I think a lot of people posting on this topic are missing the point of the author. Yes we are grateful for the openess of the device, we are looking forward to the fantastic opportunities MeeGo will bring but this is more about the "now" and the next 12 months.

N900 for me was a device that needs a lot of TLC from the community to push it to the limits. I knew it wouldnt be the final installment of Maemo and it would be replaced eventually *key word*.

There is a real cycle in product development. Imagine if Apple released 3G and then 4 months later replaced 3GS - not only is that unfair to the consumers who are now tied into the 2 year contract, it reveals a lot about the culture of the firm. Unfortunately If (big if) MeeGoo and the grounds it operates on are not compatible with N900 (and the apps etc developed for it) then the N900 really would have been a very short lived device. Ofcourse many of us will continue to use the N900 and its brilliant power for years to come - but the author I believe is aiming to address the anxiety and frustration of the new users who are accustomed to the 18/24Month device cycle. They wanted the latest device - they got it - and now they're told it's *potentially* not future proof.

In reply to another user, a windows machine running 3.1 would not be upgraded to XP. That's just a silly analogy. This is a better one: A Windows Millenium User expecting an upgrade to XP after the pathetic performance of Millenium. That's a fair expectation.
Same way MS won't sell Windows 7 and 6 months later cause uncertainty and haze to it's consumers by telling them Windows will no longer be their OS of choice. Just imagine what that would entail.

that is exactly how i feel. you wrote it the proper-understandable way, without any frustrating emotions. thanks
in the official N900 promo video nokia was telling me: go get the incredible future phone which is ages ahead of other devices, the device is released in december, i bought it, 2 months later nokia tells me indirectly, maemo5 is old, we are moving to the next level with new OS, thanks for the 600euros.

ps: this huge change means obviously that nokia devs(since 2 months life for an OS is failure) and marketing dept(lifecycle of the product) have no clue about what they are doing.
i dont get it, so much marketing for maemo5 and N900, so much delay, so many bugs with its delayed release, before fixing the problems they simply move to a different product....wouldn't it be more professional to ship a N9xx device in june with Meego instead of all this rushing to "catch" customers...?

i think credit to everyone who feels, for lack of a better word, screwed over by Nokia. I do too, but unfortunately i don't think Nokia would be doing anything different even if we made some virtual noise.

i'm perhaps a half-baked company's ideal customer. i spend weeks researching a device with all its pros and cons, and always take an attitude that discredits the company's support efforts unless expressly stated. This way i set the bar low so that i know what i'm getting myself into.

but i agree that a n900 owner has the right to feel aggrieved! i would too, if only i didn't possess such a lack of faith in tech companies.