Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#61

Post by fpgeek » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 2:33 AM UTC

The decision that never made sense to me was going all-in on WP7 instead of diversifying across MeeGo, WP7 and Android.

When push comes to shove, getting Nokia to treat WP7 as a first-tier platform would have bought Microsoft just as big a win as Nokia going all-in. I'd argue it might even have been a bigger win because Nokia would look much less like a rudderless ship about to crash. Maybe Elop didn't negotiate hard enough, maybe he didn't have the vision, or maybe he was too influenced by his time at Microsoft. We'll probably never know.

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#62

Post by majika » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 2:48 AM UTC

somebear wrote: post #46

bauchidgw wrote: post #41

at a conference i talked with some nokia devs, two funny stories. 1) the N9 (the meego phone) will never be released in an english speaking country as marketing fears the tech blogger will write even more crap about their strategy change - as it is a quiete decent phone 2) even though the code for the N9 they do not get any test devices, the code in a very rudimentary ide only, as there is a no Meego phone for devs a…

Pretty much nothing. Disclaimer: I work as a software engineer at Nokia. Australia is very much an English speaking country (although we are at the ass-end of the world), and the N9 is getting a lot of active marketing here [1, 2]. I have also been working on the software for the N9, but most of my development has been on device, either on the N950 or the N9. We always grumble that we don't get enough devices, but th…

Just in case you miss it, I made a comment parallel to yours to the parent. (POV of an Australian on the N9 and Nokia)

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#63

Post by tamersalama » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 2:50 AM UTC

The article's picture is very well picked. It's as if they're talking to each other while covering their mouths.

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#64

Post by boundhund » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 4:03 AM UTC

Note: the parking lot was probably deserted because there is currently an industry-wide labour union dispute that prohibits working overtime.

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#65

Post by rbanffy » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 4:22 AM UTC

robert_nsu wrote: post #48

cpeterso wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Nokia board of directors probably hired Elop because they wanted to transition to Windows Phone. Elop's job was to the bearer of bad news (to employees).

I was under the impression that they wanted to transition to Windows Phone or Android. Anything to help them become/stay competitive in the mobile space.

That would mean a transition to Android, because WP7 has proven not very competitive. In fact, Microsoft is giving them away for free at their stores.

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#66

Post by hristov » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 4:32 AM UTC

pavlov wrote: post #2

Summary: journalist visits a Nokia software development site in Tampere, where everybody used to work on two mobile operating systems that Nokia is phasing out. Understandably, these people are not particularly willing to admit that the software they spent years on wasn't good enough to keep up with Apple and Google, so the old conspiracy theory plops up: the Nokia CEO must be a "mole" who's intentionally driving the…

It is very suspicious that they jumped on Windows Mobile. All of the other companies that were in their exact situation went Android and are doing very well thus far. Even if we take it for granted that Meego was a non-starter, the question remains "why windows mobile?". It has shown absolutely no success in the marketplace and it is as much of a crapshoot as Meego.

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#67

Post by hristov » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 4:40 AM UTC

recoiledsnake wrote: post #51

pavlov wrote: post #2

Summary: journalist visits a Nokia software development site in Tampere, where everybody used to work on two mobile operating systems that Nokia is phasing out. Understandably, these people are not particularly willing to admit that the software they spent years on wasn't good enough to keep up with Apple and Google, so the old conspiracy theory plops up: the Nokia CEO must be a "mole" who's intentionally driving the…

This long article does a much better job of explaining matters than the link-bait here. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_24/b42320567... This guy has atleast a plan after Nokia realized it needs a big shake, unlike RIM which is in a similar situation but burning it's hands with 'me-too' tablets that no one wants and handwaving about the awesomeness of QNX instead of pivoting quickly before it's too lat…

So for that reason they decided to go into the rich Windows Mobile ecosystem? What kind of installed base is there for Windows Mobile nowadays? 5.7% and falling steadily.

Sorry but if the richness of the ecosystem is the main reason for change, then the obvious answer is Android.

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#68

Post by contextfree » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 4:46 AM UTC

cpeterso wrote: post #45

shareme wrote: post #8

Better yet is this question: MS value has decreased at least a 3rd since Ballmer got control..is Ballmer a mole ? Same exact logic problems as the article..except mine has more flair and imagination

Is Ballmer a mole for Procter & Gamble?

Obviously. P&G is still in phase 2 of their plan, too. They're playing a long game.

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#69

Post by daliusd » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 5:25 AM UTC

daliusd wrote: post #18

untog wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"How about MeeGo Harmattan, which is said to be even ahead of iOS in terms of usability, performance and polish." "which is said"? Who said?

I agree that it is too optimistic (see my other comment) but I was dissapointed that I can't swype in iPad.

OK. Maybe I was not clear enough but I wanted to say that swipe (http://swipe.nokia.com/) function from MeeGo Harmattan grown into me very fast. I have iPad as well - I have tried to swipe program in iPad naturally one day and that has not worked for me because there is no such function in iPad. My point is that Nokia has done something really cool from usability/user experience perspective.

Or maybe I'm downvoted only because I insulted all iOS device owners by saying that their device is not coolest gadget anymore...

Re: Is Nokia's CEO a Microsoft mole?

#70

Post by ttrashh » Thu, Oct 20, 2011, 5:43 AM UTC

hristov wrote: post #67

recoiledsnake wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This long article does a much better job of explaining matters than the link-bait here. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_24/b42320567... This guy has atleast a plan after Nokia realized it needs a big shake, unlike RIM which is in a similar situation but burning it's hands with 'me-too' tablets that no one wants and handwaving about the awesomeness of QNX instead of pivoting quickly before it's too lat…

So for that reason they decided to go into the rich Windows Mobile ecosystem? What kind of installed base is there for Windows Mobile nowadays? 5.7% and falling steadily. Sorry but if the richness of the ecosystem is the main reason for change, then the obvious answer is Android.

Multiple reasons imho: They got a great deal from Microsoft that Google wasn't willing to match, the OS is beautiful, plenty of existing Xaml developers, great platform + language and better tooling than Android or iOS.