Can Nokia Save Itself? 317
Nerval's Lobster writes "When ex-Microsoft executive Stephen Elop took the reins of Nokia back in 2011, he memorably compared the Finnish phone-maker to a burning old platform in the North Sea. 'I have learned that we are standing on a burning platform,' he wrote in a widely circulated memo. 'And, we have more than one explosion — we have multiple points of scorching heat that are fueling a blazing fire around us.' Elop suggested competitors such as Apple and Google had 'poured flames on our market share,' with the damage accelerated by Nokia's failure to embrace big trends. His solution: abandon Nokia's homegrown operating systems, including Symbian, in favor of Microsoft's Windows Phone. Nokia's Windows Phones managed to attract some significant buzz at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, and early sales seemed solid. But now there are signs the situation could be deteriorating."
Go back to making fishing boots (Score:5, Funny)
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After all, that was their core competency.
That's where Samsung have them beaten - they started out making food, including noodles.
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After all, that was their core competency.
no. It was toilet paper.
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yes it can (Score:5, Funny)
yes, it can. ditch winphone/maemo/meego/symbian release a good android phone, and a series of ME TOO cheap android phones. profit.
Re:yes it can (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:yes it can (Score:4, Insightful)
I started using Nokia phones some time around '95-97 and was happy enough to stay pretty much locked in. Early last year I wanted a new one and was trying to decide which Symbian-based device to buy. Then came 'The Announcement'. If they had decided to add a range of Windows Phones to their Symbian range (maybe even offering a choice of OS on a phone?) I'd still be a Nokia customer now.
I held off for a year and now have a Samsung. I tried one HTC device but gave up after minutes because the touchscreen keyboard was simply too small for my fingers.
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I bought an E6. I like it. It works, the battery lasts, the keyboard is nice and accurate. Nokia Belle is finally ready for prime time, which is ironic in the extreme.
Fire Elop. Immediately. Find the deepest trench in the ocean and throw him in, and then throw in the WinMo phones on top of him just to be sure.
Then take all of the lovely WinMo devices that Nokia developed, and put the OS from the N9 on some and Belle FP1 on others. Sort out Skype so video chat finally works. Finally, clean out all of the tr
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> android is samsung
yeah, because that does not change... as it wasn't HTC a year ago, until samsung showed up with slighter less bad quality phones.
Nokia can totally show up tomorrow with slighter less bad quality phones than samsung and became synonymous with android.
Re:yes it can (Score:5, Insightful)
So the solution is to jump into a super-saturated, undifferentiated market with reckless abandon.. With a worse product that's doesn't play in the established ecosystem?
Nokia died the day it hired that hatchet man from MS. I said it then, I say it now.
MS is there to rape and pillage Nokia's IP. They're using the company as a testbed for development, and will throw it's corpse in the ditch when they're done.
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Want proof just have a look at a google search for images of Elop and Ballmer together https://www.google.com.au/search?q=elop&hl=en&safe=off&prmd=imvnsu&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=vzaHUJLhEe6eiAfsr4HwBQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1536&bih=724#hl=en&safe=off&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=elop+ballmer&oq=elop+ballmer&gs_l=img.3..0.2205.4418.0.4673.10.6.1.3.4.1.236.1305.2-6.6.0...0.0...1c.1.PVLo-wHolpU&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=796a4830 [google.com.au]
Re:yes it can (Score:5, Insightful)
You forgot "fire Elop and sue his ass off".
Re:yes it can (Score:4, Insightful)
Microsoft offered them a very sweet deal: $1 billion, engineering support from Microsoft to help with the transition, and technology sharing agreements which lead to Nokia mapping technology being used in Bing, Windows 7/8, and Windows 8/RT. Not to mention the patent protection provided by Microsoft in all Windows Phone licenses, something that Samsung knows all too well Google does not provide.
And Google was offering.... absolutely nothing. It would be pretty hard to show that Elop was being somehow "negligent" by taking the company in this direction, as it's not even certain that had they gone with Android, they wouldn't already be dead.
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"Further, what exactly would you sue him for? "
For being either a turd sandwich or a Giant Dusche.
