perfect hindsight and USA == world seems to be running rampant...

As the US has gone, so will go the rest of the world eventually.

My biggest beef with Nokia's relationship with customers is the end user provision of accessories and parts (stylus, kickstands, screens, etc. the things that people might in fact want to fix or replace easily themselves and not have to wait an ambiguous month or more for the unit to be repaired and shipped back). I've never had such terrible experiences as whenever my Nokia products (not just my N800) needed repair. As you well put it, communication with customers is another issue. Despite all the religiously faithful optimism bandied about by some of the Nokia faithful, I can't say that I feel like Nokia listens when people have problems or want something. Ever since purchasing my N800 the day they were release, I've yet to see Nokia produce anything tangible as a result of various criticisms. (The exception being the open-sourcing of the drivers for some of chipsets. I've yet to see Nokia even open-source their very own applications written for Maemo, which makes me wonder whether the credit really goes to Nokia or to these chipset manufacturers).

Sure! Call me cynical. I'm just looking at the tangible results and the experiences of my own and of those around me. I can see why people are still buying some other brand's products, trying to find that brand to be faithful to. Nokia has potential and they were at the FRONT of something great with the tablets but I sense many possibly arrogant and myopic decisions from executives that 'know better' than their own engineers and the voices of their own customers.

Let's see if they can't manage to wrangle back customers like a proper company.

*sigh*

I really, really wish I could vent more on this...

Oh, and shout out to my old buddy Milhouse! I see you lurking there!

I feel compelled to add something here.

I hope no one gets the idea I am whining for the sake of... whining. There's more to it.

I joined Nokia because I wanted to. I was already employed elsewhere at the time. I saw an opening that highly intrigued me and went for it.

Best move of my professional life, hands down.

I fell in with a team of passionate, can-do people at the Alliance factory that had the knowledge and desire to make Nokia USA THE cell phone provider of choice. This group had been given an ultimatum: transform the way you do business; improve your efficiencies and quality targets; become THE best practice standards bearer for the corporation. Do these things, accomplish some very specific metrics, and your factory has a future. Fail, and it does not.

I was hired to help fulfill that. We took the challenge very seriously. The factory teams rose to the occasion and beat

every

single

expectation.

Not long afterward, we were told, "hey, nice job! You did what you were asked and more. But we decided to shut you down anyway."

Therein lies the origin of some of the bad feelings of many ex-employees. I can't blame anyone for it.

I decided to be optimistic despite depression over the closure, and made sure my name came to the attention of the main US office. I was fortunate that a role opened up I could walk into. So my employment was extended for a while.

Anyway, it's not just sour grapes. We were dangled a carrot and we rolled up our sleeves and went for it. We WANTED Nokia to succeed. We had the knowledge, the people and the tools to kick both Apple and RIM's @$$es soundly.

But we were not allowed.

And that's as much as I'll go into... and maybe more than I should have.

Some may wonder, "are you bitter, then?" No. Disappointed, but not bitter. And if asked, I would gladly return to Nokia. There's still things I want to be a part of fixing.

Dude.... don't get me started! Ahhh... too late.

I agree with pretty much all the comments made so far - Nokia made a complete hash of touchscreen phones by misreading the future direction of smart phones and arrogantly digging in their heels by denying touchscreens were important (the Exec behind that decision is hopefully looong gone). Nokia have even paid for the mismanagement of Maemo which, let's face it, was just a vanity project until the iPhone dropped, which caused Nokia to panic and decide to get serious about our favourite mobile OS.

Nokia's customer focus is and always has been poor, and even the comments made by danramos strike a cord - did anyone ever find the web page selling replacement stylii for the 770, N800 or N810? Hidden pages on the Nokia online shops - sheer genius! It's a little thing, but it kinda sums up the general incompetence and lack of attention to detail that seems to be endemic at Nokia.

At the end of the day, Nokia has become a corporate mess that should be sh1tting bricks at the level of developer mind-share they have hemorrhaged to the competition in the last 2 years, and which they are very unlikely to recover for a long while to come. It's good to hear that nice new devices are coming down the pipe, but the world has moved on from the latest hardware and it's now about slick, usable software and effective, reliable and ubiquitous services - areas in which Nokia are notoriously weak.

Maemo - amazingly - may be the salvation of Nokia, if (and it's a big IF) Nokia gets it right with Fremantle. Fremantle and the "N900" device must tick every box that one would tick when considering an iPhone, and that's just if Nokia want to be in contention let alone exceed what Apple have so far created.

And then there's the issue of improved customer service.... attention to detail... amazing and flawless execution. A major overhaul is required, root to tip.

Oh well... fingers crossed for Maemo!

Very, very unfortunately you and your colleagues were victims of Nokia incompetence when it came to the US cell phone market. I can tell you are not bitter, just immensely frustrated by the sense of helplessness you no doubt felt as you could see it all going to sh1t around you. Sometimes, I feel the same about Maemo...

The US cell phone market seems to be different to every cellular market elsewhere in the world, and I'm not really sure that Nokia got to grips with that difference. And now, with the emergence of sophisticated US cellular platforms that will challenge the best that Nokia has to offer, Nokia will regret for a very long time the loss of that market, and people like you.

I believe nokia wanted to use its sheer numbers to change the way the cellular providers operate in the US. While they lost valuable market share by not releasing locked phones, they always had the hope of doing it the right way yielding better results in the longer run. But unfortunately that idea was a total disaster. Not developing touch screens and not going in for carrier lock ins are the most important factors which led to its current downfall. I personally think the first one is a dumb decision while i applaud the second one. But in the situation they are right now...... unless the fcc intervenes there is no way they would succeed by selling unlocked phones only. The worst thing is that people are buying the locked phones and ending up paying more over the 2 year period and having to stay in a contract. But still they are selling like hot cakes.

I believe that in any SUCCESSFUL business that has managed to rise above the rest--you ALWAYS see the idea that EVERY division and job title in a company is there as a tool to aid the rest and that everyone needs to get their way. Let the engineers, engineer (management, lawyers, developers and everyone should be helping them to successfully execute good engineering decisions), let the developers, develop (management, lawyers, engineers and everyone should be helping them to successfully execute good development decisions), and so on.

From my observations: when the management at the top pretends that they are the end-all and be-all of all knowledge in the company and stop being the managers and instead pretend they know all the best decisions for every element of a company, you will end up with either oppressive micromanagement or with a sloppy mess. Neither will work.

Seriously.. look around some some of the most successful and honest businesses that allow their engineers, developers, admins, etc. to have decision control or feedback in how a company runs.

It was VERY much appreciated on the customer end. I am not particularly interested in being a deep cynic here. I WANT to have brand loyalty, but I don't feel married to a brand that won't even talk to me or take care of me when I need support.

I regret that Tex was let go--I've always been glad to see someone at Nokia actively participating as if they were one of us and listened to the excited raves as well as the frustrated rants (and man, did I EVER rant a lot!). Thanks, Tex!

I only hope nokia does not do another 7710 debacle by stopping the development of internet tablets as we know them. As we all see there is a lot of interest in wide screen pocket able devices. Nokia has been having tablets for almost 3.5 years now and no one seems to be knowing them. While apple's tablets are still a rumor and every one is waiting for them to release. If nokia stops releasing wide screen 4-5 inch tablets then it is just a repetition of the 7710 debacle. If that is the case no one can ever help nokia.