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Nokia Exec: Young People Fed Up With iPhone and Android
jfruhlinger writes "Nokia's Windows Phones haven't hit the U.S., but at least one company executive thinks they'll be a slam dunk, since young people have soured on the iPhone and find Android baffling. Of course, much of the Internet commentariat found his remarks even more baffling. Is he right, is he delusional, or is he just trying to build buzz for his company's products the best he can?"
It's Nokia, so I'll take delusional for $2000, Alex.
And looking to promote his company.
The kids these days, they don't like the broadband. They are fed up with the cable and the fibre. Everyone has the fibre. Also, many are not happy with the complexity of broadband and the increased risk of viruses over broadband. So we do increasingly see that the youth that wants to be on the cutting edge and try something new are turning to dial up.
Right now, it is so confusing to the customer. Where is the softly assuring BEEEEEEP WAHUNG WAHUNG SCSSHHHHHHHHH white noise after connecting that lets you know that you are receiving 56k service?
My work here is dung.
Yeah... young people love Windows.
...that Microsoft Kin was cancelled.
Looking for a job in Portland, Oregon?
Guess that's why my teenagers wanted iPhones..
the only thing baffling (not really) is how stupid Nokia's shareholders have been.
My karma is not a Chameleon.
Executive at a company that gambled their existence on the success of the Windows Phone platform tries to start an astroturfing campaign against the clearly-winning competition in favor of his "also-ran" platform. Film at 11.
Ahahah by golly! I'm so tired of this world. I'll buy a Windows device. This is just PR.
complex layout and all that glitz and scrolling animated stuff...who bothers to go to websites that are so poorly laid out??
Hum... what could go wrong... nothing, not likely to have controversial opinions and flame wars :) ... haha
Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that
I don't think I've ever met someone who wasn't a hacker/tweaker sort who didn't like their iPhones. Regardless of your beliefs about their business practices, Walled Garden, etc, by and large the iPhone works and works well. I'm not sure exactly who he talked to about being fed up.
I've also not met a lot of people unhappy with their Android phones, though they may not be using them to their full customization potential.
...I've soured on the Android (performance and privacy issues) and the iPhone looks expensive (based on the iPhone tax it looks like service providers charge). But, I also had about 2 years of development experience on the inferior Windows Mobile platform when Microsoft pissed on the developer base, then shoved us out the door.
I'd say he's right there's room for another competitor, but his ain't it.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
... in the same way as their friends.
He employs some great logic. Here is a direct quote:
"What we see is that youth are pretty much fed up with iPhones. Everyone has the iPhone," he said.
If everyone wants something, then nobody could possibly want it... right?
want your kid to be beaten up by the school bully, then give him a nokia windows mobile 7 phone.
Obviously want a "sick" symbian phone with built in apps for managing their "epic" cassette tape collections. This is common knowledge.
I'm crying. ='D
Thanks for the comedy break, Slashdot.
It suggests that the company executive's statement about iPhone and Android consumer opinion is a known premise upon which he predicts Nokia will build. But that consumer opinion *itself* is (according to the article) the novel reported idea and this same exec's opnion too. He's not just filling a niche, but claiming the niche even exists.
As a "young person", I do not see how anyone can claim Android is "baffling"... to begin with it was more of an engineer/dev/nerd phone but it quickly changed and now IIRC is the most popular phone OS. My facebook news feed often contains complaints or questions about "why is my iphone xxx" but not once have I seen any of them asking for help with a droid.
Instead they'll be spending more time with aging babyboomers to acquire their accumulated wisdom.
I can't speak for really young people, but the 20-35 crowd with whom I work love their Androids.
They tend to see the iPhone as a bit more "stuffy", but that distinction may have more to do with company policies regarding who gets what, than with any actual differences between the devices themselves. But "Baffling"? C'mon, you just slide through the screens to the one you want, and tap when you get there.
Now, if you want to ask if the business world will get all hot over a device they can lock down via domain policies - I'd at least give that one a 50/50 (with the "not" 50% swearing like a sailor at the horror of having any mobile device trusted on their domain). But the actual users? Yeah, I'll have to go with the Nokia execs as "delusional" on this one.
We will sell more than you,
we know we will
And we'll pretend our ships not sinking....
And we will tell ourselves 'we'll take over you'
cause WE ARE THE KINGS OF WISHFUL THINKING
lalalallalalalalalalallalalalalalalalalalalalalalalallala
It's not like Nokia phones are going to be any different from other vendors' WP7 phones, despite the privileged position Nokia has. Their real chance to be different was with the N9, and by all accounts the phone is a success in the markets it was launched in. People love it -- if they can get it. Carrier subsidizing is the only "feature" that is missing. But good news Newegg now carries it! ($630) so no dealing with shady importers.