Re:yes it can (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, that $1Billion is per year, not a one time offer.
Which is about equivalent to their annual cash from operations.
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Microsoft offered a very sweet deal? Really?
"This means that had Nokia not knifed Symbian and had sold the shortfall units at an average price of $200 they would have received an additional $9 billion in sales. Furthermore, assuming a margin of 33% for those units, Nokia received from Microsoft one third from of what she gave up for exclusivity." Source: http://www.asymco.com/2012/10/22/nokias-price-for-exclusivity/ [asymco.com]
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Breach of fiduciary duty. Or in other words, acting against the interest of shareholders by selling Nokia down the river to Microsoft.
What, just because every other company that got in bed with Microsoft ended up acquired or destroyed? Good luck getting a judge to go along with it.
Re:yes it can (Score:4, Interesting)
Keep in mind, it would likely be a European judge in this case.
Re:yes it can (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:yes it can (Score:4, Informative)
It's their stock-ticker symbol. People often refer to companies by their stock-ticker symbols.
Re:yes it can (Score:5, Insightful)
I still actually to this day like a lot of Nokia hardware.
If they released an Android phone with no extra shit, just plain old vanilla Android on their hardware I'd buy it, and I suspect many other old Nokia fans would.
They could easily eat a healthy chunk of both Samsung and Apple's marketshare if they did this. It's so obvious, I just don't get why they fail to carry it out. Even if they didn't manage to regain the top spot, one thing is for sure, and that's that they'd certainly be in a much healthier position than they are now. They have the hardware to distinguish themselves in the Android market, so talk of fears just being another Android player is idiotic, especially when even just being another Android player is still a thousand times more profitable than being a Windows Phone non-entity.
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Even their smartphones used to be good though.
As far back as 2002 I had a Nokia 7650, and I could install and run Doom on it absolutely fine. It had a colour screen, camera, etc. It's limited memory was the biggest pain, but given that it took a whole 5 years for the iPhone to come along and even then didn't have half these features I think in hindsight it was a pretty impressive device.
Even now I think a lot of their Windows smartphones look quite nice, and the hardware feels quite nice, and the cameras et
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Nokia maps anyone?
No of course not, Nokia is dead (Score:5, Interesting)
You can't 'fix' not having a clue how to save yourself. You can't 'fix' looking for other people's money to help you do the same things wrong some more. Nokia is a dead man walking like HP phones, Palm, Symbian and others. And make no mistake, Windows phones will once again be killed off by Microsoft soon with or without Nokia. MS has no stamina, and their credit, they quickly recognize the instances where they themselves have failed to promote something.
Can Nokia Save Itself? (Score:5, Insightful)
Short Answer:
No.
Long Answer:
Nooooooooooooooo.
Lame, poorly timed speculation (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft has a knack for getting it wrong several times before finally coming up with something that works. They are not, in any way, a visionary company, they are simply good at recognizing their mistakes early and dropping them.
Look at their history going all the way back, it took until MS Word 3.x before it even compared to their competition. They suck at first, and always do.
But now that Apple and Android have led the way, Microsoft is about to release the biggest update to their product suite since Windows 95. And this time, I'm rather certain they mean it. They are betting their farm on Windows 8, and have revamped all their products on a unified code base. This isn't Zune, this isn't Wince, (er, WinCE) this is serious.
And it's about to launch. Speculating about the future at this stage in the game about the most useless endeavor imaginable. I'm willing to throw a few hundred in to buy Nokia junk stocks just because, while the odds of MS making Win8 seem scant, the payout if they do could be significant.
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I agree with most of what you say, but in the back of my mind is a little voice saying "just because Microsoft is really really REALLY serious this time, doesn't mean it won't still suck at first."
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"Microsoft has a knack for getting it wrong several times before finally coming up with something that works."
And then giving themselves a head injury after they get it at a point working so they FORGET what works. Windows 7 was a home run like Windows 2000 was. Now we have to suffer through 2 more iterations of crap until they come out with Windows 11 that will actually be usable....
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The nice thing here is that instead of tanking themselves, they only tank Nokia! Win-win, right?
