Hmm, I think I spot a trend here... has the old fad of peppering one's english/american text with a few French expressions suddenly become fashionable again ? Or should I say... "de rigueur" ? :-)

You're living in the future. Come back to the present; It's more real and you can actually get things done.

Yeah, I buy that argument. I actually use most apps in windowed mode.

The only app I consistently use full screen is FBReader, but I've been using that app more and more. I imagine that with an always-on data connection, I'll use the device for more things (e.g. Maemo mapper), but for now, I mostly use it for reading books.

There's no question for me that FBReader in a 3.5" viewing area sucks quite a bit. You can't just increase the font size to compensate: to comfortably read a book, you really want a good overview of the current page.

For me, ebook reading is so far the only sacrifice in this beautiful (yet vapourous) convergence device. Linux: awesome. Phone: awesome. Unified addressbook for IM, email and phone: awesome. 48GB of memory: awesome. Camera: awesome.

For me, there are so many benefits to the convergence, I'll sacrifice the small screen.

I'll even sacrifice the DPad if I can have arrow keys.

If there are no arrows or DPad, I'll probably pass. A Linux device isn't all that useful to me without a functioning XTerm.


Michael

Immature? Maybe. Serious? 49% I encourage you to stay as long as you like and talk about whatever you want, any way that you want to. Better?

Being able to surf anywhere is a transformative experience. It's one of the reasons people tether their existing tablets. The MAJOR benefit now, is that we have the option of doing this without requiring a second device! In fact many of us will do this for the first time.

Once people realize that they can look up recipes while in the grocery store, SSH into their server on the train, video chat on the beach, buy tickets in a cab, snap and send photos at concerts, run automation scripts at the movies, etc. I'm sure they will enjoy the inclusion of a cellular radio and accept the 'pesky' half-inch of screen lost.

I believe this device transcends both a smartphone and tablet designation. You see, it runs an OPEN variant of linux. This line of product from Nokia (IMO) represents the finest example of a convergence device. In fact, of all the MIDs and smartphones being released, there's arguably no equal.

YARR!
}:^)~
Wide Area Corrupt

If that was referring to my use of 'non' - French is our 2nd official language, and we throw some bits in here and there when we talk up here in the Great White North. (well, some of us do)

edit - au contraire - got it

What if you could use gestures to function as replacement for keys/dpad?

Tried that. FBReader just feels too small. MicroB/Tear usable but I am constantly tempted to switch to full screen. Maemo Mapper feels like I am looking at it through a keyhole.

So, what was the purpose of this experiment? Were you trying to prove that smaller screen is "still ok" or what? Because the miracle you expected has not happened: all the use cases described before in this thread felt constrained and less comfortable.

No, you're living in the past. Come join us in the present, where even the NITs are communication devices (coming bundled with multiple flavors of VOIP), and where the trend in current pocketables is to at least offer a 3G connection.

Fms, Same feeling here ...