Simple cause I had to shut a few people up.
I just launch Easy Debian, they see a mouse pointer and a folders then they be like WTF! I say Yep. end of discussion.

But hark! What do I see on my laptop/desktop PC, but a Cisco softphone! Surely, this is MORE than just a phone! It MUST be a "phone' able to run Windows, Linux, Ubuntu and many other computer OS's!

Seriously, you should stop TRYING to convince anyone that any piece of hardware is either a phone or a computer (or trying to limit them to ANY particular concept anyway). It's more about function than form--if you use it as a phone, it's a phone. If you use it as a computer, it's a computer. Despite how it's advertised (which is the great irony with Nokia constantly trying to convince us that this N900 thing is a computer-first... I continue to see it as ALSO a phone, a terrible one... but still a phone. Great computer, but lousy phone.) The marketing just makes it feel like Nokia lacks confidence in it own product's capability, but for good reason. (Didn't have to be, mind you--the hardware was fine if you wanted a phone, incredibly and uselessly expensive if you didn't.)

I like to bring my full size laptop with me everywhere and fire up a copy of Gizmo or Cisco's IP softphone and put on my podcasting headset, then they be all like WTF! I say Yep. end of discussion.

That's like a topless Vegas show girl asking, "I'm a professional dancer - how do I explain I am not a stripper?!?"

Yes they both are attractive women that get topless on stage for money. Either you have a distinction that those two things are different or you don't. It's not an easy thing to explain (I know it's a bad example).

The best way to show off it's competing power is to actually compute, write some code, then compile it on the device. HELLO WORLD!

There's the whole Mac vs PC debate now. They both use x86 processors. Really it is OS X vs Windows and Linux just isn't included. Let people use what ever term they want. It's silly.

I prefer to describe my tower PC as a space heater, only faster.

I don't like slacks on my Jeans.
Particularly in the front pocket area.
I pad them with thick plastic boxes.

compare it directly to one of HTC's mobile computers, like the Desire, or Samsung's Mobile computer, the Galaxy S. You will see that they all have an identical subset of mobile computing features, except that the others also make excellent phones. But who really wants that anyway?

Lol, This is the best answer yet.

Don't get me wrong, I like a lot about Android (I have a G1 and even Nitdroid installed) but as recently as a few months back, not logging in to a Google account made your system less stable. Perhaps that has changed post-Donut.

But you can't buy apps from the Android Market unless you have a Google account. I have one, obviously (and a lot of apps that make me happy on Nitdroid) I'm not saying that I don't buy stuff - I do - but I also had an unlocked G1 a year ago that was unusable until I figured out a way to log in with a non-T Mobile account. That didn't endear Android to me. I gather that iPhone is similar when you go the jailbreak path.

That's kind of my point, though. Both Google and Apple have backdoors into devices that make them vulnerable and I don't like that on principle. If I paid for it, I want to use it the way I want to. That (the freedom) doesn't make the N900 a good phone (my G1 still beats every other for reception in my area) but it makes sense to me.

But I had a Beta-Max vcr. ;-) I know that quality never wins in the long run.

Terry

I just tell people that they should go and buy an android Phone because the iPhone, it is just hyped and the N900 is WAY to much for them to handle.
And, seriously, thats my Opinion.