Why the obsession to make the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet be a computer (see, for example, Trusted Reviews)? Or a PDA? Or a cellphone? Allegedly this is because people want to carry fewer devices, hence the upswing in convergence.
But is that really where we are headed?
If you go back a couple generations, there was a time when every family had one television, and before that one radio. And then as they became less expensive, more were added and maybe you even had one per person. Radios are now so cheap, we have one for each possible use — one in each car, one in each bedroom (attached to a clock) and in the kitchen, one in the home stereo system, one in each boombox and in each portable tape or CD player, special ones built on a clip just for going jogging.
In my own household — two adults, two children — we have ten radios. They’re all optimized to a single situation, and we think that’s right. We don’t see this as violating some principle of multiple use (or minimum use either — how many minutes a week is a shower radio on, anyway? Or the guestroom clock-radio?). We follow the “specific devices for specific needs” principle.
And that applies to computers too. To tablets.
You know, if I can access my files on the network, and I use web-apps, why do I care about “synching” my internet tablet with a PC? Just as I want that clip-radio for jogging, I want to carry a small but suitable device for surfing, reading and, you know, anything that might come up — a see-me voip call, some work, some music, a game. But, heck, at other times, I want that laptop. And at still other times, I carry some index cards and a one-dollar Optiflow pen and leave the tablet at home.
Soon enough today’s internet tablets will sell for $50 - $100, and we’ll have a slew of them. (Yes, we’ll have some extraordinary $400 devices then, too.) It’ll be access to the network that they each provide, so it won’t matter which one I pick up: my information won’t be quarantined in separate devices constantly falling out-of-synch with every other device I use. And, likely as not, the capabilities will be downloaded from the network too, or on the network entirely.
Our cellphones and our internet tablets are just the first devices to be pocketable and derive their worth from the network — no connect, no use — while our expectations are driven by the old-paradigm devices of yesteryear (eg, 2005). I mean, after all, would you have even considered buying a PDA back in the day if it didn’t work offline? And, in the end, isn’t that pretty much the way the internet tablet is?
That’s where we’re headed, I think. Not there yet, by any stretch of the imagination, and I yield to no man in counting on the off-network apps in my own 770. But I can feel it coming, every time I reach over to check the alarm on my clock-radio and see the internet tablet resting on the bedside table. Soon enough I’ll have a bedside tablet, and a breakfast table tablet and a tablet in the car that always lives there, like the radio.
Somewhere along the line, the OSNews review of the Nokia N800 passed by us without a mention. It’s a traditional review (unlike some), with all the right values. One of the better reviews, IMO, and one I’d definitely send someone to who wanted to know more about the device. Eugenia Loli-Queru (formerly the OSNews editor-in-chief) wrote it, and she was kind enough to point out an error in my own writeup (Thanks, Eugenia!).
Here’s my review of the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, the gosh-darned most revolutionary device around, smaller, lighter, better-screened, less-expensive and capable of see-me phone calls at voip prices — what do you think, will I like it?
But first, let’s get the formalities out of the way. I’m a fanboy of anyone who shows egregious genius. The makers/builders of the internet tablet twins qualify on several counts. My attitude shows in everything I write about the 770 and the N800. Secondly, speaking my opinion and wanting to further the development of the scene has qualified me to purchase both a 770 and an N800 at steep discount — 58 and 68 percent, respectively, as one of 500 participants in both the 770 and the N800 developer-device programs. (Of course, I know people who got them free!)
So, here’s my review:
The Nokia N800 Internet Tablet came as a shock to observers of the web tablet scene. No one expected Nokia to expand its line and push the tablet envelope so soon and so far, considering that widespread distribution in the U.S. occurred only 12 months ago.
But the strength of the 770’s appeal apparently persuaded Nokia to capitalize on its first-to-market advantage and hug the internet tablet to its N-series, smart-phone bosom. (Hence the “N” prefixing the name.)
Anyone who uses one of these tablets soon experiences a glowing recognition that, holy cow!, the internet doesn’t have to be confined to a desk or laptop-friendly chair. Now you can surf standing up, walking around, riding the train and so on, just as you can use a phone untethered from a phone jack.
This comparison to the cellphone’s liberation of movement comes from Ari Jaaksi, the head of Nokia’s open-source software group and the internet tablet team specifically. And it’s critical to understanding why the N800 and the 770 don’t fit into any neat categories that other reviewers seem to want to force them into.
Wi-Fi is certainly the preferred connection mechanism for the device, which will happily connect to a network, download RSS feeds and email, and disconnect, all without the user being aware. Indeed, whilst wandering around London with the N800 in my pocket it had been downloading up-to-date information without my knowledge. In a mobile phone such behaviour would be annoying, as it would probably incur network charges, but on a Wi-Fi tablet it was pleasant to have this information close to hand when I wanted it, without having to think about when to connect or where.
Can’t say that I agree with all of reviewer Bill Ray’s opinions or conclusions. But isn’t that always the case? (And I have my say here.) Wrapup line: “The Nokia N800 is a fun toy that could possibly be the future of mobile telephony. Or perhaps not.” Gotta Have It score: 75%.
ComputerWorldreviews the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. In short, they still don’t get it. Hey, guys! It’s not about building a better PDA! The 770 and N800 have untethered the internet — you can experience the walkaround web. That’s someplace you just can’t get using a cellphone or PDA or laptop.
Here’s a taste of what to expect if you go look at the earnest writeup: “Most gadget lovers would do better with a more flexible, less expensive smart phone.” Well, I guess I’ve been put in my place. I’m a mere gadget lover.
But here’s a comment that Ari Jaaksi and the tablet team need to make note of. The reviewer, David Haskin, writes, “Our attempts to watch video clips streaming from YouTube, for instance, were a disaster.” Video on the web now equates to YouTube. We’re reached the point where if you don’t have an FLV codec or some better way to watch those videos, you’re considered to be non-web-video capable.
Added later:
Digit Magazine, an aggregator of IDG publications, has David Haskin’s Computer World review posted (sans source credit).
Sean Luke, a former Apple Newton developer, writes an essay about the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet Graphical User Interface (GUI) shortcomings.
I like the N800. That’s why I bought it. But as great as the N800 is, and as much of an advance it represents technologically over my 10-year-old MessagePad, I am surprised at how much more sophisticated the MessagePad is than the N800 in terms of user experience.
The point of this essay is to discuss (later) places where Nokia could actively, and generally easily, steal from the Newton, and some GUI bugs they could fix. But it might be useful first to mention four areas where the Newton really shines compared to the N800, but which the N800 will never (and in some cases should never) adopt simply because the change in technology would require too large a tradeoff in other areas. Unfortunate but probably necessary given the N800’s intended purpose.
The Apple Newton is an early line of personal digital assistants developed, manufactured and marketed by Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) from 1993 to 1998. The original “MessagePad” Newtons featured handwriting recognition. The term “Newton” was Apple’s name for the operating system it used, but popular usage of the word Newton has grown to include the device and its software together.
This is my fourteenth blog item about the Nokia N800. I want to thank Nokia for lending me a device to review — it sure is easier to think about things to write about it when you’ve got one in your hands. I sure will be sorry when I have to return it. (Hint, hint.)
Sean Luke, a former Apple Newton developer, 
