Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago • Hacker News Board

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#31

Post by seba_dos1 » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:10 AM UTC

mnmmn123456 wrote: post #13

It didn't change the world. The iPhone did 10 years later. I guess the article is of interest because it has this wrong claim weaved in and even at it's time the "Nokia Communicator" wasn't a big success. Maybe we didn't know what FAANG-like success looks like at that time and everyone thought "Nokia is such a respectable, successful company in Scandinavia". Probably the article is of interest now because, we didn't…

We have all noticed that the world has changed with iOS and Android, and we're still trying to recover from that disaster.

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#32

Post by ollifi » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:15 AM UTC

antris wrote: post #17

pedrocr wrote: post #2

Was the Communicator ever really influential? I was in a Nokia dominated market at the time and pagers and then blackberrys seemed to be what actually drove that side of the market. The Communicator was seen as a curiosity.

It was a high-end device for businesses. The price range made it almost completely out of the question for regular consumers, and it was never meant as a consumer device. But when it was introduced in 1996, sending e-mail and fax and being able to browse the web on mobile was definitely a huge thing for businesses. Mind you, the dial-up internet just had started booming a couple of years earlier. The communicator pre…

I find it interesting that phones never got cheaper but now they are more useful so large number of people actually consider 1000$ to be ok price to pay for one.

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#33

Post by fsflover » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:17 AM UTC

danhor wrote: post #26

amelius wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How well do the Android apps run on it (using Anbox)? I'd need that for running my banking app.

Do note that many banking apps use google safetynet, which means they won't work on anything that deviates too much from normal android and it won't work on anbox.

This is exactly why one needs to make a stance in public against surveillance economy. The government and banks should not support the duopoly.

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#34

Post by swiley » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:19 AM UTC

amelius wrote: post #20

fsflover wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here you go: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 and https://pine64.org/pinephone . FAQ about the first one: https://source.puri.sm/Librem5/community-wiki/-/wikis/Freque... .

How well do the Android apps run on it (using Anbox)? I'd need that for running my banking app.

I still haven't gotten anbox to work but I also realized every single app that I used besides Snapchat had a website that worked well (including my banking app.) Some banking apps apparently include a TOTP implementation, this is a trivial algorithm and there are many native Linux apps for it.

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#35

Post by asymptosis » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:25 AM UTC

mnmmn123456 wrote: post #13

It didn't change the world. The iPhone did 10 years later. I guess the article is of interest because it has this wrong claim weaved in and even at it's time the "Nokia Communicator" wasn't a big success. Maybe we didn't know what FAANG-like success looks like at that time and everyone thought "Nokia is such a respectable, successful company in Scandinavia". Probably the article is of interest now because, we didn't…

I don't know why you're getting downvoted. The thought arises: what's the motivation for Deutsche Welle to suddenly post an article about a derelict Finnish proto-"smartphone"?

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#36

Post by swiley » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:25 AM UTC

raesene9 wrote: post #27

This article kind of misses out the later Nokia N900, which had great hardware, but suffered from Nokia's lack of support (IIRC they stopped supporting it about 6 months after launch). If you like that kind of form factor/functionality, there's current devices too like the cosmo communicator https://store.planetcom.co.uk/products/cosmo-communicator

It says debian support is "planned" but I wonder what exactly the plan is. Looking around it sounds like a bunch of drivers are missing for that SoC, is the plan to re-implement them? Wait for the community to re-implement them?

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#37

Post by unixhero » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:26 AM UTC

mnmmn123456 wrote: post #13

It didn't change the world. The iPhone did 10 years later. I guess the article is of interest because it has this wrong claim weaved in and even at it's time the "Nokia Communicator" wasn't a big success. Maybe we didn't know what FAANG-like success looks like at that time and everyone thought "Nokia is such a respectable, successful company in Scandinavia". Probably the article is of interest now because, we didn't…

You apparently never used one.

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#38

Post by nabla9 » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:27 AM UTC

Nokia Communicator was insane. Telnet/ssh connection was a game changer. It was device for professionals, not for mass market.

Selling same core concept to both mass markets and professionals

* has made everything cheaper and more powerful, and

* has decreased input ergonomics for heavy users.

Communicator/Blackberry with hardware keyboards were in some sense peak in input ergonomics for accuracy and speed in thumb-typing. Now it's just less or more suck with touch screens. I don't even bother to install ssh terminal for iPhone because easier/faster to carry tiny laptop than suffer the experience.

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#39

Post by unixhero » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:27 AM UTC

asymptosis wrote: post #35

mnmmn123456 wrote: post #13

It didn't change the world. The iPhone did 10 years later. I guess the article is of interest because it has this wrong claim weaved in and even at it's time the "Nokia Communicator" wasn't a big success. Maybe we didn't know what FAANG-like success looks like at that time and everyone thought "Nokia is such a respectable, successful company in Scandinavia". Probably the article is of interest now because, we didn't…

I don't know why you're getting downvoted. The thought arises: what's the motivation for Deutsche Welle to suddenly post an article about a derelict Finnish proto-"smartphone"?

At the time Nokia was not derelict. It is stated in the heading, it is now 25 years ago when Nokia started its path to become a global juggernaut.

Re: Nokia 9000 Communicator was launched 25 years ago

#40

Post by frosted-flakes » Mon, Aug 16, 2021, 11:27 AM UTC

mnmmn123456 wrote: post #7

tannhaeuser wrote: post #5

I'd love to have a tin-foil hat device like that today, to make a stance in public against surveillance economy and mindless consumption. LCD, removable battery, GBA-like bulkiness, and other retro traits helping with power efficiency and sustainability would be a plus, too.

GBA = Gameboy Advanced

Game Boy Advance