Let me just start by saying I'm not a Nokia employee, nor am I being paid in any way by Nokia.
I don't understand what some people are complaining about. The death and doom of Nokia because the N8 does not impress...
First off, I like to carry one device in my pocket. Which means it has to
1) Be a great phone. What's the point of having a great slab build quality of signal strength is compromised? One offender that comes to mind is the HTC Legend, I think. Although we don't know much about the signal quality on this device yet, Nokia has traditionally been very good with reception and voice quality.
2) Have a great camera. I absolutely NEED to have something that replace a digital point-and-shoot. Oh, and also great video recording for those spontaneous moments in life. If you've seen some of the N8 preview photo quality shots, you'll know this camera package not just about megapixels; the sensor and encoding algorithms are really top notch. It handles sunlight beautifully, unlike some HTC/Android offerings, which tend to over-expose or have random red/purple tinges. We'll see about low-light, non-xenon shots in the future, as I haven't seen any samples yet. But keep in mind Nokia still has months to tweak low-light algorithms and, if all else fails, it has xenon. In terms of video, if the N86 is anything to go by, one can only imagine that the N8 with stereo digital microphones and one of the largest sensors (and I'm not talking just about mega-pixels, but sensor size) ever fitted to a phone will be nothing but amazing at 720p/30fps. It's very safe to say that, if Nokia gets all the algorithms right (and judging from preview samples and past history, I have no doubt they will), as a photo and video camera package, the N8 will beat all current Android offerings.
3) Great Media Player - So this has got a revamped music player with browsing made easier and more beautiful. GREAT! And music playback time is something like 36+ hours? So, with all the built-in codecs, and Coreplayer in the future, you can play pretty much any video. And this plugs into your TV with HDMI out with Dolby 5.1. You can see the decision with the stereo digital microphones and Dolby 5.1 is a very well thought out decision. What's the point of HDMI and 5.1 if the videos you recorded have crap sound quality? Or only 720p/24fps like other devices? If the video isn't butter smooth and sound quality is crap, people will be disappointed the moment they use the HDMI-out. Ummm...how many other phones on the market have this hardware? The Evo 4G? And that costs how much? And this can still do traditional VGA-out via the 3.5mm jack.
4) A great file system. I have a very organized file structure on my MicroSD card. I have loads of school documents, PDFs, Word files, Powerpoints, videos, music, podcasts, photos that are all well sorted. Symbian has traditionally had the best file system/browser. And now, the N8 has USB On-the-Go!!! Imagine just plugging in a thumb drive!! I don't think I can ever live with Apple's non-existent file system.
5) Navigation - I'm actually in a foreign country as I write, so being able to sideload map data of any country and be able to search offline in Ovi maps + use free Navigation is absolutely vital and amazing. As long as GPS/A-GPS reception is good, though. Fingers crossed.
6) Web - judging by the speed of the browser in the N86, we can only assume that the browser on the N8 (with an extra 50% mhz and 100% RAM) will be comparible in speed to that of the iPhone and Android. And they all use Webkit anyway, so it'll be down to UI differences. Given the availability of other browsers, I don't think this area will be that big of a concern.
7) Email - I'm not sure about others, but I do minimal email answering on my phone. They're usually short replies. For longer replies, I either pull out my Bluetooth keyboard or go to a PC. As long as I get something that keeps me up to date a few times a day, syncs well with the server (both ways), I don't care much about the animations and transitions.
And as a bonus to all the stuff that's built in, there's:
7) Great software and past+future compatibility- Coreplayer, Gravity, Facebook, Gameloft games, EA games, Guitar tuners, Java stuff, Youtube, Gmail, Google stuff, Joikuspot, Nimbuzz, Opera browsers, Skyfire, 3rd party file browsers, remote lockers, password managers, task managers, etc. There is so much great software for Symbian. I haven't even used the device yet, so some of the social networking stuff could even be integrated. And, keep in mind that Symbian^3 on the N8 will be compatible with all current S60 5th software + all future things with Qt 4.6, which will be the same programming architecture/UI as future MeeGo devices, that just adds so much more longevity and value to the device.
8) FM Transmitter - I can get the navigation voice on my car's speakers, all my music, podcasts, etc. I NEED this.
9) Works with GSM quadband and WCDMA 850,900,1700,1900,2100 bands.
Everyone seems to be obsessed with fancy animations and transitions these days. What I found disappointing with the S60 5th devices was 1) the confusing single-tap/double-tap inconsistency and 2) the limited C: drive and RAM. These issues have now been addressed - we've seen what Symbian can do with 256MB RAM, thx to the i8910HD videos, and S^3 now has one-tap UI with direct manipulation along with 3x the fps for UI transitions and kinetic scrolling. In terms of home screens, within 3 swipes and 1 click you can access info from any of 15+ widgets. OK,...so it doesn't have 7 home screens, but does anyone really need 30+ widgets running at any one time?
I honestly don't think Nokia is going down anytime soon. And with the initial price point of the N8, it's only reasonable to expect a top spec MeeGo device around Q3 to Q4 that will cover the 500 pounds mark. I think Nokia, if they reach the mainstream with the right message and through right channels (billboards, shiny ads) and supplement that with a more niche message to the geeks through the right channels (blogs), the N8 will sell in the truckloads during the transition to S^4.