I hate my Android, but I'll likely go back to iPhone, unless I swing the N9 for xmas. Yeah, I'm not even a year into the Atrix and I'm looking to spend another $630 because Android is crap. I prefer a "walled garden" to an open field of shit. I'm only waiting to see how the iPhone 5 changes things.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
I showed my Android phone to my 2 year old and within minutes she was fed up. To her, all those icons and such were baffling. But then I showed her a windows 7 phone and she ate it up! It spent far more time in her mouth than any other phone in the house!
NOKIA cant make a QUAD BAND DUAL SIM PHONE! I am forced to buy a LG or a SAMSUNG. Wake up NOKIA
I don't know why older people have this misconception that young people are more iconoclastic than older ones. Just because the Young do not have the same icons as the old I guess. Teens and young adults are gregarious and sensitive to peer pressure to an extreme, more than more mature people.
If Nokia counts on many Young having it as an argument against the iPhone, I wish them good luck. They could try "your moms and dads have them too", but since moms and dads still mostly have Nokias, at least in Europe, that doesn't sound too smart either.
Sounds like clutching at straws to me.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
Actually, soured by the BS from companys like Nokia and HP.
"We're releasing this product in a few months"
"No, wait, next year"
"Oh, never mind. We're changing directions"
"Oops, changed out mind again..."
A year or two goes by and then they release a piece of garbage without half the promised features. They tease and tease with carrots, but in the end deliver an overpriced rutabega. I have my issues w/ both iphone and android, but the alternatives offered are garbage.
All that texting, hi-res photo taking, streaming video, game playing, global positioning information, realtime video chat on top of being able to have a telephone conversation from anywhere would certainly leave fed up. How much longer do I have to wait for teleportation!
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_lumia_800_becomes_best_seller_for_dutch_carrier_kpn-news-3481.php
Every other day I'm hearing about smartphone makers suing each other, that's what I'm fed up with.
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
seriously, was he around nokia stuff _last_ decade?
puffing up the music portfolio. well, that's something they've been trying for almost a decade.
and some other stuff as well.
“We would prefer a wireless transfer than a docking station," said Munksgaard. "A docking station has limitations because the phone has to be in a certain place. We are extremely pleased with the experience you get with the device in connection with Nokia gear. We don’t have a docking station at this point, however we are confident that as the Windows Phone ecosystem grows, third party docking station makers will support us.”
well fuck nokia, pc suite on 3650 allowed me to install packages wirelessly from the pc, installation options and all. then you started taking things away one by one.
read my typing: wp8 will have a task history/switch view just like android, symbian and ios. because otherwise it's going to continue sucking more than series40.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
at this point, it's Android and iPhone fanboys versus stupid Nokia exec.
I think that trying to find a consensus amongst youth is stupid and foolish. Just because a group of youth take to something doesn't mean that this is what the young do or are into.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
I think that was a song on The Jetsons.
What a fine boot sound for my Android!
Move over Communicator sound effect.
No brain, no pain.
This is not news, execs do this every other second. Flamewars are the last thing /. needs.
What's really missing the marketplace is a Linux console phone. All this graphics nonsense is just slowing people down. And what could be better than the feeling of compiling a kernel in your pocket?
An Exec says his company's product is better than the competitors? More on this shocking story at 11.
I for one identified with his words. I'm a software developer, but I have much more interest in a beagle board than an iPhone. I'm confident that I wouldn't be confused by Android, but that doesn't make me want to upgrade from my basic cheap phone.
The plural of anecdote is data.
Now go ask a thousand other parents what their teenagers want and check back here after you do. I think you'll find iStuff to be consistently high up on the list.
BTW your "industry insider" is more commonly known as a shill. He is selling a product. He - of course - isn't going to say "well our product isn't as good as Apple". He is going to say something positive about his product and negative about the competition. That's his job.
Find a neutral third party with a purely objective viewpoint and you'll have an "industry insider" worth listening to.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
I think this guy's be hanging out in a wafer fab snorting fumes.
If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
And I liked my Palm Pilot so much, I bought a Treo. However, the Treo was a terrible phone, I had to spend extra and buy it on eBay because the 680 wasn't supported by t-Mobile and for years I lived with it. Then, finally I started phone shopping.
A friend lent me his Nokia 900 and I found it to be un-useable. It interpreted *everything* as me wanting to use the device, including putting it back into a belt-holster... So it would start playing videos in my pocket, and when I wanted to really use it to make a phone call, the battery was dead.
I didn't like the iPhone's on-screen keyboard, but, when the iPhone4 came out, it finally supported a bluetooth keyboard. So, I bought the iPhone & keyboard. When I'm away from the keyboard, I've learned to live with the onscreen keyboard.