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Not with those decision making skills (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm sorry, but you have two major players in the smart phone market, along with a third minor player, and you bet the bank on a non-entity in the market? That stinks of a hail mary. By itself, that is less than encouraging. Their choice of MS, given MS's history in the mobile arena, should immediately call into question the sanity of the decision makers. Or at the very least, their bias.
Were I trying to save the company, I would have thrown my lot in with a line of android devices which had distinctive features. Maybe aimed at the mobile market. Hell, maybe I would have even approached RIM about developing a secure platform for corporate users to pair with my hardware devices.
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Their choice of MS, given MS's history in the mobile arena, should immediately call into question the sanity of the decision makers
You question the sanity of a multi-millionaire, who even if he flops, probably leaves with millions. According to his wikipedia article, he got a $6 millions signing bonus, and $1.4 million per year.
Egads, for that kind of money, *I* am willing to run a company into the ground and suffer the slings and arrows of the Internet.**
** Do not taunt Happy Fun CEO.
Signs it's deteriorating? (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh come now, who wrote this crud a Microsoft Marketing rep? The market hates MS phones, and it showed after the first what.. 2 were released and sales of Nokia devices plummeted to single digits? Fan bois would buy it, but hell they also bought a Zune. bah...
Look, the market has really 2 devices they are choosing from. If they want lock-in, they to with Apple. If they want cutting edge they go with a Droid. Everyone, and I mean everyone advised against dumping Symbian for another lock-in phone OS in Windows Phone. Those same people saw what happened to Blackberry, which was an exceptional OS and fully mature. It died a painful death, simply because of the 2 choices I started with.
The only reason this deal ever went through is because.... well fuck it I'll be blunt.. look who Nokia hired to captain the ship..
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We're agreed that the deal was really, really bad for Nokia and their customers. I am not sure I entirely agree with your view of why the deal went through. Fundamentally, you have to think that the Nokia exec's took the deal, /because/ they didn't see a better option.
Symbian needed to die, I think you'll find most people agree with that. It was taking up a significant amount of resources for appreciable gain. Unlike Blackberry they never had the corner on a given market (unless you want claim very basic ph
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I agree with you that Symbian needed to die, honestly I do. But you make the real point in your next paragraph. They should not have locked themselves in to Windows Phone. This put them in the exact same position they were in with Symbian.. except it was not "their" OS.
If they went with 2 OSes it would have made sense, but what they did was not logical.. and I think someone got a hell of a bonus check to cut that deal.. and it was not Nokia paying the Bonus..
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Let's be fair and admit you're just anti-Microsoft, ok?
The market doesn't "hate" MS phones. The market isn't buying MS phones. There's a subtle difference in your wording but a massive difference in perception.
Those that actually have tried the platform have seemed to enjoy it quite well - especially those here on slashdot, so I'd trust their judgement over someone who likely hasn't touched one of these devices.
I'm not disagreeing that Nokia made some very large mistakes but to imply this is written by some
Re:Signs it's deteriorating? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, the market does hate MS phones. The same way they hate Blackberry phones. The sales numbers from the first release were bullshit, and it was reported on a few days after the "huge buzz (according to Microsoft and paid media)". The numbers they reported were numbers they "sold" to factories that hold the devices prior to purchase, and not what was sold to consumers.
Developers have bitched since Microsoft released the APIs for WP8, apps suck, controls suck, it's too expensive, etc... So developers are not touching the Phone either. In fact the /. article referenced fart machines as the best application that could be created for the phone, which was validated by them having nearly 30 on the store compared to a dozen or so flash light applications. I just read another article a week ago where a development team just said "fuck-it" to developing even after dumping 50K in to MS licensing.
Look, I'm sure it's a great platform.. for someone.. I work with a fan-boi that has one. He thinks it's great, but he can't do anything with it. Our T&M apps that run in Droid and IOS won't run in Win Phone, mail does not work, so if all you do with your phone is need a "phone" and "camera" I guess it's fine.
And me implying that the person who wrote the article is biased, makes me biased? Did you RTFA? It's worded like WinPhone was uber awesome, and because Apple and Google are big meanies it will make Nokia fail. If the article is biased, how would you expect me to react.. like I didn't read the fucking thing?
