4 ms·

OMG. That piece is an example of how hacker reality vs end-user reality diverges beyond belief. The N770 was a worthless piece of crap, period. All of the Nok

OMG. That piece is an example of how hacker reality vs end-user reality diverges beyond belief. The N770 was a worthless piece of crap, period. All of the Nokia Internet Tablets flopped. There was nothing in any of them that was imaginative, cutting, edge, cool, or must-have. They were a flaccid repackaging of everything that already existed in terms of UI -- but with less functionality, less ease of use (hello, Dependencies!), and less reason to exist as a product. That HE found them to be compelling devices makes me fear for the future of MeeGo now.

bergie 14y ago
You seem to think mass-market consumerism is the only kind of success. I assume you view Arduino and the Rasperry Pi also as utter failures? The Internet Tablets were not intended to that market (N9 was the first real mass-market device, the step 5 of 5), but instead were well-loved by the hacker niche.
- mikecane 14y ago
  >>>The Internet Tablets were not intended to that market Then why were they on sale to the general public in stores? They were intended as mass-market devices. And they failed on that score. I'm hoping MeeGo will not be similarly botched. I liked what I saw -- from an Internet distance -- of MeeGo on the N9. I wish Nokia had gone with that instead of Windows.
  - bergie 14y ago
    From back in 2009: Nokia currently views the N900 and Maemo as "bridge" products mainly targeting developers and enthusiasts, but aims to develop Maemo into a mass market platform to compete with the iPhone OS, Android, and Windows Mobile, competitors that Symbian has been losing market share to. http://www.pocketables.com/2009/11/nokia-nseries-will-likely-switch-from-symbian-to-maemo-by-2012.html http://www.pocketables.com/2009/11/nokia-nseries-will-likely... But agreed, N9 was really an amazing device. You can see that the focus and polish needed for mass market was there.
    - mikecane 14y ago
      >>>Nokia currently views the N900 Notice that starts with the N900, not the 770. They had to spin after the failure.
      - tmzt 14y ago
        Not exactly, the N900 was the first with a cell radio (except N810 wimax which short lived) so it was a 'bridge' between cell phones and the tablets. Jolla could well outlive Nokia now, with the right manfuacturing partner. (HTC is getting dumped the same as they were with Microsoft, would love to see them embrace this with their QWERTY designs)
        mikecane 14y ago
        I wish Jolla luck. It'd be something if they could pull it all off.
  - slurgfest 14y ago
    Why should you wish that Nokia had gone with that instead of Windows, if you think that Maemo was a horrible failure?
    - mikecane 14y ago
      Harmattan is a very nice UI with some innovative features. But if underneath it, loading software will require chasing down "dependencies," then maybe the beauty is only skin deep.
      - tmzt 14y ago
        Bad repos might have been the source of your 'dependency' problems, Nokia was the only mobile device user to embrace apt and had a much better product than the CE devices that used 'reflashing' as in wiping the universe and starting over. N770 was understood and loved by the hackers, but not by the general public, and was a commercial failure. It was also more powerful than most of the other devices out there and ran more general purpose software than the popular PDAs and smart phones. (WM could run CE apps but not Windows apps, N770 could run any X application with recompilation.) It wasn't until the iPhone that a Unix device was accepted by the general public, and only because Apple did a better job of hiding that from the public. (And other things as well
        hammersend 14y ago
        Of all the mobile electronics I've ever had, I remember my N770 the most fondly and wistfully. next to my then modern HTC Apache Windows Mobile device, it was like an artifact from the future. I coded up several great apps for it in python including a personal finances ledger and a price checker using the Amazon API. The thing was amazing. Even though it has since died and I've moved on to Android, I miss it.
        slurgfest 14y ago
        I find it hard to apply the label 'Unix' to an OS which cannot multitask. A few directories wholly hidden from the user, with no available shell, gutted utilities and services, and little if any meaningful interaction between programs, does not constitute Unix.
orbitingpluto 14y ago
Hacker reality? It's 2007 and you have a multitasking Linux device with: 1)64GB of storage 2)800x480 pixels in a screen almost the size of an iPhone 3)WiFi with great performance 4)Skype wherever you are 5)BT pairing with dumbphones with unlimited data plans 6)RDP/VNC connections over SSH 7)Python at your fingertips 8)Control over your device 9)Multi-boot It's 2012 and that still doesn't sound that bad. Maybe that's why I still grab that out of my bag instead of the latest Android gadget sitting beside it when I need to do something quickly.
- tmzt 14y ago
  Yeah, it's odd that Apple didn't adopt WVGA in the first iPhone. Knowing of the Nokia devices made me do a double take when I heard 320x480, I thought it was a mistake and they really meant 800x480.
  - wmf 14y ago
    But it made retina cheaper later on.
    - geon 14y ago
      800x480 on a small screen like that would be "retina".
- smashing 14y ago
  There is a difference between something being a technical achievement and a product.
  - orbitingpluto 14y ago
    You're correct. It's called advertising. An example is a friend who oohed and awed over the Samsung Galaxy Note due to its size, who previously had slammed the Nokia tablets for being too big and bulky.
    - 14y ago

bergie 14y ago

You seem to think mass-market consumerism is the only kind of success. I assume you view Arduino and the Rasperry Pi also as utter failures? The Internet Tablets were not intended to that market (N9 was the first real mass-market device, the step 5 of 5), but instead were well-loved by the hacker niche.