For the last year and 2 months now, it's been OK. I haven't wanted to run my phone over with my car, something I've wanted to do to both the Treo and the Nokia. Sure, it doesn't do everything, but, I have to admit it's better than what I was getting previously. The keyboard has made taking notes and writing emails very easy, making the phone a 60% desktop replacement.
It's a fairly good PDA, and even with AT&T service, it's been a use-able phone. All it has to do is not suck entirely, which tends to be what the other products do.
Considered that kids want what the other kids have, my guess is that this quote from Nokia that kids want a Windows Phone is rubbish. Kids want an iPhone. Apple is already on track to be the biggest phone-maker in the world.
Nokia, RIM, Samsung, and Sony do not have a chance unless they undertake some serious R&D and make something equally revolutionary. And somehow "revolutionary" isn't a word *anyone* associates with Microsoft. Windows phone ain't it, any more than GEOS phone. WebOS could have been it, but Palm and the HP both screwed that pooch.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
I'd go further wrt the smartphone wars - at this point, it's Android and iPhone, period. WinPhones aren't even on the radar (and the insiders are already saying that WinPhone7 sucks, and they're waiting for WinPhone8 to make a decision).
......phone....calls???
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
Nokia Exec: I matter! I do! Please don't look at other guys, it makes me feel inadequate.
They are fed up with the carriers, not the phones.
Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
"Is he right, is he delusional, or is he just trying to build buzz for his company's products the best he can?"
Yes, I am sure someone once told him that they didn't like the iPhone because everyone had one but Android was confusing because it didn't look like the iPhone. They probably then said "This sucks, I wish there was a phone that wasn't lame" which obviously Nokia is delivering.
Yes, because the numbers suggest that a large number of young people still prefer Android and the iPhone.
Yes, obviously. That is corporate speak where you can be right, wrong and a pimp at the same time. Remember, you can spin facts and statistics anyway you want.
can't sleep slashdot will eat me
Worst. Platform. Ever.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Nokia had the BEST phones in terms of hardware in the past. Seriously, those phones were strong, unbreakable beasts, very durable and easy to use. If they had the vision to jump the android bandwagon three years ago, they would be making a killing right now. Instead, they fumbled around symbian, then created maemo/meego/what's-her-name and now veered into a platform that no one uses or develop for. Personally, I still own an awesome symbian phone, but if they still keep this WP7 nonsense (seems they will), I will have to find another vendor.
December 14th was the Finnish equivalent of April Fools day.
... that Windows phone runs Windows? Think of it like this: Android phones don't run Ubuntu.
By "Exec" in the title the actual position of the speaker is in fact "director of Portfolio, Product Marketing & Sales at Nokia Entertainment Global", which equates to something like "manufacturer of consent via media manipulation, innuendo, and implication". No hard science or technology in that guy's department.
I deny that I have not avoided attaining the opposite of that which I do not want.
As a long time nokia user I just recently switched to android based phone. This was due too many factors the top being the fact that Nokia does a HORRIBLE job supporting their customers. After many successful generations of upgrades for my self within their `E' series business line I finally had enough with the E52 and E72. In both cases the phones barely worked, constantly had critical failures of the business applications and were nearly impossible to sync up with external, non-windows, non-nokia systems. The second being the fact that the quality of their hardware has gone from good to horrible. The mostly high quality builds have been replaced with cheap, plastic junk that breaks very easily. On my E52 I went though 4 screens between giving up on the phone, this in contrast to the E51 which is still in near mint condition after years of abuse. All of this is in contrast to the reasonably open experience I've got with the Android based phone, and much better build quality. It's no surprise that nokia would partner up with Microsoft (FOR BILLIONS OF DOLLARS). Soon I suspect you will see them shift from a leader in the mobile phone market to another patent troll with crappy hardware and software offers.
Just imagine: in 2013 having a windows phone that:
a) Can be used as a phone (of course!)
b) Can be used as a tablet (windows 8 with the Metro UI)
c) Can be used as a computer (windows 8 with the Classic UI)
d) Can be used as a game console (it is rumored that the next xbox could run in ARM processors a variant of the windows 8 kernel).
Microsoft is known for improving its products version after version... Everyone thinks that Windows Phone 7.5 is a very goog start: just read the reviews:
- Engadget ( http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/27/windows-phone-7-5-mango-review/ )
"While Windows Phone still needs a glass of water to get rid of a few hiccups -- and let's face it, every mobile OS has plenty of their own -- it ironed out a lot of the wrinkles from earlier versions and made it a much more feature-laden, user-friendly experience. With Mango, WP7 has caught up with Android and iOS in nearly every way, and in some areas it's even surpassed the other two in functionality. Despite a grim first year, the bright future of Windows Phone is forcing Ballmer to wear shades."
