4 ms·

> That's what this post is: someone refusing to face the changing landscape of tech. I didn't read that at all, what I read was someone saying that change is n

> That's what this post is: someone refusing to face the changing landscape of tech. I didn't read that at all, what I read was someone saying that change is necessary, but that this change has huge benefits for Microsoft but questionable benefits for Nokia. We should be wary of falling into the "politician's fallacy" from the delightful Britcom "Yes, Prime Minister:" We must do something. This is something. Therefore we must do it.

davidw 16y ago
Yes, I'd say that, if anything, Nokia has had entirely too much change. So much that you're never quite sure where they're headed. Symbian, Meego, Qt, now this... Also, from some other article: > Mr. Elop said “Nokia expects 2011 and 2012 to be transition years”. It's going to take them a while to really get this strategy under way. Two years is an eternity in this market.
ashr 16y ago
The way I see it Microsoft brings a lot to the table that only a few could: A fresh new OS in WP7, cloud computing infrastructure, it's own gaming ecosystem in XBox platform and its UX integration with the phone OS etc among other things. So I don't see that choosing WP7 (over Android?) is such a bad deal for Nokia. It wasn't a very long time ago that Android ecosystem wasn't very appealing to the mobile developers as iOS ecosystem was. So I would give this partnership some benefit of doubt and time to deliver on the promise.
- marshray 16y ago
  Partnerships with Microsoft very rarely work out to the other business' advantage, unless it was their goal all along to be acquired by MS or be nothing more than a commodity hardware vendor. We'll know this is the case if Nokia announces "the new Nokia Online Superstore where you get all your WindowsTM-compatible accessories at discount prices".
  - tikkes 16y ago
    Microsoft has not "bought" Nokia, it's just merely a cooperation between the two companies...don't see the hazzle about all this really
    - wlesieutre 16y ago
      But without controlling their software, Nokia's almost entirely surrendered control over their product direction to Microsoft. Contrast it to Apple, where having their own hardware and software lets them do things like the retina display upgrade. In Nokia's case, MS says "This is what the OS is capable of," and Nokia has no choice other than "Ok, we'll make a touchscreen with some buttons that comply with your interface conventions." They're going from a mobile phone company to a widget manufacturer. It's a position not very different from where Dell, Gateway, HP, etc have been in control of product design, but unable to innovate in ways that would really improve the customer experience. So they're relegated to hardware design (within some pretty narrow constraints) and differentiating their computers by loading some shitty bloatware on and saying "<competitor> doesn't have a dock on all four screen edges like we do!" There's still money to be made in the hardware business, but it's not something I'd aspire to were I in the cellular industry. It's better than being put out of business, but Microsoft's lack of direction in OS design is likely to hobble them as they try to compete with Apple's ecosystem. I mean, WM7 tried to copy iOS 1 and say "Nah, you don't need copy/paste". Apple's continued to make progress toward a capable mobile OS, and MS still hasn't fixed it. Do you see them having a good chance at competing in the long run? My prediction: Nokia and WM7 won't be able to compete on features or design, so they'll compete on price. As the smartphone market portion continues to grow, a lot of it will be on the bottom end, with people moving from crappy featurephones to crappy smartphones. If they can find a market niche, it'll be the people who just say "I want a phone," and not anybody who knows or cares any more than that. Which is a pretty big market to be calling a "niche," but it's got slim profit margins. Maybe they can make up for it in volume.
maxklein 16y ago
There is no other "something" to be done to save Nokia. It brings benefit to Microsoft, and it saves Nokia.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- marshray 16y ago
  Baloney. Some of Nokia's other options were to 1. Develop a fantastic new platform/product/ecosystem that people wanted to buy (using local talent) 2. Support Android on some or most of their devices 3. Reinvigorate their current platform somehow (new features, reduced costs, new apps, developer incentives, etc) Keep in mind, MS's product in this space is widely considered less than successful. The only thing MS has going for it is cash in the bank, but so do Google and Apple and Nokia. How many people walk into the store thinking "I'd like to sign up to buy a Windows phone"? How is this going to benefit Nokia again?
  - rexf 16y ago
    Nokia has shown over time that #1 & #3 aren't realistic. As for Android (#2) vs Windows 7 Phone (W7P), you can make a strong argument for either's adoption. W7P is currently not a market hit. As you mention, Microsoft has cash in the bank, and they are not going to give up (see xbox, search, etc). Given a couple generations of W7P development, W7P will look like Android today (read: usable). Nokia may eventually be relegated to a commodity hardware maker, but they do benefit by adopting a modern, competitive mobile OS (as opposed to their current in house options). The worst case for Nokia may look like Motorola. (In that Motorola was bleeding post-RAZR, adopted Android, and are now doing fine even though they don't create the OS.)
  - neworbit 16y ago
    Have you ever seen their local talent? These are the guys who built Symbian. Nokia should have bought Palm (and similarly pivoted to it and away from the existing awful tech).
  - kyberneticka 16y ago
mbesto 16y ago
http://book.personalmba.com/absence-blindness/ http://book.personalmba.com/absence-blindness/

davidw 16y ago

Yes, I'd say that, if anything, Nokia has had entirely too much change. So much that you're never quite sure where they're headed. Symbian, Meego, Qt, now this... Also, from some other article: > Mr. Elop said “Nokia expects 2011 and 2012 to be transition years”. It's going to take them a while to really get this strategy under way. Two years is an eternity in this market.

