To my dear whiners! - maemo.org

ivanzorkic | # 1 | 2010-04-29, 22:10 | Report

To my dear whiners, hello.

I used to be one of you.

Let's start at the beginning, and I apologize for the long read, but if you can whine endlessly, perhaps you can also find the strength to go through this ridiculously long post.

When I got myself an N900, I didn’t even know what mobile devices could do. Sure, I knew they could browse the web and play movies, but I didn’t know anything about capacitive and resistive screens, multitouches and flash supports, app stores and maps and navigations and stuff like that.

As my little company was planning to start a blog-like magazine, I was intrigued by the idea of writing and posting on it while on the move. At the time, all of my mobile net experience was based on running Opera Mobile from time to time to check gmail on my Nokia 6070’s small screen. And it was, like 128x160 small.

As an illustrator, on the desktop front I was always running modern hardware and powerful gadgets like the Wacom Intuos4 or my Nikon D80, but when it came to mobile devices, I never even used a Symbian. So, I decided it was finally time for a change.

One day, my good friend showed me his N900. Coming from a Nokia dumbphone and having only seen the iPhone 3GS, I was in awe when I saw the 800x480 screen. He played a few videos, he showed me Bounce 3D, and then he did something magical – he took a photo and moments later it was on Facebook! Now, ofc, I knew this was possible, but seeing it work just like that, left me amazed.

And although he warned me that there are stll bits and pieces not finished or polished on the N900, I realized that I definitely wanted one.

When I got my N900 I couldn’t believe how awesome it was! I got a 3G package and started surfing on the go. I took pictures. I read my e-books. I watched movies! And not some downsized, choppy videos that my friends had on their smartphones either! I copied whole movies directly onto the device and watched them in all their glory – without even recoding. I even started watching shows while going to the store.

But then something happened. As I entered this world of mobile devices, I started to get interested in all that’s out there. I started reading Engaget – on a daily basis, too. I started reading Ars Technica, Gizmodo, Tom’s Guide – everything! I started talking about mobile devices with my friends. And then I started to notice other devices. My god – I started to flirt with every other device out there. The Android phones were amazing. iPhones were fun. I wanted to have children with HTC. I…. I even…. This is hard, guys – for a moment, I even wanted an iPad. Suddenly, I wanted full Google integration on my phone. My dad’s little Android phone had all those google apps and thingies and I wanted them ALL (This from a guy who didn’t even have basic mail in his pocket few months ago). My friend’s iPhone had this amazing capacitive screen that you could barely touch and it would respond. And without smudges too (my god, I hate those smudges that are ALWAYS all over my N900’s screen). I wanted a real app store. Then that HTC Desire came out. Don’t even get me started on the Desire!

All this time, my N900 was doing its stuff. IMs. Email. Playing movies for me. Doing my laundry (ok, not yet, but I’m sure an app for that is coming to devel!). And when I looked at its beautiful screen all I could think was: “plastic overlay. Not glass. Smudgy little plastic”.

So, since paying 500 euros - again - for another device was out of the question – I did the only thing I could. Like some of you, I started whining. Oh, I was too afraid to do it here, so I whined to my friend (and not just any friend, he is one of the newly elected Maemo council members) I whined about all the standard things: the Ovi store being crappy. PR1.2 still not out. Resistive screen. No portrait. Widgets. Apps. USB port. Slider a bit loose. Anything that crossed my mind. He did the best he could in pointing out the obvious – every device has its advantages and disadvantages. Glass is either half full or half empty. But to no avail – Nokia was to blame for everything. Sounds familiar?

Then, out of the blue, one day – epiphany. Sure, MeeGo coming to N900 helped, and the prospects of Qt apps did too. But it wasn’t the coming PR1.2 or the MeeGo or the constantly improving future for the N900. It was when I took a 2Gb Kingston MicroSD card from my dad’s old phone (he didn’t need it any more) and put it in my N900. My dad had like hundreds of little 1.3MP photos on it. Our town, our family, our friends, important events, etc. They were blurry and small, but they were fun and held many memories. He had some of his favorite songs in there too. Then I remembered his old phone, before he got his Android for his birthday – his calendar was filled with reminders, so was his to-do list and he never complained about the lack of Google integration. He found a Java astronomy program that he enjoyed. And he never complained about not having a proper app store. He used his phone the best he could, and this was a silly little Nokia dumbphone. I also never heard him complain how it had little memory or how its headphones were mono instead of stereo, and stuff like that. PR updates? Don't make me laugh.