- The Verge ( http://www.theverge.com/2011/10/24/2509332/windows-phone-75-mango-review )
"Put simply, regardless of your preconceptions, Windows Phone finally deserves an honest look the next time you’re ready to buy a phone — particularly as we start to see new devices come to market over the next few weeks."
- gsmarena ( http://www.gsmarena.com/windows_phone_7_5-review-655.php )
"WP7 lacked key functionality, which deterred potential consumers. Version 7.5 however brings things that will appeal to businesspeople, social networking buffs and people who like a novel software experience. If you're using Microsoft software (chances are you're using at least Office at work), WP7.5 offers the smoothest, most well-rounded experience. The rich bundle of several social networks and IM clients and emails and texts is beautifully organized too. And let's face it, the Windows Phone interface is the only UI around that's truly different - iOS, Android, even Symbian are becoming harder and harder to tell apart. The only thing that held it back was the lack of multitasking and now that's been sorted out."
In my country nobody buys Chinese crap from Apple or Motorola.
Sounds as if Nokia gets it as much as Ballmer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U
I typically get tentative when Executives make ridiculous statements like this. It leaves me with the impression that they're completely out of touch, and my initial impression of the product will be soured before I even see it.
Just give me the Positives, tell me what it does, tell me how its better. Don't tell me "Young people fed up with iPhone..." when I see firsthand that my kids love their iPhones, as well as, all their peers.
In other news, Steve Ballmer says MS is better that Apple, etc.
Ohh nokia you have some of the best april fools jokes around. This is good, i mean you really got me on this one. HAHAHA Ill be talking about this one for years!!
End Transmission....
is he delusional, or is he just trying to build buzz for his company's products the best he can?"
Yes, he is.
Next question?
Seriously? This is news? "Exec claims competitors products suck." - yeah, that never happens...
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
There can't be a flamewar involving Windows Mobile since nobody actually bothered getting one...
Om Malik commenting on the state of Nokia in Finland.
I co-incidentally happen to be in Helsinki, a few miles away from Nokiaâ(TM)s global headquarters in Espoo, Finland. Walking around the downtown (where I am staying), I have seen many more iPhones than Nokia phones. And most of the startup people I met have some variation of the iPhone. One of them who is still in college told me that Nokia gave him one of their new phones, and he decided to use it as a way to support his nationâ(TM)s largest employer. A month later, he switched back to the iPhone. Ouch! When you canâ(TM)t give away your phones to your own âoeyouth,â it is time to stop hating on other platforms and look for ways to get people to use your product.
Nokia can't even give away their phones!
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
the first of the five stages of grief.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
They are doing it wrong. They should push it as a business friendly phone. Nice tight integration with Exchange server. add on some security tools. Enable remote wiping, and perhaps even a remote bricking.
Sell it as an Enterprise phone. Replacement for the blackberry.
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
Chrysler exec claims that young people are fed up with Ford and baffled by General Motors.
There is no escaping the fact that the entire Google-supplied Android software suite is half-done. There are hundreds of things that need "polishing" and most of these just make life more difficult for the user.
Is the phone a neat toy for geeks? Absolutely. I switched from a recent BlackBerry (Bold 9700) to a Galaxy S II a little over a month ago. There are probably some things that still could be done to "customize" the phone into a more usable state, but you have to contrast this with a phone that comes ready-to-use in an efficient and user-friendly form right out of the box. And in no way is any Android phone efficient or user-friendly right out of the box.
It is hard to blame Samsung for the problems with the phone because they are just taking advantage of a free phone software environment. Rather than spending lots of money developing the phone software they just picked it up free. Can't really say that isn't a really smart thing to do.
Google, on the other hand, supplied nearly all of the software on the phone and is clearly responsible for the ad-hoc unfinished way lots of stuff works. For example, why are there two email applications (Gmail and Exchange) and they are so completely different? One asks for confirmation for a delete, the other one does not. Probably somewhere this is a setting, but why would the shipping default settings be different? And why would the Gmail email client look so much better than the one for other transport types?
Then there is the touch screen keyboard. Incredibly sensitive so that it takes twice as long to type anything. No, they didn't put a lot of effort into figuring out what key you meant to press, they are just taking the first thing that seemed to get poked. The result is a huge number of errors. I haven't seen anyone using the keyboard on an Android phone that isn't being incredibly precise with it - basically because they learned how to use it. Contrast this with a phone where the software works with the user.