ashr 16y ago

The way I see it Microsoft brings a lot to the table that only a few could: A fresh new OS in WP7, cloud computing infrastructure, it's own gaming ecosystem in XBox platform and its UX integration with the phone OS etc among other things. So I don't see that choosing WP7 (over Android?) is such a bad deal for Nokia. It wasn't a very long time ago that Android ecosystem wasn't very appealing to the mobile developers as iOS ecosystem was. So I would give this partnership some benefit of doubt and time to deliver on the promise.

marshray 16y ago
Partnerships with Microsoft very rarely work out to the other business' advantage, unless it was their goal all along to be acquired by MS or be nothing more than a commodity hardware vendor. We'll know this is the case if Nokia announces "the new Nokia Online Superstore where you get all your WindowsTM-compatible accessories at discount prices".
- tikkes 16y ago
  Microsoft has not "bought" Nokia, it's just merely a cooperation between the two companies...don't see the hazzle about all this really
  - wlesieutre 16y ago
    But without controlling their software, Nokia's almost entirely surrendered control over their product direction to Microsoft. Contrast it to Apple, where having their own hardware and software lets them do things like the retina display upgrade. In Nokia's case, MS says "This is what the OS is capable of," and Nokia has no choice other than "Ok, we'll make a touchscreen with some buttons that comply with your interface conventions." They're going from a mobile phone company to a widget manufacturer. It's a position not very different from where Dell, Gateway, HP, etc have been in control of product design, but unable to innovate in ways that would really improve the customer experience. So they're relegated to hardware design (within some pretty narrow constraints) and differentiating their computers by loading some shitty bloatware on and saying "<competitor> doesn't have a dock on all four screen edges like we do!" There's still money to be made in the hardware business, but it's not something I'd aspire to were I in the cellular industry. It's better than being put out of business, but Microsoft's lack of direction in OS design is likely to hobble them as they try to compete with Apple's ecosystem. I mean, WM7 tried to copy iOS 1 and say "Nah, you don't need copy/paste". Apple's continued to make progress toward a capable mobile OS, and MS still hasn't fixed it. Do you see them having a good chance at competing in the long run? My prediction: Nokia and WM7 won't be able to compete on features or design, so they'll compete on price. As the smartphone market portion continues to grow, a lot of it will be on the bottom end, with people moving from crappy featurephones to crappy smartphones. If they can find a market niche, it'll be the people who just say "I want a phone," and not anybody who knows or cares any more than that. Which is a pretty big market to be calling a "niche," but it's got slim profit margins. Maybe they can make up for it in volume.

maxklein 16y ago

There is no other "something" to be done to save Nokia. It brings benefit to Microsoft, and it saves Nokia.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
marshray 16y ago
Baloney. Some of Nokia's other options were to 1. Develop a fantastic new platform/product/ecosystem that people wanted to buy (using local talent) 2. Support Android on some or most of their devices 3. Reinvigorate their current platform somehow (new features, reduced costs, new apps, developer incentives, etc) Keep in mind, MS's product in this space is widely considered less than successful. The only thing MS has going for it is cash in the bank, but so do Google and Apple and Nokia. How many people walk into the store thinking "I'd like to sign up to buy a Windows phone"? How is this going to benefit Nokia again?
- rexf 16y ago
  Nokia has shown over time that #1 & #3 aren't realistic. As for Android (#2) vs Windows 7 Phone (W7P), you can make a strong argument for either's adoption. W7P is currently not a market hit. As you mention, Microsoft has cash in the bank, and they are not going to give up (see xbox, search, etc). Given a couple generations of W7P development, W7P will look like Android today (read: usable). Nokia may eventually be relegated to a commodity hardware maker, but they do benefit by adopting a modern, competitive mobile OS (as opposed to their current in house options). The worst case for Nokia may look like Motorola. (In that Motorola was bleeding post-RAZR, adopted Android, and are now doing fine even though they don't create the OS.)
- neworbit 16y ago
  Have you ever seen their local talent? These are the guys who built Symbian. Nokia should have bought Palm (and similarly pivoted to it and away from the existing awful tech).
- kyberneticka 16y ago

mbesto 16y ago

http://book.personalmba.com/absence-blindness/ http://book.personalmba.com/absence-blindness/