Then I took it to a whole new level and went even further back in time. I remembered hearing of the mp3 format for the first time. I remember how I was shocked to learn that you could fit 200 songs on one CD. What about DivX movies? Before DivX, I still watched VHS (I had a DVD player but no movies). And my net connection? A 56k dial-up. But I wasn’t a whiner then. I was just happy to be able to use all these things. I was happy to even have a computer.

Suddenly I realized how technology is changing, and what a thrilling ride it was – and still is. I mean – I hold in my hand, MY HAND for crying out loud, a computer that’s 100 times more capable and powerful than my first PC (which was, I still remember, an AMD 486 with 8Mb RAM and 1Gb hard-drive. Cutting edge at the time. Used 3.5” floppies and had a 14” CRT screen).

And so, finally, the conclusion came. Androids, iPhones, N900s - all these devices are amazing, in their own right. Yup, even the iPhones. Maybe Steve Jobs thinks that if it doesn’t have a little apple on it, its junk, but for the rest of the world: all the gadgets, all the computers, all the tablets and netbooks and smartphones – are incredible. And all of us should feel very lucky that we live in a time when you can chat with your friends who are on the other side of the globe by pulling out a little black box from your pocket. We should feel lucky that we live in a time when good music is a few clicks away. When emails are read and answered during bus rides. When we have Facebook and Twitter while taking a walk. When we have Youtube wherever we go, while our parents had little radios with bad receptions.

N900 is one of the best mobile devices at the moment. It has multitasking that other platforms can only dream of. It has an amazing screen (fingerprint smudgy as it is). It has a powerful CPU and lots of memory. It has Qt apps which will run on multiple platforms. And, really, guys – which other platform will get a totally new, shiny, fancy OS with a completely new UX, and get a choice between two great operating systems? Which other device had this many things just months after its release? Which other platform is this open?

But, all that aside, is being the best so important in the first place? To be better than Android or iPhone or Palm? My dear N900 owner, just think, you live on a world where most people still don’t even have regular internet access, while you have a powerful linux based computer – in your pocket. And it just happens to be one of the best devices at the moment – if you care about that kind of stuff, anyway.

Quit whining. Please. Enjoy these amazing times.

Last edited by ivanzorkic; 2010-04-29 at 22:36.

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Optimus | # 2 | 2010-04-29, 22:18 | Report

Some parts I didn't like but overall good writing, thanks!

thefoxtrot | # 3 | 2010-04-29, 22:26 | Report

Cherish the time when there is still lithium in the earth!

It'll be gone one day.

Good post.

Last edited by thefoxtrot; 2010-04-29 at 22:53.

BaKSo | # 4 | 2010-04-29, 22:26 | Report

great post !

jaysire | # 5 | 2010-04-29, 22:36 | Report

Originally Posted by ivanzorkic View Post

N900 is one of the best mobile devices at the moment. It has multitasking that other platforms can only dream of.

Exactly how is the N900 multitasking so much better than what the Android has?

leetut | # 6 | 2010-04-29, 22:36 | Report

awesome!

everytime someone moans about 'PR one point whatever'
a moderator should post that text in there as a reply, and lock the thread

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necoicould | # 7 | 2010-04-29, 22:39 | Report

cool post ur somethin lik a philosoph =)

dscobsct | # 8 | 2010-04-29, 22:40 | Report

great read well done dude my sentiments exactly

Techark | # 9 | 2010-04-29, 22:46 | Report

I think Louis CK said it best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZ...eature=related

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ivanzorkic | # 10 | 2010-04-29, 22:46 | Report

Everyone, thanks for the kind words!

Last edited by ivanzorkic; 2010-04-29 at 23:07.