I am not a big Apple fan. But they actually spent some time on the software and got their phone working the way people use it. As soon as I can afford to do it, I will be replacing the Galaxy S II with an iPhone. Sadly, I have to switch carriers to do it - no iPhone with 3G on TMobile.
...of all operatings systems... Windows. LOL
OK, iOS is a golden cage. But at least it's golden. Windows for phones will be the cheap 80s car interior plastics cage.
Sorry, Mr mobile phone maker, but if I can't quickly write up a script, log in as root, install open source software from a proper package management system, install my own OS, and replace the boot loader if I like to, then FUCK YOU!
My next phone will be a actual computer that happens to have a conveniently placed speaker and microphone, is small, lasts long and has 4G+WiFi.. Not a toy for the masses of drooling retards.
All imposiible wishes!
Possiibly because they use MicroSoft phone OS now.
That is "WHAT is Nokia?".
*I* will take 2000 of Mobile Phone, Alex.
obvious paid troll is obvious.
News: Old people fed up with iPhone and Android news
Yet another article on those makes the world feel so small and time so short and tech so clumsy.
In the larger timeframe, there is nothing special at all about those products. They came at the expected time with the expected functionality.
Smartphones are turning into a new religion, admittingly not much different from the -by now- classic Windows vs Linux religions. Really..
It's just a product. Bunch of chips. With software. Buy if you like it, don't if you don't. Check a review or tech site if you have trouble choosing. And now, can we please move on to the more interesting stuff.
If he said people were getting bored of the same old thing, I might be inclined to agree. But if you were happy with either Android or iOS there's no reason for that to change as both OS's have fundamentally remained the same. And the thing is that most people don't want to feel left out. So they're not willing to go with something different until it's been deemed cool and desirable.
If anything, the iPhone is starting to get a reputation of being so easy to use, people's 2 and 3 year old kids are proficient with them. (I know first hand... my g/f's kid was getting around the iPhone, finding cartoons to watch on YouTube, at the age of 2. She couldn't read yet, but was able to figure it all out through trial and error, and recognizing the icons and buttons for various things.)
Android is often considered more difficult to work with, but not so much at a basic level. I don't think anyone's saying they can't get the thing to make a phone call or receive a text message. It has more issues when you want to get more sophisticated with it. (EG. Say your workplace, like mine, uses a web proxy on their wi-fi. Android doesn't support one without some 3rd. party hacks which generally require rooting before you can even use them -- so you have to know not to attempt to connect it to the corporate wi-fi, or else you lose data connectivity.)
I'm 40 myself, so my time spent around teens and 20-somethings is pretty limited. But just judging from babysitters we've hired in the past, or comments made by younger brothers and sisters of friends of mine (not to mention what I read online), anything Apple branded is still generally viewed as "cool" to own and use. If nothing else, just because the brand is considered "in" right now. (Lots of respect and "buzz" about the late Steve Jobs out there, plus perception that Apple is more Eco-friendly and socially conscious than most other businesses doesn't hurt, plus the general understanding they're more expensive "premium" type products.)
Nokia, on the other hand? Wow.... only positive things I hear about them are people remembering the "good old days" when they owned a candy-bar type Nokia just like Fox Mulder used to carry on the X-Files episodes or whatnot. I don't think Nokia has earned ANY real respect, at least in the USA, ever since smartphones became popular.
I seem to remeber a M$ executive saying almost the exact same thing about the Microsoft Kin phones...
My 4 year old figured out my android phone in 1 minute. Navigation and all. I didn't even show her. She found an icon that looked "fun" and proceeded to want my phone every chance she can get.
People switched to the iPhone and Android because we were sick of Microsoft Antics. Tired of the spyware, tired of EULA being forced down our throats with conditions in it that we do not accept. So Apple does that too, and Google does the same evil. But we still have more choice with Android and iPhone. The Android can still be broken. If your like me and own a Android, but do not have a Google account, you can still do all kinds of other stuff, without having to sign your rights away.
For the record, I don't care what a EULA says anymore; I do not accept many of the tems and conditions and will not honor them, and frankly I don't care if it's legal or not.
My daughter is fed up that I haven't bought her an iPhone yet. Does that count?
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
"You don't have to be delusional to work here, but it helps!"
I just brought my Android phone... guess since everyone's fed up with them, I should change it to a new nokia with Microsoft software.
Probably that "the young" has he says would react like that he hopes. But naaay the young aren't that dumb anymore.
You forgot something in your statement genius... People are much more fedup of Microsoft than anything else... so you bet on the wrong team buddy.
Here you go: http://www.bgr.com/2011/12/13/apple-and-google-dominate-smartphone-space-while-other-vendors-scramble/.
WP7 went from 1% to 2% of sales. Android is at 53%, iOS at 29%. This is sales, not market share.
