@afaq:

Thanks for reporting back - very interesting.

Nokia are clearly investing cold, hard cash in this research, so let's hope it leads to something productive!

thanks afaq, i really hope that it wasnt for nothing. i am often overwhelmed by nokia's silence regarding this device, could be resolutions for the n900 but also could be resolutions for devices to come, so i wont hold my breath about it.
The thing that striking me is the oddest is the fact to nokia is actually investing money and manpower on devaloping meego for us, with moorestone just around the corner, n900 isnt the only test device anymore.

Be sure and mention how bad the email client on this thing is.
http://maemo.org/community/brainstor..._email_client/

I would like to create shortcut icons to Phone dial on every desktop. Right not I have to move to the home desktop where I have the phone icon. It would be nice if I could create multiple shortcuts of the phone dialer icon. Instant access to phone from every desktop would be a huge benefit.

yeah video would be nice

i'm sure it will for there next product

Thanks for your offer. (I hope it extends to me). (EDIT: sorry, didn't realize you weren't going.)

Did you post a link to the survey?

It would be very nice if someone could make it known to Nokia that some people would like to run other window-managers and or desktop-environments. Especially ones that are already built for n8xx.

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=58090 (alternate window manager (n900 specific) - blackbox or fluxbox )

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=56506 (Alternative desktop for N900)

To me this is very, very important, and the most pressing design flaw currently, I hope I'm not alone in this.

@Afaq: Thanks very much for sharing the bits of info from the meeting. It's very interesting!

May I ask a few questions...

1. What was the demographic of the users like? Age range? Any females?
2. Do you mind sharing the bit about 'some interesting perspective from other people and some shocking'? That sounds like it could be new input for us here..
3. How has the experience affected you? Did it change your opinion on anything?

Cheers!

Remember, be honest. This is for posterity.

Thanks ysss,

Il answer these questions as accurately as I can.

Demographics
- No Female participants (one can hope!)
- Age Range (19-35). Average age i would estimate to be around 25.
- 5 White, 2 Black, 2 Asian (South Asian).


Why was I shocked? I think I perhaps went in thinking that most of the participants would love and appreciate the concept behind Maemo - an Open, truly customisable device with a Linux OS that allows some pretty unlimited possibilities. What, in reality, most participants were expecting from N900 was a pretty flashy, up-to-date device that just did everything. I might not be giving them enough credit but I felt the general mood in the air was of frustration - Which I believe was mostly unfounded or unfair on N900 ( a 9 month old device ).
I'm the first one to raise negative points against N900 - even to my android and iphone friends but thats what I like about Maemo - I can openly write negative views on it but still stand by it as the only device thats on the market that meets my needs. I criticise its random reboots, its lack of a great mapping software, it's bulky weight and USB port problems but I also dont let these define the experience for me. You dont own a ferrari and complain about the lack of a good sound system or adjustable seats. N900 is not, as I understood it, built to be used by teens to socialise and grandma's to video conference with their grand kids with (as apple would have u believe facetime is).

The interesting perspective's I gained were around how everyone uses their device. Some dont have a clue about extra development catalogues, some have no clue that you are able to access the Root and modify files within it, and most did not follow TMO closely to be aware of the upcoming applications and mod's that the users here are working on (e.. Ubuntu on N900, USB Host most, NITDroid, Overclocking).

I think overall the views shouldnt have surprised me as they are not very different from people who use this forum - except that I got to hear these in person and debate and discuss them. One participant even went out of his way to demonstrate that resistive is a must - and a physical keyboard is essential for a device like this. Refreshing to hear people don't think capacitive is the only technology.

How has this experience affected me?

Meeting people face to face who own the N900 and want to talk about it has made me even more enthusiastic about this device. A strange solidarity is formed when you meet like minded people. It re-affirms certain beliefs that N900 in fact is a great device that with the right attention it can continue to wow everyone who sees it. 9 months from it's first release I can still proudly pull out the kick stand, rest the device on my desk and have people turning their necks to see what this device is. Evo 4G is not out in the UK, so the kick stand function along with a rich video playback codec library means I can always view and impress anyone around me.