I managed to have a play with a friends N9 on the weekend. Frankly I wasn't expecting very much, but the N9 and MeeGo really impressed me. Everything responded quickly and easily to touch, the hardware was nice and the OS very slick. There were a number of innovative features I haven't seen in other smartphone OS's. For example, swiping from outside the screen is picked up by the OS to perform actions, such as task switching, while swipes the originate inside the screen are sent through to the running application. Thanks to this the N9 manages to get away with no OS level 'home' or 'back' buttons, either physical or on screen.

I came away from using the N9 feeling more than a little sad. As a consumer competition and innovation are good. As a programmer its great to see new ideas blooming and another platform that will further drive innovation.

We are all a little poorer for MeeGo being cancelled. For some reason the words of John Donne seem strangely appropriate: "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. "