If you want fantastic dev tools you have Apple. If you want cross-platform dev tools you have Android. I cannot come up with a reason why you'd be interested in developing for the Windows phone. If they want to overtake Android, Microsoft is going to have to port their awesome dev tools to OSX and Linux. Otherwise it's going to continue to make the most sense for mobile companies to buy an Apple and have their developers develop for Android and IOS on that and ignore Microsoft completely.
I'm willing to bet good money that he, or at least the people in his household, use the iPhone privately. I don't think I've met anyone of manager level or up in the last, year or so, who didn't have a personal or work iPhone. Used to be Blackberry.
seriously, rim, iphone, android, microsoft just offer different flavors of the same thing.
the same walled garden with the same shitty appstores that only sell farting apps.
the phones are in no way ergonomic to use, the only focus being quick to learn for the most basic tasks.
I've tried each and each time still return to a good old symbian or n900 phone.
Is he right, is he delusional, or is he just trying to build buzz for his company's products the best he can?
I had a Nokia cellphone once. It was, by far, the worst piece of crap cellphone I ever touched. Nokia support was completely and totally worthless. Bottom line: I will never own anything from Nokia again as long as I live!
Circle the wagons and fire inward. Entropy increases without bounds.
I hate them kinda but that only because I want maemo back so badly. Therefore I'll hate the windows 10x more.
The Nokia exec is not being coherent. His judgement is badly off the mark. I don't think he's crazy, its just a seasonal thing. He just got into the Gløgg a bit early, thats all. If its not that, well then, you need to find a nice place for him. A quiet place, with soft walls, and a well fitted jacket where his hands and arms won't cause injury to himself or others. When Nokia took microsofts money, they became as relevant as Corel Draw after Corel took microsofts money. Ever hear of Corel lately? Hum? No? Before I go all Stewie Griffin, with the inflections, please understand: Nokia is tied to a sea anchor. Windblows phone 7 is a money-sink to microsofts revenue stream. Its in place to hide revenues, show losses and keep money from federal tax. If it makes money, great. If not, it still contributes to the overall revenue. Every minute, Nokia loses to HTC, Samsung, Motorola, LG and a string of others. Foxconn is exclusive to Apple. In most peoples worlds, Nokia=old-fashioned-cell-phone from 1990-2001. Northern Telecom shuttered, Nokia is mostly there, followed by RIM (Blackberry). I will get slammed for saying this, but in less than 18 months, Apple will follow RIM.
Some Creepy old guy walks up to a group of kids.
Creepy old guy looks at kid using his iPhone
Creepy old guy: Can you play xbox with your iPhone?
Kid with iPhone: No
Creepy old guy looks at kid using his Android.
Creepy old guy: Can you play xbox with your Android?
Kid with Android: I don't think so.
Headline: Young People soured on the iPhone and find the Android baffling.
My wife now has a WP7 phone (HTC Arrive) and loves it. The OS seems well put together and while it doesn't seem to be a power user phone it does many of the functions better of being a phone, text platform, and media consumption device much more smoothly than either iOS or Android. I use both an Android (Galaxy SII currently) and an iPhone 4 on a daily basis, my preference is heavily on the Android side for many usability and functionality reasons. I also run custom ROMs on my android vs. stock on the iPhone which may have much to do with my experience.
That said the WP7 has been impressive enough that it may just be my next phone.
I'll meet you at the intersection of "Should be" and "Reality"
Take some words/phrases, mix 'em up, and come up with a story you want everyone to believe...
The original information was probably something more along the lines of: Young people are impulsive and unreliable as customers. They want whatever happens to be 'cool' at any given time. Middle age and older people find Android baffling, because, well, it is unless you're a computer nerd, or a young person who just wants to "Facebook" your friends and doesn't really understand what the device is capable of doing. If we take some of this information, twist it around a bit, and market the hell out of it, we might be able to attract a few people from both groups to buy our shit. If we repeat the same nonsense long enough... people will begin to believe it as fact.
"Is he right, is he delusional, or is he just trying to build buzz for his company's products the best he can?"
No delusional; he's just marketing.
I wouldn't go so far to say Windows phones are doomed from their start but they definitely are fighting a steep, uphill battle to say the least.
Talk about flogging a dead and decomposed horse.
In Finland.
The worst part here is that awesome hardware manufacturer, Nokia, has become Microsoft's delivery/whipping boy.
How come Samsung sells 300+ million phones without restricting itself to particular OS? How come Nokia can't do the same?
Incidentally, Nokia's current CEO is former MIcrosoft manager...
