5 ms·
Plan B: Fire a couple of execs and keep following the strategy that got us to this point.
by ajg1977 16y ago
Plan B: Fire a couple of execs and keep following the strategy that got us to this point.
- pyre 16y agoWell, Plan A seems to be hitching their wagon to the horse that's seemingly in last place by a large margin. So comparatively, Plan B isn't that bad.
- keithwarren 16y agoWell, Plan A seems to be hitching their wagon to the richest and most powerful software company in the world who has pledged to give billions of dollars plus rights to customize a modern mobile operating system. So comparatively, Plan B is just sour grapes.
- rbanffy 16y ago> Plan A seems to be hitching their wagon to the richest and most powerful software company in the world ... the same company that has been trying for more than a decade to produce a marginally adequate phone experience and has been consistently failing, with great comedic value, in each and every attempt to challenge whoever is the market leader at a given point. Nokia, who was the leader of this market on more than one occasion, is hitching their wagon to a goldfish who seemingly can't learn from past experience. Sadly, this Plan B has zero chances of flying. The board is on Elop's side because they are betting Nokia is doomed and the billions Microsoft will inject will give them both time and some added value when they gut the company to sell its parts a couple years from now. Nokia is gone. We'd better get used to it.
- nl 16y agoRemember the old adage about Microsoft: "It take them 3 god to get something right"? (1) Windows Mobile, (2) Kin, (3) WinMo7 Have you used WinMo7? It's really nice (and this from an Android fan). I'm not sure it will save Nokia, but read a few reviews of WinMo7 ans go and have a play before you dismiss it entirely. (Edit: WinMo7's biggest problem is it's name. "Windows" is a huge liability because everyone associates it with desktop windows even though it shares no common code at all)
- cubicle67 16y ago(1) 1996 - Windows CE 1.0 (2) 1997 - Windows CE 2.0 (3) 2000 - Windows CE 3.0 / Pocket PC 2000 (4) 2002 - Windows CE 4.0 / Pocket PC 2002 (5) 2003 - Windows Mobile 2003 (5.5) 2003 - Windows Mobile 2003 SE (6) 2005 - Windows Mobile 5 (7) 2007 - Windows Mobile 6 (7.1) 2008 - Windows Mobile 6.1 (7.5) 2009 - Windows Mobile 6.5 (8) 2010 - Microsoft Kin (9) 2010 - Windows Phone 7 That's about 15 years and nine attempts [Edit: reading further I've found Windows Mobile 2003 (and, I assume, 2003 SE) was based on CE 4.2, so numbers 5 and 5.5 should become 4.x and following numbers reduced by one]
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- nl 16y agoWindows CE -> Windows Mobile 6.5 is all the same codebase. It doesn't matter anyway - adages are just rules of thumb. The point is that Microsoft isn't as bad at creating good products... eventually. Think about these: XBox, Bing (esp travel search), C#, F#, etc Try WinMo7 - it's quite impressive and different to the iPhone or Android.
- cubicle67 16y agosorry if I've touched a nerve there. I've never said (on this forum or elsewhere) a bad word about WP7. I've never seen one but I'm quite willing to believe all the positive things I've read about it. I was just having a light dig at your '3 attempts' remark, that's all
- nl 16y agoOops - I thought you were the poster I was replying to and were missing the point. Sorry! And yes: I agree that Microsoft managed to spend a lot of time & money on mobile operating systems that turned out to be dead ends.
- 16y ago
- brc 16y agoI think the previous Microsoft phone efforst have been abysmal. The thinking was along the lines of 'windows is great, let's make a mini version'. That led them up a garden path, at which point iOS came along and blew everyone away. However, the thinking coming from MS now is 'iOS (& android) are great, lets build one of those with a windows flavor'. The resulting phone is actually rather good, and brings some genuinely new ideas that make an iPhone look a bit clunky and hard to use for some tasks. I think the Nokia/Microsoft matchup is about the best both can do in a difficult situation. There are still a lot of Nokia brand loyalty out there, and having an as-good smartphone with MS software on it is going to convince a lot of people. I know I'd be serious about looking at it when it comes time to trade in my iPhone.
- lotusleaf1987 16y agoRichest? Not since May of 2010: http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/14/apple-eats-microsoft/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/14/apple-eats-microsoft/
- nl 16y agoApple isn't a software company (ok, yes they do have software but that's not what generates their profits).
- djcapelis 16y agoYes it is. What do you think sells their hardware?
- jarek 16y agoMarketing.
- rbanffy 16y ago> but that's not what generates their profits If that were true, you would see 90% of Mac users running Windows. Since that's not the case, and many Mac users bought their Macs in order not to run Windows, I'd say their OS has some weight in this.
- ajg1977 16y agoWhen you think about it, using Windows phone is actually Plan B - and while that horse might be in last place at least it's a horse. Plan A was to internally develop their own hardware, running their own OS, offering customers items from their own ecosystem.... and they've kinda being fucking that up for the past 3-4 years. Hence Windows Phone Plan B. So really these nine shareholders are offering Plan C, and their Plan C seems to be essentially going back to Plan A with a promise that this time it'll be different. If I was an impartial Nokia shareholder I know how I'd be voting.
- 1337p337 16y agoAstonishingly few people commenting seemed to have read the whole thing. The reason it will (supposedly/hopefully) be different next time is that management overhead, bureaucracy, and outsourcing are killing their software development. If they actually can cut through the red tape, then I don't see it as very far-fetched to say that they can come back as a mobile software shop. I've got a Maemo device (using it now; very capable, except the keyboard's a little cramped), and prefer it by a wide margin to my employer-issued iPhone or the Android device that I returned after getting this phone. If I were a Nokia shareholder, I'd be voting for these guys for certain. Windows has consistently been unimpressive, and MeeGo feels a lot like a platform that has a lot of cool potential but is unpolished and has gotten too little love from its progenitor.
- kooshball 16y ago> The reason it will (supposedly/hopefully) be different next time is that management overhead, bureaucracy, and outsourcing are killing their software development. If they actually can cut through the red tape, then I don't see it as very far-fetched to say that they can come back as a mobile software shop. sorry, this just sounds like hot air. anyone can say things like "management overhead" and "cut through red tape", but without a solid plan what exactly does this mean?
- maggit 16y agoI take it you have never had to work with a team in a different time zone? It's hard enough staying in touch with the guys that come into the office at different hours than mine. Any more separation comes at an unbelievably high cost, in my experience.
- redthrowaway 16y agoAndroid was in last place by a huge margin, too.
- Deestan 16y ago> keep following the strategy that got us to this point. No. To stop rampant outsourcing of R&D is a significant change.