There has already been quite a varied response around the blogosphere to the announcement by Nokia of the 770 Internet Tablet. While much of the commentary is rather negative I have to say that I think I'll be amongst the first customers for the device when its launched towards the end of this year.
In fact I admire Nokia for taking an apparent risk by basing the 770 on the Linux the operating system and literally taking the phone out of the smartphone. This latter point is one which has some observers totally flummoxed but I think its the master stroke. Why? Because I need a more powerful browser than the Opera mobile one that fits on my Nokia 6630 but the idea of buying a PDA or Microsoft Smartphone with largely duplicate functionality is one that doesn't sit well. All I want is a way of browsing the full internet in a mobile setting and if I can do that with a pen input device then all the better.
You see I'm in a position where I can carry out practically all of my daily tasks through a browser window. Its true that I normally use Mozilla Thunderbird to manage my email and FeedDemon to download my Bloglines channelled RSS feeds for off-line reading, but the fact is all my email accounts have a web interface and of course Bloglines is a web app. And the bulk of my day is spent managing our community forums through InfoPop's Eve web console.
When I left a comfortable job to work for myself I swapped security for lifestyle flexibility. That means I want to work independent of time and place. No 9 to 5. No ball and chain. If I can get full web access from anywhere in Ireland then there's no reason why I shouldn't head of to the beach midweek. Or do the school run, or drive a relative to the train station, etc, and still continue to work during all those 'in-between' moments, in all the places where it would be unrealistic to carry a laptop PC. With the pocketable Nokia 770 I'll be able to process a membership subscription while sitting on a park bench and then carry on... enjoying the flexibility of self employment.
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