Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

It seems to me that the basic issue with nokia is that they see each generation as a platform, much like a phone (oddly enough), and that they as a company have not grasped the concept of hardware and OS as being seperate entities, otherwise we would have had Maemo 4, and then 5 as an OS which would be installable on the different hardware platforms, much like general Linux is.

Also I agree with whoever said that Nokia need to move away from huge update releases to much smaller updates for individual modules and release them as they are available. Everyone else including MS do it.

Mer was a massive job for the community to pull off, and it seems to me like they nearly managed it, but the enormity of the task for the very limited resources meant that in the end it was too much. Lack of resource is publicly why Nokia have stopped building "Hacker Editions", so it's hard to see why a handful of dedicated volunteers working in their free time can pull it off.

Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

You're right.. we're branching...

But I just have to point out: You did see the leaked PR1.2 fiasco, right? ;)

Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

FWIW, i think they can iterate faster by cutting loose the last device and focusing on the current device, especially with the pace at which hardware has changed over the past two years.

I think with taking on partners with the meego thing and at least *trying* to be more open with meego stuff, we should hopefully see some more continuity after the infamous step 5

Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

Same here.

I came on board for the 770, kind of accepted the abandoning of it for the 8xx as it was the first step, but stopped short of going for the 9 because I'd learnt the lesson of nokia's device cycle and level of customer 'appreciation' by then.

so it's kind of funny seeing all the newbies going through it, but really does reflect so badly on nokia, who, in my humble opinion, had a market leading idea and form factor, which built up a fantastic community of developers and users around it, and they've just simply trashed it.

'good will' is a big, established part of business. i guess nokia itself is kind of immune to good will effects due to its hugeness - but you know, these things have a weird way of reaching critical mass in unexpected ways.

the continued jumping around of the os development just smacks of leaderless, headless chasing of some elusive goal.

I like the simplicity of nokias lower-end phones and will probably continue to use them as I just want my phone to be as small as possible and be 'a phone', but like the poster I've quoted, I'll be at a loss to replace my 800 when the time sadly soon comes

Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

when you look at the likes of the Ipad, and the Dell streak, and the other tablets coming onto market such as Archos, you realise how ahead of the game Nokia was, certainly with the N8x0s, and I agree that they have just wasted their lead. If Nokia had given the N8x0 a decent midlife refresh of the OS, and pushed it more, and had a bit more of an incremental step towards maemo5, then I think that they would have had the tablet market eating out of their hand.

Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

It may sound like a bit of a cop-out but at least in the USA, it is very difficult for anyone other than Apple to "create" a market segment like that. Nokia just does not have the same allure to the press and, would seem, sufficient understanding of what drives consumers to such things - i.e. make them buy something they did not know they needed ;) .
Regrettably, seeing how much of the tech press and major software companies reside in the USA, it means that it would have been an uphill battle. I would speculate that in many ways the prior Maemo devices were as much about feeling out the market as much as getting a niche device out. They were well-received but only in certain circles, it would seem.
I am certain that did colour how Maemo 5 and the break later to MeeGo came about. I wouldn't say desperation, it is the wrong word. Perhaps frustration with seeing others getting a hold of a market that could have been cornered years ago.

Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

[insult deleted by moderator]

100% agreed with this and Texrat

Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

PradaBrada, on one hand I appreciate the agreement, but I'm looking for alignment too. That means don't inject insults into the conversation. Thanks.

Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

True, but juxtapose that against previous articles, especially the one for PR1.1 (which I referenced) and you'll see I'm positive when it's called for and likewise negative when appropriate.

That said, I did say I was still cautiously optimistic.

Every once in a while I need to pause from the cheerleading and apply a spanking where it's needed. I don't think a soft-pedal was the right approach for that article.

Re: Maemo Missteps, your thoughts?
 

No problem, you're the mod, you make the rules.

In any case Nokia seriously needs to rethink some of their strategies.