I only ordered mine a few days before the announcement about the move to Mee-Go, which won't be officially available on th n900, and received it the same day. I was brassed off at first. But, I love it. Great device. I guess we won't get iPlayer now, but...
I like Debian, I like Ubuntu, and if there's a chance of getting Lubuntu onto it, and still be able to use it as a phone some day - who cares? Even if its dual-booted or running in a shell (who wants to answer a phone while watching TV?) - because I doubt I'd download TV progs over mobile broadband anyway, I'd do that on WiFi.
Sure, if Mee-Go gets to run on it, cool; if stuff for Mee-Go gets ported back to Maemo, cool. If Nokia don't support it... who cares? I don't remember the last time I used support beyond downloading updates.
I've been buying computers, PDAs, mobile phones, etc. for 25 years, and seen them all come and go. Atari ST, 386, 486, Pentiums, Psion, IPAQ, Clie, Nokia phones I cannot remember the numbers of, Nokia phones I could use as a modem to read webmail ten years ago. One thing I know the minute I open the box - it will be superceded within days, and if I'm lucky it won't be obsolete within weeks. I have 10 year old Dells running Debian and Ubuntu - a 4 year old Compaq lappy that runs faster on Ubuntu 10.04 than it ever did on XP.
Thing is, they do what they did when bought - and in that respect are little different from any other phone or PDA.
It is all relative, and looking at the prices people are still asking for n810s on eBay, they will be a little technology gem over the next few years, because there is nothing else out there like them. I've looked. I looked before I bought, and I'm still looking, and there's nothing. I'm tempted to get another, one to use and one to play with and break. But I'd never get away with another one without getting my covetous partner one as well.
Maybe that's an idea - people who are unhappy with theirs could put them up for offer to people who would like a second one just to play with.
Hah.. I still have an Atari 1040STe with a color Atari SCM1224 monitor. Nice nostalgia there
Somehow appropriate to bring it up here and remember people clinging onto it as if it could never die even while the ship was sinking. In that respect, support WAS important to help keep a platform relevant.
for OP if your supposed industry requires a front camera and infra red then you need to move from 1980 to 2010...
Or use the phone you had before this as if its for work it must have worked oh so well....
OR....
Are you talking **** and have nothing constructive to say but feel a bit worthless in the forum so make **** up about infr red and front camera making you life... HELLL... AHH NO INFRA RED... ITS SO INDUSTRY STANDARD.
i dont like my n900 anymore. sure its nice to hack the system. but phones like htc and iphone dont need hacks because there is an app for everthing.
asides that i seem to be one of the few to have 5 dead pixels on the middle of the screen an 2 brighter spots on the right. like fingerprints underneath the screen.
battery needs a charge every 4 hours when i use the phone for browsing the internet, checking mail and playing a game...
As much as I do like my N900, it isn't the device I had hoped. Irrespective that we were the early adopters, the support for the N900 is poor - apart from the talented developers on here. I bought the 'phone' based on having good internet connection and speeds, phone capabilities, email, media player and a rather hefty storage capacity. Apart from the apps people have developed on here and beyond, the apps from Nokia as pitiful and an embarrasment compared to other software platforms. When my N900 became bricked, and the couldn't flash the emmc, Nokia repaired it and said it was down to downloading third party applications. The only applications I downloaded were the ones in the finished respositry on here, as I never would use or try to use the red pill mode on it - out of fear on damaging the phone. But if you want any sort of application, you have to download them off here as the ones in OVI are poor. Don't get me started on the maps. That is just another embarrasment for Nokia.
The N900 has the capabilites of becoming a superb device, but Nokia need get their backsides in gear to support and put more development available for this device.
In that respect, support WAS important to help keep a platform relevant.