Now, am I anti-Microsoft? That's a loaded question. I never had a Zune, and thought it was a failure (damn, I was correct). I never had an X-Box, and refuse to get one. I won't be buying a Windows Phone either. I use MS products at work, some are okay. I think Visio was much better before MS bought them, but that's not an unpopular point of view. I use Office and despise the 2010 ribbons and bullshit like "font auto-preview" that makes doing something so simple take a long time. Excel is still a good app, but there again the ribbons make it inefficient.
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The market isn't buying MS phones.
I think MS is following Gandhi's quote:
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
but I think they stopped at step two.
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"Windows phone?"
"Why would I want that crap, my desktop has it and it's always full of viruses, needs defragmenting, etc etc etc."
That name is tainted, Microsoft idiots.
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The only reason this deal ever went through is because.... well fuck it I'll be blunt.. look who Nokia hired to captain the ship..
Nokia only hired Elop because of the deal. I don't think he would have gotten the job before they decided to go with WP. So I disagree. The only reason this deal went through - no idea, but probably hoping for the better plus a bag of money and many nice promises from MS marketing because for them (!) it was a good deal to get Nokia on board.
Microsoft wants to get into hardware (Score:3)
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Look, the market has really 2 devices they are choosing from. If they want lock-in, they to with Apple. If they want cutting edge they go with a Droid.
Just to be annoyingly pedantic, that should be "Android". "Droid" is a line of Android phones made for Verizon, mostly by Motorola, but HTC made at least one.
They're pretty (Score:4, Insightful)
Nokia Lumia phones are pretty and the WP8 interface is a joy to use, but, when the honeymoon is over, we need APPS, which WP8 doesn't have.
Until WP8 has a huge library of apps like Google Play and iTunes, I don't see the situation improving.
This, in turn, leads to a chicken-and-egg situation: Consumers go for the phone with most apps, developers, developers, developers develop for the phones with most users. Ballmer throws chairs...
Microsoft is doing a decent job with apps (Score:2)
WP7/8 do not have the size of library that Android and iOS have.
However Microsoft has been doing a good job of courting (read: buying) development of some of the most popular applications. So they are actually not as far behind app-wise as it would seem.
Microsoft also has a core group of developers that really like the whole Microsoft toolchain, and will also work to provide some good applications - especially now that you are developing for Surface using the same tools.
So don't count Microsoft (and by ext
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We don't need apps. We need functionality, which WP still lacks.
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Nokia Lumia phones are pretty and the WP8 interface is a joy to use, but, when the honeymoon is over, we need APPS, which WP8 doesn't have.
This... The WP8 OS itself, from most perspectives, looks pretty good. The lack of apps is a large detriment though, plus it's probably getting harder and harder to get people to switch from a platform they have become increasingly invested in over the years of using it. Who wants to have to repurchase apps for a new OS (if they are even available)?
Between this and the shunning WP8 and WP7 phones seem to get from most cell stores (from my limited experience) they'll probably keep the few people, like me, who
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Had Balmer a "BRAIN" he would have tasked the M$ software development tools division with coming up with an inspired development platform that would work on Windows, OSX and Linux, and would take one code in (Python? or better yet, a decoupled language front end of choice) and spit out apps for IOS, Android and WP8. If the tools were great, free and had a huge supported free community, it would have been natural for application developers to port their apps to as many platforms as possible and WP8 would hav
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"..inspired development platform that would work on Windows, OSX and Linux, and would take one code in (Python? or better yet, a decoupled language front end of choice) and spit out apps for IOS, Android and WP8..."
Microsoft does not do agnostic. They only touch other platforms is they believe it will act as a bridge to bring you to their platform.
So, it would be ".net for devices".
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Does that remind anyone of the lock-in to the windows platform, which basically everyone uses because all the software is on it and nobody uses it because the OS is superior?
Sure does.
Here, MS, take a sip of your own medicine.
I kind of fail to feel sorry for them.
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100K fart and flashlight apps is not impressive.
