I joined Nokia in 2008 about a year after the iPhone launch, and even at that late date, the general consensus was that it wasn't a big deal and/or just an Amer

I joined Nokia in 2008 about a year after the iPhone launch, and even at that late date, the general consensus was that it wasn't a big deal and/or just an American thing, similar to Japan's i-mode. For those of us who knew what a leap ahead it was - the capacitive touch screen alone changed everything, let alone the usability and functionality like the physical mute switch - it was an uphill battle to convince decision makers how much of a paradigm shift it was. In fact my first boss, the CTO based in Palo Alto where I worked - had a boardroom showdown about it and lost, resigning immediately after. Dvorak wasn't the only one with his head stuck in the sand. A lot of actual industry players just couldn't get it either. Blackberry for example. The most amazing thing to me, honestly, is how quickly Google shifted gears. Android first launched with an emulator that looked exactly like the Nokia E71, Symbian phone with the exact same UX. I posted a video of it on Vimeo back then [1] (it's still there!!!). Within the year they had turned 90° and copied the iPhone in almost every way. That's Silicon Valley flexibility and drive which Nokia and other established mobile companies just couldn't match. 1. https://vimeo.com/384481 https://vimeo.com/384481