maemo.org - Talk - For the old Nokia's sake, we have to stop the new Nokia

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For the old Nokia's sake, we have to stop the new Nokia

The entire reason for Nokia and other manufacturers (including Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson etc) founding Symbian over ten years ago was to stop Windows dominating mobile computing. They shared ownership of the platform with no single company having control, and Bill Gates was very very very very pissed off ( http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/05...etary_symbian/ ). The use of Linux on the Maemo tablets was another step towards ensuring no one controlled mobile ecosystems.

Personally, I don't want to see Nokia's good name used to sneak closed platforms like Windows into people's pockets. That's absolutely totally the opposite of what the company has worked for in its mobile computing history.

So, as painful as this is to suggest, Nokia itself now has to be stopped. Except for the name, it's no longer the company it was, it is no longer in control of itself. It is effectively under occupation, just a tool for Microsoft.

And here's what makes this situation particularly scary: Microsoft want Nokia to be their new IBM, and it might work if no one stops them.

Thanks to their massive manufacturing chains, the lowest price Nokia smartphone (the 5230) only costs about $100 (that's unlocked and without a contract!), and it's getting even cheaper all the time. This low price point is the main reason Nokia devices are so dominant globally, as they are a highly-trusted brand in the developing world and sell products that even the poorest users can afford. That's the global reach that Microsoft wants, and taking over Nokia's phones would very quickly give Windows a huge userbase worldwide. And that might force other manufacturers switch to Windows too, just as they were forced to on PCs.

Then, when Windows has taken over the mobile world too, Nokia will be forgotten as the cheapest no-brand clones take over the hardware market. This is what happened when DOS/Windows took over before the clone PC market established itself, with IBM as the original trojan horse that faded into the background.

To put this in simple terms, if we want to be true to the old pro-open Nokia's spirit, we have to take down the grotesque trojan horse that Microsoft has turned Nokia into.

So, how can this be done?

Well, firstly a note about the three-way race concept: it might be true in rich countries, but most smartphone users are not in rich countries. Globally, most smartphone users cannot afford to buy an iPhone. And, unlike other OS makers, Apple has never shown any interest in the true global mass market. Apple has never properly licensed its OS to other manufacturers so there's no way for cheap clones to use it.

IMHO the most promising option by far is supporting Android:

- While Google's involvement is scary, Android is still much more open than Windows or iOS

- Android is appearing on ever-cheaper devices (the current cheapest Android is about $200 unlocked without a contract)

- Android has overtaken Symbian in volume sales, and is clearly the platform's most plausible rival

- Android now has support from most major manufacturers, so there's a good choice of hardware at many different price points.

For the old open Nokia's sake, let's try to make life as difficult as possible for the bad new closed Nokia. We should pre-emptively discourage ordinary non-OS-aware users from buying any devices or products with the Nokia brand, and help OS-aware users avoid Symbian, or "transition" away from Symbian onto Android before Windows gets any kind of chance.

If Android can take over globally before Nokia starts shipping Windows in cheap smartphones, then Microsoft's takeover of Nokia will have been tragic but ultimately pointless.

And on as a nice little bonus, if the takeover makes Symbian users switch to Android instead, then by doing this takeover Microsoft would have actually shot themselves in the foot, which would be quite satisfying.