Right... (Score:3, Insightful)
...not savable anymore (Score:4, Interesting)
Whilst I was still working there, I thought we could save the company, even after the loss of Southwood, Copenhagen, and the Symbian developers.
Now that 9999 colleagues and I have been swept away - no.
Windows isn't working. It isn't beating the old Symbian phones and that will only change when the old Symbian models are ramped down.
Stephen was supposed to fix the software engineering issues. :o(
They can, but wont. (Score:2)
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The problem is they wanted to carve out a completely new product space by copying the dominant leader. Doing that is a saturated market usually means you develop a fanatically loyal following in the cook islands or some other place equally pointless. Its like that great cartoon [ming.tv]... Balmer makes a smart phone -> Then a miracle Happens -> and it garners a top market share. He needs to work on that middle part of the business plan a wee bit. Better yet, would someone give this poor man a dip into the clue
Lumia looks good (Score:5, Insightful)
My wife got a couple weeks to demo a spare lumia 800 they had at work this week, and likes it enough to be seriously thinking of switching to a 900 series when her contract is up.
I looked at them hard myself when i upgraded earlier this year, i ultimately went with a galaxy s3, which i don't regret as the lumia's at the time are going to be stuck on windows phone 7.5, and I'm perfectly happy with the s3. It would have been a tougher choice had the lumia 900 series with windows phone 8 been out. (I upgraded from an iphone, but had no interest in the then unreleased iphone 5 given that it was pretty well known that it wasn't going to be a big leap forward from the 4S.)
I also note that the pre-orders for the lumia 920 seem to be going well. I heard BestBuy is sold out online already of the quantities they put up for pre-order.
Overall, I hope Nokia pulls it off. And i hope Windows Phone 8 succeeds. Its a good mobile OS, and competition is good.
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This, pretty much--the Lumia phones (particularly the 900 series) look great, and I actually like the WP7/8 interface. A friend of mine has one; when I tried it out, I found it perfectly usable (even enjoyable!). However, the sales have been so poor that I just can't bring myself to actually buy one. It's a chicken-and-egg problem: without apps, people won't buy it, and without people buying it, nobody will make apps. It's much the same problem that Palm, and then HP, had. WebOS was a great platform, b
Yes they can (Score:5, Insightful)
Create Android phones. They have fantastic engineering talent that is being wasted by a dead platform.
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Create Android phones. They have fantastic engineering talent that is being wasted by a dead platform.
Or rather, they had fantastic engineering talent before the layoffs.
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They may have been talented, but they hardly produced anything. One phone. Not exactly a record of excellence.
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Oh yeah, the talented Meego developers who spent 6 years to produce exactly one (1) phone. That's not talent worth crowing about.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
other partners ? (Score:2)
A Microsoft Exec (Score:3)
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Unfortunately, Nokia didn't even have a hammer. It had a lackluster engineering corps that couldn't make smartphones to save it's life (almost literally).
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I thought MS products *were* the hammer.
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Nailed it...
could you start a company with their assets? (Score:2)
I don't know about you, but it'd be easier to start a cell company with Nokia's resources. Sure, they probably have some kind of stigma of bad quality now or whatever. They've still got more going for them than a newcomer to the cell industry.
Stupid Slashvertisement for SlashCrap (Score:2)
Please stop posting stories that originate at slashdot. Slashdot can't even bringitself to successfully edit paragraph sized summaries. Why would a whole story written by slashdot staff be any better produced? I trust the slashdot community, that's why I'm here. Not for the slashdot editorials on clouds or Buisness Intelligence. That's buzzword bs.
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Welcome to /.
Intentions? (Score:2)
A former Microsoft employee takes control of a failing company, uses a somewhat over the top analogy accusing the non-Microsoft competitors of setting the company on fire while Nokia stood by and did nothing and wants to solve the problem by replacing the OS with a Microsoft's system. Are there any other solutions better than a classic market share strategy?
Meego (Score:5, Interesting)
The more I use Android the more I LOVE my N9 the more I hate Nokia for killing it.
I know there is a lot of politics involved (not last the usual OSS community circle jerking) but the capabilities of that OS over anything else are amazing.
