Remember what it was like last year? People talked about a portable internet device and you had to imagine what it would really be like.

Sure, this was before the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet came out. But people were putting the Sony PSP in this category, and the OQO and there was talk of Windows and Macintosh tablets and there was the PepperPad. And announcements for devices like the Sony Reader and iLiad iRex and such appeared, and people wondered about PDAs fitting in here.

So: think back a bit. Imagine that portable internet device to come.

Imagine you could play songs and videos off the internet, or that were stored on its internal memory.

And you could play games.

Of course, you’d want your portable device to be lightweight (say, a half-pound).

And fit in your pocket.

Since it’s portable and you’re carrying it around everywhere, you’d like this device to fill in the gap when you don’t want to surf.

You’d like to be able to IM your friends (without a per-message charge) and, heck, call them too. For free.

You’d like to use it to read, especially when you’re just sitting around. Like “on the throne.”

And you’d like access to all your information — email, documents, pictures, spreadsheets, whatever — so you’d like your internet device to run other computer programs, just like your regular computer.

Heck, for that matter, since it’s a small device and obviously limited, you’d like to be able to use it to control your main computer and serve as a window on apps running there.

You know what? I’m still thinking about the Nokia 770.

Somewhere along the line — surfing, size, general capabilities — all the other contenders fell away.

Can’t surf satisfactorily on a PDA. Can’t run apps on your e-Ink device. Can’t carry your UMPC in your pocket (does “UM” really stand for “ultra-mobile”? for who exactly, Shaqille O’Neal?).

Now what kind of genius enabled Nokia to build this 8 months before the earliest competitor and for hundreds of dollars less?

Smaller size and lighter weight than UMPCs. Bigger screen and more versatile than Palms and PocketPCs. Multi-functioned unlike e-Ink readers. Open sourced. Available. Affordable.

Gosh, don’t you love it when you get what you asked for?