & the maemo team to make good on these promises, while the N800/OS2007 platform (indeed) moves forward.
Shall I also remind them that this small batallion of old-timers has been suddenly reinforced, these past weeks, by an army of newcomers having snatched their 770s at bargain-basement prices, and who flock to these forums, wreaking havoc on them, and wondering what to do with their brand-new (to them) gadget that Nokia just sold them but hasn't updated for nearly a year ?
Yes, you bear good news for N800 owners and those who await the "N900", but there is nary a word about ITOS2007HE in there...

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Yeah, I hear ya. Rome is still under siege. ;)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

That, in itself, is good news. Now to see which side of the walls runs out of crackers first :-)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Not to mention elephants.

Uh oh... what's that? My Cynic's Hat has found me!!!!

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Greetings again from Helsinki!

Just got here from Paris yesterday. Cooler weather than my last visit by far, but not bad (yet).

I am sitting on a park bench near Aleksanterinkatu street, typing this on my N800 using FREE, NO LOGIN WIFI. Wow what a concept! Must be nice to enjoy this fulltime. Network is slow and the dreaded CAPS bug is making me nuts but O the freedom!

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Hey TR,

Thanks for your post and the latest insider update. I certainly appreciate your efforts to keep us informed as much as possible and I realize that the constraints from both sides must be overwhelming at times.

I think that yours is often the most reasonable voice in the din and I am really thankful for your lobbying efforts on behalf of tablet users at the top level. I understand something about bureaucracy, so I know that there is actually an inertial force which can hinder progress if no one is there to actively advocate movement. You are in fact that advocate, and I know you are in the trenches working hard to overcome the frequent complaints from users, the seemingly innocuous foot-dragging by management and the personal angst that comes from not being able to tell either group what you really think:)

So, thanks again for all your help and commentary. Honestly I don't think I can follow the forums if your voice is lost...do consider hanging in there!

Peace,

Phillip

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

I don’t understand this, you make it sound as though Nokia is doing us a big favour and for which we need to go cap in hand?

Basically either Nokia wants this device to be a success or it doesn’t. If it does then it should provide overwhelming reason for it to be so, and soon.

If it doesn’t then no matter, Intel MID Silverthorne’s are just round around the corner.

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Rebski, I think you misunderstand my particular place in the grand scheme of things.

I'm just a humble quality data analyst. And to make matters worse, I'm farther from production than I used to be. Still, I do what I can to conduct your concerns to the proper channels. Not much, but I do what I can.

And if Silverthorne turns out to be your cup of tea, I certainly hope you find it enjoyable.

EDIT: O, and thanks Greyghost. That made my day! Of course, I think you are overestimating as well. :p

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Huh... did you stop over or just touch-n-go ? Woulda been fun meeting up...

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Texrat, it grieves me that you may have found personal inference in my post.

This was not my intention at all, far from it. My frustration is directed squarely at Nokia. Apologies if there was scope for interpreting it otherwise.

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

No problem. I got the assumption from the fact that Greyghost's reply was specific to me.

And I occasionally direct frustration at Nokia, too. ;)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Unfortunately my time there was short (a little less than 2 days). Our group went out for sightseeing Thursday evening that was limited to a boat ride to see the Eiffel, Louvre, etc. Paris was unbelievable beautiful, and I'm glad I got to see it. My wife was VERY jealous.

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Yup, I know that sort of gig... but if you think you can snatch a spare hour next time, just holler...

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

I would be glad too, fpp! But knowing our senior manager I'm betting our meetings are bounced around the globe (mixed blessing in this case).

It WAS nice that the French were not as rude to this American as I was led to believe... one snooty waitress notwithstanding. :D

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Must have been a foreign student :D
We are very peacefull *COUGH* *COUGH*

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

:D

Hey, we have snooty waitresses in the US too. They don't get tipped much.

True story: friends and I ate at a nice Tex Mex place in San Antonio, TX years ago. They seated us in the worst spot (by the kitchen door) and the floor was wet-- not a good start. But good food and service makes me overlook that sort of thing. But while the food was decent, the waitress was NOT. She snapped at every request or remark we made. She also kept forgetting our orders and was late with almost every one. So when we left I placed a penny on the table for a tip. One of my friends wouldn't allow it and picked it up. So when he wasn't looking I slipped another down.

When we got outside to the riverwalk, the waitress came screaming out of the restaurant, "Here's your $%#@&!!! penny!!!!" and flung it into a crowd of tourists near us.

Guess how many turned away after that. ;)

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

Could it have been something you said?

Re: Tablet Advocacy
 

I really think it was the penny.

We started off nice. She started off crabby. Maybe a bad day. But a professional waitress doesn't take it out on customers.