Re:Meego (Score:5, Insightful)
Not with the current board (Score:2)
They need to make a clean break from Microsoft. That means get rid of Elop and the board that hired him. Beg some of the respected execs who fled, like Anssi Vanjokio, to come back. If they're not willing to come back to manage day-to-day operations, at least put them on the board to give a sane strategic direction.
Then buy up Jolla as a long-term investment, while producing Android phones to pay the bills.
Get me back, get us all back.... (Score:2)
To post something a bit to the contrary here... (Score:2, Interesting)
I think Nokia and the WP8 ecosystem will do well, and there are a few reasons.
First, they have the best device. Forget the OS -- the best camera, it's built solid (nokia solid), looks slick, wireless charging, and a very high PPI (even more than the iPhone 5).
Next, the Windows phone ecosystem is going to grow pretty rapidly when they release Windows 8. Right now only a handful of devs have the dev tools for WP8, but when the floodgates open and the new API that is shared between WP8 and Windows 8 (Windows R
Re:To post something a bit to the contrary here... (Score:4, Interesting)
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Sorry to break it to you, actually... but the Lumia 900 is pretty damned well built. I only expect more of the same for the 920.
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I was with you, until Elop announced that the flagship 920 was only going to be available on AT&T. He's playing the game like he has an iPhone on his hands that everyone will be clamoring for. That is incorrect. As fond as I am of the 920, it's isn't enough to get me to switch to AT&T.
I'd like to see Nokia succeed, but I think they need to play the game that they've entered, which is the put-your-best-foot-forward-and-scramble-for-everything-you-can-get game instead of the we're-doing-you-a-favor-by
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The best device? That's a moveable feast, and pretty much something you'll have a hard job selling to the public. A solid camera isn't the big thing. Wireless charging? That'll take a while to catch on, and a lot of people are quite happy with their multiple charging points. It'll become more important over time, but won't sell many on it. High PPI? Well, there's more than good enough (iPhone etc.) and there's un-noticably better.. It may be a superior hardware platform, but hey, betamax did so well
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btw, i find it a bit uncomfortable how similar your post is to this one : http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3204941&cid=41742567 [slashdot.org]
almost as if there were several message templates created by a marketing department that were then put together and slightly modified... :> )
(yeah, i'm posting this in response to the other message as well
What would save Nokia? (Score:3)
merge it with RIM, and bring in new management so neither culture can dominate the other.
There is good in both companies, but both companies suffered greatly at the hands of management.
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Wow, merge the two companies and make a super loser! This would have been a great idea 10 years ago when both companies were on the top of their game.
Nokia’s price for exclusivity (Score:5, Informative)
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Slashdot is increasing being used by people to slant the news to support some kind of controversial belief.
FTFY
Slashdot has always done that. It's a discussion site, and if the meaning of stories were uncontroversial, there would be nothing to talk about.
Sure ... by selling excellent winter tires again (Score:2)
Support both Win and Android--on the same phone (Score:2)
If a company did that, I think there would be a nice market for people that want to try both. You would have to choose which you want loaded at any given time, but it will insure that if windows 8 phones do start to look really nice, you won't be stuck with cellphone envy.
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Launch a rugged, open android (Score:2)
The one thing missing in the market is a waterproof or water resistant rugged touch phone. Offer it with and without cameras for corporate clients. Make it open, semi-upgradeable, and relatively inexpensive. Work with someone like arduino to develop an ecosystem of input devices that allow experimentation which simply isn't allowed on closed platforms like iOS. Offer a dock that has USB and HDMI outputs to turn it into a mini computer or just share media on a larger display.
Make it compatible with worldwide
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> The one thing missing in the market is a waterproof or water resistant rugged touch phone.
That is absolutely brilliant. Or at very least, water sealed so you could take it out in the rain without it self-destructing. Add a range of docking stations for car, motorcycle, bicycle. A good maps app with programmable presets. A good, intuitive, extensible hands free setup. I'd buy one. I know a lot of people who would buy one.
Nokia's fate is already sealed (Score:3)
There is only one possibility: Nokia spirals down the toilet, and MS buys it when it becomes a good enough deal. MS, according to their plan of hoodwinking Nokia's Board and installing Elop, gets a handset manufacturer they can call their own which is already primed for Windows Phone exclusivity.
