Previous tablets have already sold well over a million units (based on sales numbers from 2007, I might add). A million isn't going to be an issue for the N900.
Then I don't think there will be a problem. 1,000,000 units in the first year would make it one of the top selling smartphones and if it is one of the top selling smartphones then software development companies will move Maemo up their priority list.
You're correct. There wasn't even an SDK when the iPhone first went on sale. The App Store didn't get going for a year.
Unfortunately for Nokia/Maemo (and Android, WebOS, WinMo, and Moblin), this isn't 2007 and they aren't competing against the original iPhone. An App Store is now considered part of what makes a smart phone smart.
Maemo Select is well done and impressive in many ways except for the fact that there are only two pages.
The Maemo garage is easy if you are used to SourceForge. If, OTOH, you are used to other app stores, you will be intimidated, frustrated, and lost in short order. Even as an advanced open source user, I have no idea if I've gotten to all the projects that I am interested in. For example, if I go to Project Cloud and select Tablet OS Version, it returns the following options: All OS, OS2006, OS2007, Web Based Software. There are 184 OS2008 projects that won't show up under any of those categories and no Maemo 5 projects show up (which I assume is incorrect).
Also here is the description of latest "news" (it should really say release) right now:
mafw-lastfm 0.0.1
Claudio Saavedra - 2009-10-05 11:16 - mafw-lastfm
mafw-lastfm is a last.fm scrobbler for maemo devices using the Media Application Framework, like the N900. This is its the initial release. It basically works: it sets your playing-now status and it scrobbles.
That's not the most new user friendly description in the world (and I don't mean to pick on this project - I've used last.fm and I understand what he's talking about - the million new N900 users may not be as knowledgeable). Furthermore, while I recognize that "it basically works" combined with "0.0.1" means it's an alpha release not too far removed from the first clean compile, Joe Average may not.
Maemo Select is well done and impressive in many ways except for the fact that there are only two pages.
The Maemo garage is easy if you are used to SourceForge. If, OTOH, you are used to other app stores, you will be intimidated, frustrated, and lost in short order. Even as an advanced open source user, I have no idea if I've gotten to all the projects that I am interested in. For example, if I go to Project Cloud and select Tablet OS Version, it returns the following options: All OS, OS2006, OS2007, Web Based Software. There are 184 OS2008 projects that won't show up under any of those categories and no Maemo 5 projects show up (which I assume is incorrect).
Also here is the description of latest "news" (it should really say release) right now:
mafw-lastfm 0.0.1
Claudio Saavedra - 2009-10-05 11:16 - mafw-lastfm
mafw-lastfm is a last.fm scrobbler for maemo devices using the Media Application Framework, like the N900. This is its the initial release. It basically works: it sets your playing-now status and it scrobbles.
That's not the most new user friendly description in the world (and I don't mean to pick on this project - I've used last.fm and I understand what he's talking about - the million new N900 users may not be as knowledgeable). Furthermore, while I recognize that "it basically works" combined with "0.0.1" means it's an alpha release not too far removed from the first clean compile, Joe Average may not.
If Joe Average is not clued in enough to google last.fm and able to figure out what it does then .... oh you see where I am going with this.
I think the old adage of "Every time I think I have made something idiot proof, they build a better idiot" applies. Eventually the user is going to have to use some actual brain power, regardless of how average he is. Nothing is idiot proof.
The store is brand new and has two pages because its not actually open yet.
If Joe Average is not clued in enough to google last.fm and able to figure out what it does then .... oh you see where I am going with this.
I think the old adage of "Every time I think I have made something idiot proof, they build a better idiot" applies. Eventually the user is going to have to use some actual brain power, regardless of how average he is. Nothing is idiot proof.
The store is brand new and has two pages because its not actually open yet.
I think the store is great and I hope it will have many more polished apps available by the time the N900 starts shipping. And I said that before.
The garage is a somewhat disorganized, somewhat grimy garage. I would not even tell a new user it existed. For community projects I'd point them at maemo.org's Downloads section.
Joe Average isn't an idiot any more than Jim Developer, although both can act like it at times. I fully understand, as some do not, that the only thing that really needs to be printed on the N900 (or any other) retail box is a bar code and that I can Google my way from there. I prefer a bit more information a bit better organized. If you are going to label that anything, label it laziness. And remember that we are all lazy in our own way.
The Maemo garage is easy if you are used to SourceForge. If, OTOH, you are used to other app stores, you will be intimidated, frustrated, and lost in short order. Even as an advanced open source user, I have no idea if I've gotten to all the projects that I am interested in. For example, if I go to Project Cloud and select Tablet OS Version, it returns the following options: All OS, OS2006, OS2007, Web Based Software. There are 184 OS2008 projects that won't show up under any of those categories and no Maemo 5 projects show up (which I assume is incorrect).
Garage isn't intended as an application catalog, it's for project management. You want Downloads.
Right, the device hasn't been released yet. Most developers just got their hands on one today. . . .
Garage isn't intended as an application catalog, it's for project management. You want Downloads.
I understand that some developers are just getting started. Others, every one that's in the app store now, got it a long time ago. I think Nokia may have made a mistake by not releasing it to more developers until today. That's my opinion for what it's worth. We shall see.
As far as Downloads, yes, I know it's there. I was responding to mike c's comment "But we have had maemo garage for three years, its easy to use, and all the apps are free." The first and last statements are true, the second is not. So as not to pick too much on mafw-lastfm, let's go to the second news item, pidgen, which never mentions (for the benefit of those who were using AIM or Yahoo Messenger or Trillian, etc) that it's a chat program.
As it stands now, maemo.org is not customer oriented, it is developer oriented, and that is not a bad thing as long as maemo.org recognizes that and wants that. And I have suggested elsewhere that the customers might be better served if they were walled off and maybe even exiled to Tablet101.
If on the other hand, maemo.org wants to become more customer oriented then there needs to be more recognition that customers may not recognize things that developer recognize. Furthermore, if maemo.org wants to become more customer oriented then it's the developers who will need to change.
