N800 - Why Not A Phone?
Here recently I’ve noticed ALOT of people comparing the N800 to the iPhone, something that I don’t understand. The N800 isn’t a phone, and doesn’t pretend to be, nor has Nokia ever pushed it as one (despite the availability of Voip (or Moip?) clients for it).
However, something that was pointed out and questioned in a thread on Internettablettalk.com is how come Nokia *didn’t* put a cell radio in the N800? It’s not like it would have been that difficult, really. Just a little chip in there, and a SIM card slot.
I have some thoughts on this, and whether they hold water or not, I don’t know. But it’s a great thing to ponder, in my opinion, and perhaps would help to shed some light on the million-dollar question: what exactly is the N800 Internet Tablet FOR, anways?
The first thing that sticks out to me as to why Nokia didn’t put a cell radio in the N800 is distribution. If you put a cell radio in something, it means (typically, specifically in the US) that you need to have distribution setup through a major network operator. Also, you then limit yourself to either GSM or CDMA. And it’s REALLY unlikely that they’d be able to get “unbranded” tablets on one of the CDMA carriers here in the States.
The second thing is the UI. It’s cool, but it’s certainly not for everyone. Adding a phone radio and interface would pitch it towards the general consumer, and they would have a heck of a time trying to figure out how to use the Tablet to its potential. Which kinda leads to the next issue…
Support. The Internet Tablet isn’t something you really call Nokia for help in using. It comes with a manual of sorts, but it’s not for that. It runs a version of Linux called Maemo. There’s a whole community built around this (which is impressive, I might add; the level of community around these tablets) and that’s how Nokia planned it. Unless you’re a part of that community, there’s really no way to know about firmware updates, new software, and other things that you would need to know about your tablet.
By building the Tablet like they did, I think Nokia made a smart decision. I still don’t know exactly what this thing is for, and I think that’s the idea. It’s a tablet, which is really more of a physical description than a functional one. You can do….well…….almost anything with it. In the coming weeks, I’ll be posting more on this, exploring this device more and more, and trying to figure out why on earth you would want to drop the $400 on it, as opposed to, well, a cheap laptop.
What do you think? Do you think it was a smart move for Nokia to not put a cellular radio in the Tablets? Do you think it was stupid? Do you have any other thoughts on what these things are for? Anything specific you’d like to know if it can do?
My personal opinion and speculation (and nothing more!), I think that Nokia is being very smart. I have used the N800 for various things and been pretty impressed.
Your first point: why not put a radio in?
I suspect the reason is two-fold. Firstly, they want to create a set of mobile computing devices that is outside their traditional devices, no radio is a big departure. Secondly, adding in a radio means that you have to go through all the testing and qualification- which is expensive and a hassle.
For me the important aspect is the community. If Nokia ever wanted to replace their S30 or S40 what could they replace it with? This is my pure speculation though and nothing more, would a version of Linux make sense? Especially where you already had a group of developers busily working. Or what if you wanted (again pure speculation) to go into more of the PMP market, or even heading more towards laptop space? What OS would you choose then? Definatly not Windows!
You need to remember the whole platform is open, I mean everything. Which for a mobile phone company it is rare to open anything up like this. For the Linux guys, and students (software and electronics) this tablet is great! And I am sure will mean more stuff available over time.
As I say this is pure speculation, but when you think about he NGage, which some would say is a failure (I think it was a brave thing), I think Nokia learned an important lesson, that for a new product category to be successful you need an eco-system around it first.
It may be less of a hack to wait until next year for the free 700Mhz WiFi spectrum, eliminating the need to add a GSM radio. Does any one know the frequency range supported by the Nokia tablet now?
http://tinyurl.com/3dapy6
I believe the real question is: why not a Symbian touch-screen??? It would make perfect sense for the hard internet users of the iPhone-age
I found it to be the perfect in bed/on the deck companion. I haven’t had the chance to toy with the N800 but I had the 770 for years. The E90 is capable of replacing my needs but I still may pick up the N800 just to have around.