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Is the Nokia N97 the ultimate geek phone? You might need to stick with me for a moment while I explain…

So it’s pretty clear that the consumer smartphone market and awareness belongs to the Apple iPhone 3GS, while the business market is owned primarily by RIM’s Blackberry. (For an interesting discussion of the current statistics framed as an examination of Nokia, check out Tomi T Ahonen’s recent posts, particularly this one.)

Meanwhile the flood on Android phones is increasing in pace – the current HTC Hero is about to be joined by a positive plethora of handsets from Samsung, Motorola, HTC and many others.

So the iPhone has pretty much jumped the shark into mainstream awareness, the Blackberry marks you as someone who is emailing at 2am and doesn’t do anything else, and to be able to have geek cred on Android will mean swapping handsets every month and relying on the phone equivalent of trainspotters to recognise what you’re using.

Enter the N97.

It’s got good hardware – 5.0 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, video capture, GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, etc, etc.

But more importantly, the operating system takes time to learn (and indeed to operate!). It’s not easy to use, some things don’t work, and the Ovi Store has problems which have been discussed at length by consumers and developers.

And that’s what makes it the ultimate geek phone.

Ultimate geek stuff isn’t mass market, easy to use, or without character. I’m a big fan of Ubuntu, but I struggle to recommend it to a lot of people, and I’m not alone, due to some simplicity needed for everyday consumers. The same thing applies to Open Office, Gimp, and hand coding everything from scratch.

A while ago Robert Scoble asked on Twitter whether anyone could name someone in their geek circle who actually had an N97. I immediately thought of James Whatley and Corvida, both of whom are more credible phone geeks than me.

So here’s to the N97 and to geek cred for things which require more effort, persistance and curiousity to use than the average person has time or patience for.

I had a little bit of time to myself, so started messing around with the idea that everything you need to run an entire marketing department could be kept in one medium-sized rucksack.

So, I set up a new page on my Amazon Store, and started trying to put together everything I thought would be needed – See the Marketing Hardware department, here!

Disclaimer: Sadly I don’t own an N95 or a netbook at the moment, but having seen them in heavy use by friends and colleagues, I’m looking to invest shortly – but I definitely want to hear more suggestions and alternatives.

Moleskin Notebook: Normally I’d have just recommended a far more cost effective notepad, but I have to admit I find notetaking more pleasurable, and because I take more care of my notebook, I’m less likely to lose it. It’s almost inspirational in itself.

Bic biros: I should recommend a pen that’s a pleasure to write with – but I don’t have one at the moment – and 20 cheap pens are always handy.

Nokia N95 8GB: The smartphone choice is simple – The Nokia is for creating content, whereas the iPhone etc are more for content consumption.

N95 Phone Car Charger: Should be pretty self explanatory

Asus eee PC 701: With so much available ‘in the cloud’, all you need for most work is to be able to access the likes of Google Docs, Slideshare etc. And you don’t need more than a low-spec notebook to do it.

Spare eee PC charger: It’s always a good idea to have a spare charger left at home. It only takes one hurried exit from a meeting room/train to leave you struggling for power.

15m Ethernet cable: Always good to be able to go wired, especially in offices which don’t have public wifi.

Firewire cable: Another handy thing to have in case of a need for quick access.

Monopod: Handy to carry for shooting video with the N95. This one can be left at home/office unless needed…

16GB Flash Drive: Despite online storage and file transfer, there are loads of times when sticking something on a USB stick is far easier – plus you can keep a cut down browser on it, along with a security app, and if you need to use another PC, you can use your own software etc.

750GB External Hard Drive: Even if you’ve got everything stored online, I’d always, always, always recommend having a back-up at home. All it takes is a disabled Gmail account, for example, or for a service to go bankrupt, and you could really be struggling otherwise.

And if I had to have the bare minimum:

1 Moleskin notebook, 1 pen, and 1 USB drive would mean I can create, present, take notes etc, as well as use any available computer.

So what have I missed? And would you choose a laptop over a netbook, or a different spec Asus? Would you have chosen an iPhone or G1? And what’s a cost effective pen that’s nice to write with?

What would be in your essential backpack to do your job?

(Incidentally, until I can afford a backpack with solar-panels to help charging on the go, IKEA do a great compartmentalised backpack for a laptop and everything else for £15…)

The Nokia N97: The ultimate geek phone?

A marketing dept in a backpack?