mikecane 14y ago
>>>The Internet Tablets were not intended to that market Then why were they on sale to the general public in stores? They were intended as mass-market devices. And they failed on that score. I'm hoping MeeGo will not be similarly botched. I liked what I saw -- from an Internet distance -- of MeeGo on the N9. I wish Nokia had gone with that instead of Windows.
- bergie 14y ago
  From back in 2009: Nokia currently views the N900 and Maemo as "bridge" products mainly targeting developers and enthusiasts, but aims to develop Maemo into a mass market platform to compete with the iPhone OS, Android, and Windows Mobile, competitors that Symbian has been losing market share to. http://www.pocketables.com/2009/11/nokia-nseries-will-likely-switch-from-symbian-to-maemo-by-2012.html http://www.pocketables.com/2009/11/nokia-nseries-will-likely... But agreed, N9 was really an amazing device. You can see that the focus and polish needed for mass market was there.
  - mikecane 14y ago
    >>>Nokia currently views the N900 Notice that starts with the N900, not the 770. They had to spin after the failure.
    - tmzt 14y ago
      Not exactly, the N900 was the first with a cell radio (except N810 wimax which short lived) so it was a 'bridge' between cell phones and the tablets. Jolla could well outlive Nokia now, with the right manfuacturing partner. (HTC is getting dumped the same as they were with Microsoft, would love to see them embrace this with their QWERTY designs)
      - mikecane 14y ago
        I wish Jolla luck. It'd be something if they could pull it all off.
- slurgfest 14y ago
  Why should you wish that Nokia had gone with that instead of Windows, if you think that Maemo was a horrible failure?
  - mikecane 14y ago
    Harmattan is a very nice UI with some innovative features. But if underneath it, loading software will require chasing down "dependencies," then maybe the beauty is only skin deep.
    - tmzt 14y ago
      Bad repos might have been the source of your 'dependency' problems, Nokia was the only mobile device user to embrace apt and had a much better product than the CE devices that used 'reflashing' as in wiping the universe and starting over. N770 was understood and loved by the hackers, but not by the general public, and was a commercial failure. It was also more powerful than most of the other devices out there and ran more general purpose software than the popular PDAs and smart phones. (WM could run CE apps but not Windows apps, N770 could run any X application with recompilation.) It wasn't until the iPhone that a Unix device was accepted by the general public, and only because Apple did a better job of hiding that from the public. (And other things as well
      - hammersend 14y ago
        Of all the mobile electronics I've ever had, I remember my N770 the most fondly and wistfully. next to my then modern HTC Apache Windows Mobile device, it was like an artifact from the future. I coded up several great apps for it in python including a personal finances ledger and a price checker using the Amazon API. The thing was amazing. Even though it has since died and I've moved on to Android, I miss it.
      - slurgfest 14y ago
        I find it hard to apply the label 'Unix' to an OS which cannot multitask. A few directories wholly hidden from the user, with no available shell, gutted utilities and services, and little if any meaningful interaction between programs, does not constitute Unix.

orbitingpluto 14y ago

Hacker reality? It's 2007 and you have a multitasking Linux device with: 1)64GB of storage 2)800x480 pixels in a screen almost the size of an iPhone 3)WiFi with great performance 4)Skype wherever you are 5)BT pairing with dumbphones with unlimited data plans 6)RDP/VNC connections over SSH 7)Python at your fingertips 8)Control over your device 9)Multi-boot It's 2012 and that still doesn't sound that bad. Maybe that's why I still grab that out of my bag instead of the latest Android gadget sitting beside it when I need to do something quickly.

tmzt 14y ago
Yeah, it's odd that Apple didn't adopt WVGA in the first iPhone. Knowing of the Nokia devices made me do a double take when I heard 320x480, I thought it was a mistake and they really meant 800x480.
- wmf 14y ago
  But it made retina cheaper later on.
  - geon 14y ago
    800x480 on a small screen like that would be "retina".
smashing 14y ago
There is a difference between something being a technical achievement and a product.
- orbitingpluto 14y ago
  You're correct. It's called advertising. An example is a friend who oohed and awed over the Samsung Galaxy Note due to its size, who previously had slammed the Nokia tablets for being too big and bulky.
  - 14y ago