Companies sue each other because that is how the game is played -- and the rules are defined by government. Can't really blame them for doing what they were encouraged to do. The more lawsuits, the more business for the legal system, the more justification for spending, borrowing, and expanding power over the people -- but most importantly, the more money raked through government.
Did I just imply that the entire reason we are subject to an unjust, wasteful, and oppressive system of law is simply to make the business of government more lucrative for the elite who control it?
You're god damn right I did.
I'm 14 and I hated my mediocre Nokia smartphone. I love my Android though.
Executives, politicians, anyone with enough clout to be gambling big has a tendency to say things that they want to be true as if those things already were true.
It's clearly a good gamble. If your thing does happen to be true then you look like the guy in the know. If your thing doesn't come true then you and the other loosers are gonna be too busy worrying about fixing the thing to go back to all that bs you were spewing earlier.
It's a weakness in modern communication.
-- "Oh. This guy again."
What would the authorities say?
My mom has an iPhone. They sell iPhones for Dummies books. Those two criteria right there are reason enough to never buy an iPhone.
I know what you're saying; the iPhone was cool and unique when it came out, but now it's gone mainstream. Old ladies use it, and books have been written about it by people trying to cash in on the trend.
These days, I only use smartphones so obscure you've probably never heard of them.
Every kid over 10 years old wants an iPhone and are constantly bugging their parents to buy them one. Trust me on this one.
That's all I hear and all anyone with kids hears.
See ? I told you young people are getting dumber !
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-14/nokia-rises-as-danske-says-microsoft-may-buy-smartphone-unit.html
1. You cannot forward text msgs on Android.
2. You cannot open pics that someone MMSs to you outside of the txt app.
3. There is no memo. I cannot take a note. Well, there is a memo app, but damned if I can figure out how to run it.
4. If you receive a txt, you cannot click and call them. You have to exit the txt app, and find them in your contacts.
5. It's very hard to send a txt to multiple people. You have to know how their name is stored in your phone and type in their name. You cannot browse your contacts and click a box to send to multiple people like a normal phone.
How many more years will slashdot have an off-by-one error on your Score in your profile?
3. Taking a near-monopoly in one market (business e-mail) and trying to use it to create another near-monopoly in another market (business smartphones) is what got Microsoft in trouble during the browser wars.
Those lawsuits went on for over a decade in the US and Europe. If Microsoft is smart, they won't subject themselves to that again if they can avoid it.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
I don't think the marketing is anything more than typical marketing optimism/BS, but to be fair...
If someone could make a smartphone that: ... you could probably sell it pretty well. There's not a snowball's chance in hell that Microsoft/Nokia will produce such a phone, but it's true to say that there is a large-ish market which is being largely under-served by the current smart-phone offerings.
- Had a smooth ease-of-use of an iPhone
- Didn't require you to root it to fully customize it
- Didn't pack it with carrier bloatware
- Had good battery life and talk quality without building/flashing your own custom ROM
- Had lots of free and/or nearly free apps to cover common usage scenarios
- Guaranteed to respect your privacy (no CarrierIQ, tracking, logging, etc.)
There's an app for that.
Nothing edgy about it. It's a *very* old college joke, that's all. Like how to copy from one person is plagiarism but to copy from several is called research. So relax, everyone. Kids these days. Don't know the classics.
I was merely pointing out the fact that these individual stories do add up to make a conversant whole. And the last person you should trust to get an objective viewpoint is a salesman.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Looks like the Nokia guy is right, the iPhone is only #3 on America's youths' wishlists - after iPad and iPod Touch. Non-iPhone smartphone is at #10 right after TV set (aren't they supposed to be dead too?).
Fandroids hate facts.
Time for MS to hold another goofy funeral for the iPhone.
Last time it was pretty dead -- windows phone nearly killed it -- but this time it really looks like it's just dead. If it weren't for old people, no one would be buying iphones. WP7 has killed it with it's slam-dunk future popularity. Probably. Slam-dunk, this time.
Personally I still can not see the reasoning behind someone paying $700 USD (apprx retail without contract for verizon 32 gig iPhone 4S). It's a freaking phone, these days you can purchase a decent desktop or laptop for that price that does far more, what it doesn't do that the iPhone does is fit in a pocket. What it does that the iPhone doesn't gaming, programming, video editing, audio editing, watching videos (yeah I know you can watch video on iPhone, but would you rather watch an hd movie on a 4 inch screen vs a monitor?).
Seriously, I only see people with more money than sense buying iPhones, this is not meant as a direct insult to those of you with an iPhone, but honestly why have one at that price. Note if you paid significantly less like only dropped 2 or 3 hundred USD for it, I could see that.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
From my vantage point they're probably still hot! :D
No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
the iPhone/Android uptake was never really there...
so I guess he's half right?
