I never ONCE saw an N800 on display at either of the Fry's here, and I practically live in those places.

Compusa did better, but then, they closed most of their stores...

Oh, please. I won't defend marketing but on the other hand even they shouldn't take the hit for idiot "techs" at Fry's.

Vista compliant... That's worse than the "unlocking".

(oh, and LMAO @ iball. He has been winning thrread after thread)

Maybe it was a cheap shot, but where is the product support or education? Do Nokia just provide product to these stores without any background documentation to assist the sales staff? What about training? Not just on NITs, but across the whole Nokia range? Do Nokia simply deliver their products and expect them to sell themselves? Is it really any wonder the sales staff spew b*llox about Vista if Nokia take an arms-length approach? Maybe a competitor who is more "on the ball" put them up to it? (conspiracy theory #1)

If your retail partners are mis-selling your product, who is to blame here? The retail partner? Or Nokia?

iball, where do you live? As an American living in Berlin, you can't be serious about missing Germany. The people may be knowledgeable, but customer service sucks so bad in Germany I sometimes can't comprehend it. Every clerk acts like its their own damn penny coming out of their pocket. Try to return something at Saturn Electronics and even though they give you 14 days to return they try 10 different ways to f you over. Go to the grocery store and if it doesn't scan because it's reduced AND marked on the package, the stupid clerk will go wandering off to make sure it's really 29 cents and not 39 cents.

I told an authorized Toshiba repair center the exact problem with my laptop, having researched in on the Internet. I told them that and wrote it on the report. I sent it back 3 times until they fixed it and Toshiba paid. It was clearly a defect. Like it was their own damn money. It wasn't, it was Toshiba's fault, and a well-documented failure.

I fell on ice and landed on a digicam, pulled out of my pocket and the LCD was cracked. Return it to Germany? Hell no. I took it to a repair center around the corner in the States (Germany has one center in Duesseldorf) and got it back in 10 days, good as new, no charge. (I didn't even ask for warranty repair - i just said what happened!)

About Nokia marketing. It stinks - typically European - expect the features to sell the product - and that the consumer will do the research. All the workers at the mall know about Apple products because there is hype behind them, people anticipate them and then read about them. Nokia comes out with a dopey product on a daily basis and then when something cool arrives...everybody just yawns. Kind of like the Sunday paper ads - oh, the chain store is having a sale...meh. In the end, you can't really say it's failing them, however, they are holding their own in the mobile phone market.

You already know how I'd answer most of those questions, Mil, so no need to ask them any more.

As to the last question, come on. Sure Nokia has an obligation to educate retail partners, but... Vista readiness??? Cripes. That's a willful bit of stupidity there, because the guy just had to make something up out of the blue.

There's your problem...you're not in Germany, you're in Berlin.
I spent all my time in Frankfurt and Munich. You know...the "real" Germany.
Ask any West German their number one wish and it will be "re-build the wall".
I've carried a couple of busted Moto RAZRs back to ProMarkt's and...man, what's the name of the place covered in red, again? Anyway, I've NEVER had a problem returning anything as long as I had the receipt, which I always did. In and out in 10 minutes flat and about 2 weeks later they call me on the phone to pick up the repaired item.
But you're in Berlin where the folks there tend to be kind of snotty. I never saw the attraction of Berlin for anything other than oogling chicks at the Love Parade...back when they still did those in Germany.
It reallysays something about a city when NONE of the big "conferences" (Frankfurt's Auto Show, Leipzig's Games Con, CEBIT in Hannover, Mac Live in Cologne, Embedded-World in Nuremburg, etc.) want to go there. The only "big" thing that Berlin can get is the now-silly Chaos Computer Club "con" and that's only because one of the hackers died under mysterious circumstance in Homburg.

Now, back on topic. I drove down to Wichita today (heard that line in a country song years ago and decided to do it) and hit up the CompUSA off North Rock Road right off highway 96. Found not only an N770 but also a "picture" of an N800. They didn't have any REAL N800s there. When I asked the ***** I'm-so-counter-culture over-pierced phuctard behind the counter where a real N800 was he said they were "special order". I told him "Don't be a fool, stay in school" and informed that then he might perhaps one day aspire to getting a REAL JOB, then walked off.

You do realize that IFA just ended this week in BERLIN.

"The IFA – the highlight of the year
A record attendance by 1,212 exhibitors from 32 countries and orders totalling 2,75 billion euros are proof that the IFA is the world’s leading sales platform and the CE industry’s number one venue for doing business. A showcase for innovation and the technology of tomorrow – coupled with a spectacular programme of entertainment events – the IFA 2007 fascinated 235,000 visitors from around the world. "

That's supposed to be one of the largest consumer electronics shows - CEBIT is more trade show.

World Cup Final last year, next year (or 2009?) is the World Track and Field, Championships, but whatever. The girls are definitely easy on the eyes and easy in general.

That wall comment is defintely not true any more. I have many friends in Munich and I met many of their friends this summer. I was at a table of 6 (erm, girls, previous comments apply to Munich girls too) on my last night in Munich and 5 were headed to Berlin for at least a long weekend and the other one wanted to come but didn't have time. They make jokes about how everyone from Munich wants to move to Berlin. So, there's my anecdote for the day.

Kind of off topic.

PS: Popkomm in 2 weeks - major music trade show - all the major record companies will be here - nothing like it in Germany. Berlinale Film Festival also kicks butt.

Wow, what a stereotype. C'mon, some of the gals at the counter are good eye candy. I was amazd the other day at Frys cause the guy telling people which register is open was an older white guy!! Musta been a token hire or a mistake.

All I have to say is....Berlin sucks, Frankfurt rules!
Klappergasse 33 wins!

In the UK, some companies have been known to offer the high street sales drones new technology at a discounted price so that they're "up" on the tech they're supposed to be selling, and can speak with a certain degree of authority (although it doesn't stop them from talking trash about the competition/products they don't personally own).

Maybe something to bear in mind - I'm sure the sales drones will be plenty familiar with iPod Touches in no time (are iPods sold through retail stores...? It's been so long since I visited a bricks & mortar store!)

I can't see that happening between Nokia and Fry's/Best Buy/Compusa/etc drones. Too many reasons not to as opposed to reasons for, especially with $400 and up devices. Not saying there isn't a degree of merit to the concept, it just wouldn't work well in our high-turnover, low-skill-level-required stores here. Unfortunately.

And I still say it's a stretch to draw so many comparisons between the N800 and iPhone/iPod approaches, especially in retail. It would make more sense to compare with UMPCs, CE devices, and heck, even full-fledged PDAs. And while you may be right about the typical drone's eventual familiarity with the Apple products, just don't ask how good they are with those other devices. Seriously. DON'T ASK.

Oh, and LOL buggsy2.