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Nokia acquired by Microsoft

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Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#281
post #139

Well, at least Qt got warp-core ejected before all of this. God only knows what would have happened in this transaction.

This. Even though I personally throw in with the GTK+ crowd as both a user and developer, the competition between the two camps is definitely good for innovation and makes for strong, compelling alternatives on the Linux desktop.

"This." This what? What does that mean?

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>There are a lot of people who would have picked up the attractive, well built, well engineered Nokia devices if they had the platform of Android. Yeah maybe. There is no guarantee that the outcome would have been more favorable than being bought out by Microsoft. >Apple obviously is very much in a battle with Android ... Apple already lost to Android. Last count, Android had 80% of the market. There is zero chance o…

"Apple already lost to Android. Last count, Android had 80% of the market." Everyone throws this out there, but phones running 2.3 that cost less than $100 are practically a different product than what Apple and Samsung are offering, which is where the true battle is. Over 1/3 of all Androids run 2.3: http://www.ibtimes.com/android-vs-ios-adoption-rates-jelly-b...

A 2.3 Phone will run almost every existing Android app out there. In fact, most Android apps target 2.2 and up.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Your comparison is no different than comparing Windows Server vs Linux servers. I think a better comparison is Mac vs. Windows. Windows won, but Macs are still thriving, and Apple is making nice margins. This is how I see iOS vs. Android playing out.

Perhaps, but the difference here is that Macs are still better machines in most respects. Macs endure as a niche product because they're higher quality products. Premium Android phones, on the other hand, provide a user experience that a lot of people consider superior.

Actually, it's very similar to the laptop market. A lot of people prefer Windows or Linux on Lenovo laptops, because they have some features that Macs don't have.

Likewise, if you compare the hardware (build quality etc) I think most people would agree that Apple still is has the best devices compared to Samsung, which still uses the same plastic frame even on high end phones.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#284
The deal is also very interesting as it clearly points to what the board of MS sees as the future - to truly become a device vendor. They have had success with Xbox, but failed with Zune and first generation Surface.

Can they really transform MS into a prosperous device company while not alienating their partners and affect their core enterprise SW business? I have my doubts and that they don't acquire the patents, just license them makes their position imho much weaker.

Also, the new Nokia feature phone, will it even appear on the market now before being killed?

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#285
post #7

That was more or less expected... But I think it is really sad too. I really enjoyed the pre-Microsoft Nokia, I had account in their dev forums, and loved their SDKs, community, Sybian, whatnot. To me, when they suddenly dropped Sybian while they were still ahead AND expanding in some markets (like Brazil, Russia...) and switched to MS, it was really sad, and I felt like they dropped the ball. Their Lumia phones DO p…

The defunct smartphone OS was named Symbian. Sybian is a sex toy brand, I believe.

You're the first person I've ever heard praising the Symbian SDK. It was a miserable mess without clear ownership or direction - Nokia made the UI while Symbian Ltd made the base OS, and neither gave a damn about third parties unless they had bags of money for special API access.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#286

Here's my take. Nokia's downfall has literally been the biggest business failure in the history of the planet - see communities-dominate.blogs.com for backstory. (As I mentioned in a previous post; I'm largely summarizing things Tomi proves with hard data.) My interpretation of this is that the increasingly untenable position of Stephen Elop began to incriminate the whole board, as any toppling of Elop would invite a…

Quoting TOmi Ahonen's blog here should be blasphemy , to be frank. He presents a very contorted narrative, with unjustified venom. As for as his summarizing things with hard data, take a look here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6319063 He said Gates vetoed Ballmer's decision to purchase Nokia, and hence gave him 6 months to chart his way out. He squarely blamed Nokia-MS partnership for Ballmer's retiring. Now look at today.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#287
Nowadays I measure acquisitions in Instagrams. At $7.2B Nokia cost Microsoft ~7 Instagrams. That sounds crazy when you think that Instagram had 13 employees, compared to 30000 employees moving to Microsoft from Nokia.

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#288
post #221
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed re: Samsung. With this new acquisition, Microsoft now has the ability to control the entire mobile phone experience -- something Apple has had huge success doing for years now. They'll have a high-quality platform to promote their app store and create an interesting ecosystem. This'll also create a distinct image in consumer's minds of what the Microsoft Phone is, similar to what we imagine when we think of th…

You missed a critical issue. Carriers don't like fully controlled verticals like Apple, as they don't want to compete on a fair battle ground. Apple is too powerful in US today, but no carrier wants another Apple. Several friends from Microsoft said this over past couple of years. Another issue is Microsoft does not have profitable consumer services other than Xbox. Even Microsoft can integrate a lot of its services…

This is exactly the issue. And not only in the US, but elsewhere as well. In my country, you pretty much never see operators promote the iPhone, but you see constant TV advertising for Android phones. Carriers only carry the iPhone because they have to in order to not lose customers.

The only way for Microsoft to entice carriers is to bend over backwards with deals, promotions and letting them customize the phone. Which was exactly what Microsoft was trying to avoid by copying the "we're calling the shots" way of Apple.

The other option, of course, is to make a phone that is so desirable that customers will start demanding it. So far, WP8 is not that phone. Partly because it's _not_ so much better than iPhone or Android, and partly, perhaps, because people's not so positive association with the Windows brand ("isn't that the thing that always needs updating?").

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

about a company that went from hero to zero largely at the hands of Android (RIM being another example). I think iOS had a lot more to do with Nokia's decline than Android. iOS came first and dominated the high end of mobile phones for years, displacing Nokia in that niche, and then Android also undermined them, but it was hardly all down to Android. Nokia used to sell a lot of high end phones, which they made money…

I think Nokia had more to do with Nokia's decline than iOS or Android. They had the hardware and software to do what Apple and Palm did at least a full generation before iPhone 1.

The Nokia n95 was announced in September 2006 and available in March 2007. Its ad slogan was "It's what computers have become."[0] What stands out in the second paragraph of the article where they highlight the capabilities is "the ability to install and run third party Java ME or Symbian mobile applications".

By contrast, the iPhone was decidedly not a computer. Not in the traditional sense. It is apparent in hindsight that people don't care about the downsides of being inside a walled garden.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N95

Re: Nokia acquired by Microsoft

#290
post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Even though I personally throw in with the GTK+ crowd as both a user and developer, the competition between the two camps is definitely good for innovation and makes for strong, compelling alternatives on the Linux desktop.

"This." This what? What does that mean?

You must be new to the internetz

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=this

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