Hi again Kyle.

I think it is useful to know the iPhone and Android market (I personally prefer the Apple variety and have both phones, purely based on depth and quality)

The Nokia story will prevail I am sure, they just need the right product like the N9 and a good O/S, for once I think Microsoft may have developed something quite cool.

I have just wrote a report on the marketing budget Nokia are looking to offer up to ensure the marriage between Nokia and Windows actually works….and I can pretty much guarantee it will.

Though it does not come 100% guaranteed.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I won’t belittle the importance of apps, I think everyone can agree they are important and as a general rule, the more the merrier.  I just don’t think it’s apps that make a phone vibrant, it’s content.  Apps get a user excited about how capable their phone is, but ultimately what pleases them in the long run is the ability to consume content.  I’m sure there are all sorts of different personalities out there, but it wouldn’t be far fetched to say that once a person finds an app they like for serving up Facebook, they’re not going to go digging around and trying 20 other variants just to see if there’s something better out there.  But the ability to enjoy Facebook on their phone with the app they’ve chosen is paramount.
I’m not so familiar with Android and iPhone in terms of their native apps.  I know that Nokia does go a good job at several core apps created in-house and there are many other quality apps for other things to generate a functional handset to handle most core needs.  Beyond that, is where Apple and Google shine with lots of extras to choose from but I think it goes back to the personality.

I have an N8 which came default with 3 home screens.  I started configuring the phone and used it that way for several weeks until I came to a point where I realized that 3 screens was a pain in the butt and I’d rather just deal with 2 screens.  That’s moving towards a more simplistic experience than a more involved experience because it works for me.  When I see my sister’s iPhone with her pages and pages of folders and icons, it just makes me think to myself: “How does she even move around in that mess?”

So what I’m trying to say is that even Nokia phones in MeeGo or WP variants that have somewhat crippled marketplaces could still strive as long as they deliver hard and fast on core app functionality and simultaneously provide an enjoyable experience around accessing content.  Any sort of windfall at that starting point will draw in developers from the cold and so begins the perpetual growth of an ecosystem.

It really goes to say though that if Nokia isn’t willing to stand behind MeeGo, it’s going to be a tough road for people to patiently wait for someone other than Nokia to step up to the plate to make it the OS it needs to be.  Given the feverish following of Linux (which is all MeeGo is), there is still a chance that would still happen.

Hi Kyle…..let me first say thank you for your opinion.

I think that WP7 will become a force to be reckoned with definitely….(it is very important that this happens though)

MeeGo – I am simply unsure about, I will admit to finding it all a bit confusing in relation to where that is going with Nokia and unsure that developers will offer much in the way of quality Apps for this O/S as a result….of course I could be mistaken with Qt.

Phone/Product Design – I love the N9 – I stated that Nokia “were” the best at this (maybe not heavy enough now I look back) , but currently have nothing recent to show that anyone can truly remember due to other smart phones taking the limelight currently…..yes teh N8 is cool but agree that teh N9 may actaully have some sizeable admires due to the design and O/S being what we expect in mid 2011.

Ubiquity – Lets take the phone out of the equation here – If Nokia’s WP7 phones and MeeGo phones have crap or few apps, then that black slab will be as “samey” as the next persons, the point of the article is, despite the phone, it is the Apps that make the individuality of each phone.

“That’s a Nokia, wow I didn’t realize they make such a nice phone.” This is the point of the article really in a nutshell…..make or break?

Yes people want choice, but that applies to the customization as well as the product.

I think you’re blowing the whole Apple perfection thing a little overboard.  They do have great quality control but that’s in a big part due to their Machiavellian ecosystem.  That’s fine and all, but dictatorships often end in revolution.

IMHO regardless of the experience, in a matter of the next three years people will start feeling like the having the same phone as everyone else is actually a negative not a positive and they’re start yearning for something less ‘ubiquitous’.  As much as you’ve ragged on Nokia’s hardware design, I’d say the opposite.  Nokia’s most recent design (E7, N8, X7) have all been very unique with the N9 taking the cake.  Reviewers all say this is a beautiful phone with interesting design elements.  I see many references to Android devices (and sometimes iPhone) as “Here’s another black slab” and that somehow that’s a good thing because the company is being ‘consistent’.

The N9 isn’t going to tip any tables for iPhone or Android, but I believe there will be a significant amount of sales and many comments that sound something like this:

“That’s a Nokia, wow I didn’t realize they make such a nice phone.”

I have no issue with the OS it looks great, and also the device sounds wonderful.
In all honesty my personal opinion is that Nokia will prevail (in the end) the point I am making is how close Nokia may have left it to stay up to speed with its rivals. The other point is I hope that Nokia start respecting their consumers and developers enough to not offer them a great device with lack of applications……yes Apple released without many apps, but they have done a great job of encouraging and controlling/nurturing this aspect of their own product – of course many will say they stifle creativity but lets get real, the Apple app store has no malware, and has just served up 15 billion apps the other day….people seem happy (consumers and Apple) and it appears to bear no relation to Nokia currently….this has to be a concern, surely?….though not to say the N9 will be the start of Nokia’s rise back to the top.

I seriously can’t give any credit to the “be one of us or be an outsider” argument, if the outsider has its own merits, it will do just fine. After all, the iPhone did, right?

Well glad you like the article but the point that is really being made is that the new Nokia range has got to make sure that applications are developed for it or that the method of using Android apps really works and is not left lacking in functionality or indeed frustrating as this will signal the end. Apple have really made sure that anything other than perfection is frowned upon usability wise, now that the proverbial Apple has been tasted by the masses!