Since post about lost n900 was on the top of this blog for almost a year, I should probably write a few words about what was next.
Since I do need mobile phone every day, I had to get some replacement quickly. Given Maemo was dead and Meego device not available, I decided to go Android. Since after n900 hardware keyboard became a must for me, I decided to try HTC Desire Z.
That device made me angry every day, both because of hardware (what a silly idea to place volume buttons such that they are below hardware keyboard when it’s opened? they got pressed almost every time when I used keyboard!) and Android itself. I think quite a few things are broken in Android, but most annoying is broken multitasking. I can’t live with dialog elements content get lost when I switch to other app and back. Please don’t tell me that it’s app fault: maybe technically it is, however too many apps have it so I have to generalize. I will likely write more about this later.
At the same time, exciting things have been happening in Maemo community. It was the time when Community SSU raised, also several mapping applications went out of dark, and more. I was still subscribed to Maemo resources so I read about all that and got more and more frustrated with my new Android device.
And on one sunday evening, after reading more exciting news from Maemo side, I decided that enough is enough. And ordered a new n900. Few days later, I’ve sold HTC for about 80% of it’s original price.
That was an emotional solution, and of course it could not play well in the long term. Despite of individual exciting news, Maemo community was becoming weaker. Device itself had major usability issues (e.g. it could occasionally unlock while being in my pocket, and call a random number from address book – and I have quite a few addresses abroad so such calls not only bother people, but also are expensive). There was not many applications, and those available had problems. There was a visible difference between my friends who could just take a phone and quickly do something, and myself who had to struggle with incomplete and buggy software. Also skype quality was very bad. Also when I was planning a 2-week trip to location without mobile network, I tried to preload map of planned route, but it preloaded only part and I was unable to make it preload the rest. Also many similar issues.
So it became clear that if I want usability, I have to go to a standard platform. And as such, Android still is the only option.
I searched for a device that runs more or less modern Android version, has hardware keyboard, and is not HTC Desire Z. There was not much to choose from. I ordered SonyEricsson sk17i.
I’m already using it for about 4 months. For common use cases, such as locating a business nearby, or routing to a given address, or quickly browsing a web page, it works. However, all Android flaws including broken multitasking and no-undo-in-text-fields are here, causing everyday frustration.
My conclusion is that no smartphone-like devices without major usability issues are available today. What is available probably could be used to somehow satisfy immediate communication needs, but nothing above that. Bells and whistles are there, but I’m not interested in those. I want a linux-based pocket-sized mobile computer that will handle both my communication needs and other interests. That could be hacked when I want to, but just works at the rest of time. Something like my Debian desktop.
Openmoko was a big hope but it failed. Maemo was a big hope but incompetence of Nokia killed it. Meego was dead before it was born. There is still some life around several mobile linux projects (GTA04, Maemo, Meego, some others), but hopes for it to grow into something that could be used without huge hacking are little.