At least the research one made sense. Perhaps it's just that I've heard it many times before. As for TFA, well. I agree.
Oblivion Awaits
Geeks fed up with Nokia and Microsoft.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
Translated from marketingspeak to English:
“What we see is that youth are pretty much fed up with iPhones. Everyone has the iPhone," he said. "Also, many are not happy with the complexity of Android and the lack of security. So we do increasingly see that the youth that wants to be on the cutting edge and try something new are turning to the Windows phone platform.”
We have a product that will sell well to parents who always buy the wrong thing for their kids. (Apologies to Seth Meyers) We're also trying to capitalize on the recent negative publicity of Carrier IQ.
“The marketplace is extremely crowded. I refer to it as the sea of sameness," he added. "When you walk up to a retail shelf at Phones4U and see the number of black mono-blocks sitting on the shelf, it is very confusing to the consumer. We want to deliver services and phones that are different.”
We deal in a *different* kind of confusion.
That “different” approach, believes Munksgaard, includes offering services like Nokia Mix Radio, which gives users music out-of-the-box without having to sign up to anything or pay costly fees each month.
We've never heard of Pandora.
“We would prefer a wireless transfer than a docking station," said Munksgaard. "A docking station has limitations because the phone has to be in a certain place. We are extremely pleased with the experience you get with the device in connection with Nokia gear. We don’t have a docking station at this point, however we are confident that as the Windows Phone ecosystem grows, third party docking station makers will support us.”
Fucking A2DP, how does it work!?
Hopefully for Nokia, for those bored with the iPhone and looking for something simpler than Android, those third party manufacturers will start knocking out Nok Docks sooner rather than later.
We don't have enough faith in our phones to design and sell our own Nokia branded accessories.
---
DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
Of Nokia's current offerings, the only one that tempts me is the MeeGo-based N9, which has a decent Linux and 64GB of storage. It also has Nokia's Ovi Maps, which are pretty good, at no extra cost. Alas, it is destined to be an orphan. If Nokia pushed it more broadly, it would be a winner - far better than their W7 Lumia 800 (costs more for slightly fewer screen pixels, similar features, but only 16GB storage) which I also handled in one store.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
Your country of fictionesia.
It's been a long time.
iPhone: " just works" Sirious cachet
Android: works in freemarket "Serious Geekcred"
Windows: "works for Nokia" MS-DNA should work with your pc's, right?
BlackBerry: serves Crypto-secure communication, keyboard works
RIM keyboard owns me. What owns you? YMMV
I think there's not really anything to what he's saying. It's probably mostly geared towards building hype. But it does coincidentally touch on the fact that I'm sick of Apple, the company, and not the iPhone. I think Apple's anti-competitive behavior or suing the crap out of everyone, or going "thermo-nuclear" as Steve Jobs put it, it getting old real fast. I'm hoping that some other people/technologies/companies will pop up that are willing to challenge and beat Apple and restore a sense of innovation and originality to the marketplace.
Young people are fed up with iPhone! I frequently hear my 2 y.o. son say, "No want this" after he's bored playing with my iPhone.
Young people are baffled by Android! And my 5 y.o. daughter just asked me the other day, "Is that your new iPhone?" -- referring to my Galaxy Nexus.
Apart from the lack of openess such that I find it hard to feel I'm having a private conversation... I like the software on phones these days.
It's the hardware that has kept me waiting with a Symbian phone.
Battery life is well off enough to go camping with and the screens are too detailed. I would prefer black and white with a 8MP camera if it lasted a week on charge.
Perhaps owning a SonyEriccson P800 has scarred me.
A blog I run for the wealth
Announce a deal with Nokia, wait for the share price to plummet, then buy at the low.
A person offering his own personal opinion and quoting other peoples positive opinions on products you dont like doesnt make it a troll post.
Slashdot needs a -0, Disagree mod.
doesn't he realize that those same young people consider Nokia to be "The Granny Phone Company"?
Apple was caught TRACKING YOUR MOVEMENT if you own an iPhone, somehow that is not a privacy concern in your books? (oh, they certainly "don't know" who the owner of iPhone is, eh?)
Dolphin HD was cought giving out information about sites your visit on Android platform. It was doing it on both iOS and Android, yet only Android users could catch it, see the problem? Where was your mythical Apple's "strict set of guidlines"?
As most stuff surrounding Apple, being better protected than on Android is yet another myth.
I don't think young people are fed up with Android and iPhone. I think most young people might say: "What's Nokia?". :)
Kids are fed up, sure, but he doesn't get that the kids decide what is cool, not him.
If we're fed up with both iPhone and Android, why the hell did they get rid of the N900? Smart move, Nokia! I am pretty happy with Android until they bring that back!