As Friedrich Nietzsche famously said, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. We feel that the Neo900 project is gathering strength after all the twists and turns it experienced. We’re looking forward for the future with more optimism than ever, taking lessons from our past mistakes.
The Neo900 project is seeing some major organisational difficulties, which takes resources away from the actual technical stuff. Progress on that front is still being made, though, and this update details some of it.
By the time they make something of it, it will be so far beyond the market-leaders that it will have lost a lot of its original appeal.
Its niche is shrinking.
I kind of agree and disagree.
Yes, it will (most likely) be pretty outdated in both hardware and software by the time the first unit is shipped.
But no, it won’t lose its appeal, because the people who love the N900 love it for what makes it unique. It’s feels like a true pocket GNU / Linux computer with a phone jammed into it, instead of a phone with some computer like properties. Add to that the fact that it has a physical keyboard and is mostly open source software and there’s nothing else truly like it.
About me: I love the N900 and have one in my pocket right now. Even so, I have absolutely no desire for the Neo900. The original N900 still works great for me.
I miss using my N900, but my current carrier doesn’t support it. I’d go back to it in a heartbeat otherwise, as it’s still more than adequate for daily use. I am interested in seeing how far the Neo900 project goes, but I don’t think it’s going to be that successful.
I loved my N900. In fact I have spare parts to fix the scratched screen and the bright white spot that they tend to get. But I can’t take a stinking screw out to fix it!
I miss the days of having a phone that doesn’t feel like everything you install could just be running randomly in the background and pop up to say ‘hey, play me!’ like Android does.
But I wanted something with a stylus that was awesome, so I ended up with the Note 3. If I could stick Maemo 5 on that hardware, I’d be in love…
This can be fixed by blocking notifications from this app or removing the app.
Android’s problem is you can’t get admit (root) access on a phone you frickin’ paid for (bought unlocked). Symbian (Series60 and UIQ) gave the user full admin access, despite not being open-source initially.
This is the perfect example that “open source” doesn’t mean “open system”. Even if everything in Android was open-source (drivers and play store), it still wouldn’t make Android as open system as Symbian.
Edited 2014-05-23 15:56 UTC
Most people who buy Android don’t know or care about “root access”. Also, its part of the security design. Therefore, they come unrooted. For many Android devices its relatively easy to gain root access.
Edited 2014-05-23 17:00 UTC
“Easy” is a subjective word. “Officially supported” is an objective term.
None of the Android devices officially allow you to get root. You have to do hacks and use third-party tools written by kids (not written by the manufacturer or the OS vendor). Precise method and amount of risk varies per device. Compare and contrast with Symbian and Ubuntu (which has sudo, an official tool that gives you root access).
PS: I know about the One PlusOne, which will supposedly provide official tools/methods to root, but I ‘ll see it when I believe it.
Edited 2014-05-23 20:14 UTC
This is exactly it, and not to mention with things like Knox, which will mess up your warranty.
And the “most normal users don’t care about root.” is bullshit, something simple like Avast Antivirus for Android requires root access if you want to use all of it’s features.
There are plenty of very legitimate applications that require root.
People use antiviruses on their phones/tablets? What madness is this?
Yeah, you CAN get rid of the notifications, but I find it retarded that it’s not default to not have notifications unless you say “hey, sure run in the background and tell me there are new players wanting to get their asses kicked” or something. I also find it funny that the easiest way to get a program to not startup when you start your phone is to move them to an SD card. It’s no wonder Google’s devices don’t include one.
I agree, there is nothing like the N900 and sadly, I don’t think there ever will be again…
I still use mine as a main phone mainly because of the way I can hack around with it and besides, I like to be different.
No Kickstarter or IndieGoGo? I am dissapoint.