Nokia - Blazing Platform?

My economics teacher, Ms Kimmie, called a magazine retailer to let us subscribe either TIME, Newsweek or The Economist today. His name is Michael, who is quite a nice man. His introduction and recommendation on different types of magazines were fantastic, and, to his kindness, he gave each of us two copies of "The Economist" magazine for free! "WHAT!!! FREE????" That's what I thought at the first place. They worth around RM40 if you try to get them at any magazine stalls. I really appreciated it as I actually started to cultivate the habit of reading English magazine, especially "The Economist", though I subscribe TIME magazine at that moment. ^^ Guess what, I even got a freebie - TIME limited pendrive! LOL!!!!

Well, let's come back to what I read today. It is quite an interesting article. As a technology enthusiast, I always like to follow up with what is new especially handphones and computers. This article that I have read stated that Nokia, which is a boss in Nokia before that, has lost its stand and they describe it as "Blazing Platform".

"Stephen Elop, Nokia's new boss stated that they are standing on a burning platform. If Nokia did not want to be consumed by the flames, it had no choice but to plunge into the "icy waters" below. In plainer words, the company must change its ways radically."

As we know, Nokia's OS is Symbian, Apple iPhone is known of its App Store, while Android phone, App Market. These are only what we know, but the reason that Apple App Store is such a success than Symbian is that it is full of apps, which is user friendly and lag-free. Furthermore, they are easily available and the system that iPhone has is such a wonder. Before that, I was using Nokia N73 and I found out that the Symbian OS is quite lag, even though you pressed a button, it took you around 5 seconds to actually process what you commanded. Then when Samsung Omnia came, which is a touch-screen phone, I was quite attracted to it. So, I changed to Omnia which runs Windows Mobile 6. Well, that was even worse. The so-called touch screen detects by using pressure, not touch at all. Can you imagine I typed message by pressing the screen here and there, which strained my fingers much.

Now, here comes iPhone 4, which I am currently using now. It is very user-friendly, lag-free, and it detects by touching, not applying pressure. It is really nice as I can finish typing message in not more than 20 seconds. Some more, the apps are easily available at App Store. One of the strategies Apple uses is they provide you the free version or "Lite" version, which, you can experience how the programme is before buying the full version. The apps, too, suit every levels of people, ranging from kids to adults to senior citizens. It is almost like a mini computer, which is handy and can manage all your things in one phone! =)

The followings are quotation from "The Economist":

At its most fundamental, this shift is the result of Moore’s Law, which holds that microprocessors double in computing power every 18 months. The first generations of modern mobile phones were purely devices for conversation and text messages. The money lay in designing desirable handsets, manufacturing them cheaply and distributing them widely. This played to European strengths. The necessary skills overlapped most of all in Finland, which explains why Nokia, a company that grew up producing rubber boots and paper, could become the world leader in handsets.

As microprocessors become more powerful, mobile phones are changing into hand-held computers. As a result, most of their value is now in software and data services. This is where America, in particular Silicon Valley, is hard to beat. Companies like Apple and Google know how to build overarching technology platforms. And the Valley boasts an unparalleled ecosystem of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and software developers who regularly spawn innovative services.

Nokia had some additional problems to deal with. The firm realised its world was changing and was working on a touch-screen phone much like the iPhone as early as 2004. Realising the importance of mobile services, it launched Ovi, an online storefront for such things in 2007, a year before Apple opened its highly successful App Store.

But turning a Finnish hardware-maker into a provider of software and services is no easy undertaking. Nokia dallied and lost the initiative. Historically, Nokia has been a highly efficient manufacturing and logistics machine capable of churning out a dozen handsets a second and selling them all over the world. Planning was long-term and new devices were developed by separate teams, sometimes competing with each other—the opposite of what is needed in software, where there is a premium on collaborating and doing things quickly.

It is true that Silicon Valley has the sophisticated technology and gadgets. However, I believe that if they work together to produce a mobile phone from Europe while having the microchips and technology from Silicon Valley, the mobile phone will be a splendid one! =) Who knows, our future mobile phone will be something like a mobile phone with only 4 rods, and the screen will show up on the air. ^^ It will come true as now they already have virtual keyboard.

(P/S: Sorry for not elaborating much as I am rushing for this review)