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> There is only one possibility: Nokia spirals down the toilet, and MS buys it when it becomes a good enough deal.
Personally, I believe that was always the plan.
Should have dumped meego sooner and gone android (Score:2, Insightful)
Nokia ditching the Meego stuff was something they should have done sooner. There are just too many mobile OSs around. App developers really only have the resources to target one or two platforms. I have heard people say that Nokia needed Meego to diffentiate, but I just dont see it, at best meego would have been no better than android and probably would have been worse, it would simply not be a selling point, and it was letting market share slip away at a rapid pace while it tried to develop its own OS. If
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Sorry, but every single phone OS currently out there don't serve my vision for what I want from a portable OS. All them seem to be weak OS just built to serve the AppStore mentality, locked down so to do anything like backing up your phone is a PITA.
Maemo was the first phone OS that I actually felt was a full-fledged computer OS, that had the flexibility to do what I wanted to do. It fed the dream of having a mobile computer in your pocket. Android feels like an appliance in comparison.
I'm not saying tha
Corporate Culture (Score:2)
It's always the case that corporate culture has a really hard time adapting to changes in technology. I saw that in Sun's final days, when the development and sales models continued to revolve around pushing SPARC systems even as top management told the stockholders and press that these models were obsolete and had been abandoned.
Difficult but not impossible. Despite having created the standard desktop computer, IBM resisted moving out of the mainframe world where top management didn't even use email. Then
Nokia is the next Digital, Sun, etc. (Score:3)
Then a couple of months later, Apple puts out the iPhone. I was just amazed. My brand new N80, which was just one step below Nokia's top of the line N series phone, was turned into crap over night. The N80 looked primitive compared to the first gen iPhone. It was like the N80 was some pathetic loser phone sold on another planet where only poor people lived. Over the years I watched Nokia (I owned the stock until earlier this year, when I sold at a huge loss) and they never came out with a phone I knew of that anybody took seriously any more in the developed world. Oh they apparently are still the kings of low tech phones so if you live in some desperately poor African country, your phone is probably Nokia. But they never even competed with the iPhone and Android. It was kind of like Digital when the computing world changed away from main frames and they never really got it. Or Sun when cost became the driver in business and they tried too late to offer cheaper models. Selling your soul to Microsoft to save the company seems stupid to me when all of Microsoft's previous phone attempts failed big time and it became well known that the first Nokia Windows phones couldn't be upgraded. Nokia had a good reputation and had they quickly punted and moved to Android, it might have saved the day. I don't believe Nokia will go under and they may get bought out, but from now on they are likely going to be the kings of low end phones. I can tell you that one of my old friends in Taiwan recently bought a Lumia and she likes it, but she is not a techie and she is extremely cost conscious. She told me she would rather have had an iPhone, but she cannot afford one right now. Again, Nokia is the king of the low end phone. I guess they can barely survive as the cost conscious alternative to Android and iPhone, but how much fun and how much profit can you make at the garbage end of the business relying on people to buy your phones because they are affordable, not because they are good?
YES die Nokia die! (Score:3)
Ever since I saw a Nokia product placed in Star Trek- which implies than Nokia will live through a eugenic revolution, a mass die off, an age of darkness, and the transition to a post commerce, post scarcity society- I've wanted them to go under in my lifetime. The arrogance, and how jarring that dumb moment was, clashed together. I want the product dead and the name buried!
oh, Canada! (Score:2)
By accepting personal funds from Microsoft for the deal with Nokia which should have never happened, Elop has brought Nokia to its knees. He is directly responsible for the layoffs and terminations of thousands of Nokia employees. He has demonstrated that he cares more about his pocketbook than others' jobs or the future of the company.
Here I was going to make a smartass remark about Nokia finally adopting modern American corporate standards, only to wiki up that Stephan Elop is a Canananadian. How mortifying for you polar bear buggerers.
Re: (Score:2)
Hard to compete in a gun fight when all ya got are knives.
No, they have a gun, but it fires potatoes... hey, the russets hurt like hell!