iWeep
In his final post, Dan explains that the key reason for closing the site is because, “Nokia have stopped being as creative as they once were.”
Dan goes on to cite bug-filled £500 devices and the Nokia N97 in particular. The main issue for Dan though was content:
“All the [Nokia] phones ended up feeling pretty much the same due to the tired Symbian OS.”
Dan then points out how Android came from nowhere to version 2.2 in just two years, with the chaps behind it iterating fast in response to user and developer feedback.
Dan finishes his explanation with this statement:
“Other players have moved with the times and Nokia is still dragging it’s heels, you only need to see the large quantity of Nokia fans who have parted ways with the company and moved onto a different platform such as Android or iPhone.”
Dan’s not alone in pointing this out. Micky over at NokiaDNA raised the same issue a week or so ago too.
Give me a break.
First off, this somehow reminds me of Jason Calacanis giving up on blogging. Only to start an email newsletter the contents of which are published as blog posts on his blog.
Or should I mention MIR’s own Ewan who closed the site at one point, only to resurrect it as (you guessed it!) an email newsletter, that now gets published on the site, along with other posts?
Why am I bringing up these examples? Because this is a good publicity stunt.
Congratulations, Dan Carter, you have successfully managed to put CoolSmartPhone on the map. Because he conveniently isn’t giving up blogging altogether, he’s just giving up on Nokia - and the “farewell” post (wait, I have to wipe some tears… done) contains a link to where he’ll continue blogging about all things mobile (I guess).
Yeah.
Ok.
I gave up on reading Mashable a few months ago. Maybe I should have written a saddening blog post about it. Who knows, maybe Scoble would’ve linked to me and made me instantly famous (you know, as good as instant coffee)?
As for the bug-filled N97, this is all a bit disingenuous. Was it bug-filled when it came out? Sure, but then Dan knew this probably not by buying the bug-filled thing, but by trialling it - a feat he was able to accomplish thanks to his blogging activity. And the thing is, even before getting a loaner in, he (and I, and everyone on the Internet) already knew it was buggy. So why would anyone buy a product knowing that it’s going to be buggy? Especially a 500-pound product?! Beats me.
As for the “but let’s all collectively cry for the average Joe who doesn’t know what the internet is” argument, yes, let’s do that. But let’s not act like five-year olds.
Hey, I know. Now I have a reasonable (?) excuse for why I’ve been blogging less and less frequently. So, in case you were wondering, it’s thanks to Nokia’s lack of innovation.
As for the “tired” Symbian OS… let’s just say it’s really good that there’s no second amendment here. Otherwise…
Not to be misunderstood - the point here isn’t that you should love Symbian^1 or Nokia or anything. The point is that if you feel something better exists for your needs and your use-case, go grab it. Just don’t cry because one company didn’t manufacture the exact product you never knew you wanted and hell couldn’t even describe if were asked to at exactly the time you felt you needed said indescribable product.
As for Android… funny. Yes, it has moved from nowhere to 2.2 in two years. But that’s because it was nowhere to begin with. Get it? You have to root/hack/jailbreak/whatever you want to call it your precious 2.2 Android phone to take a screenshot. Not kidding. So yes, it has come a long way (as has Symbian over the past decade, but hey, the Symbian Foundation is not Google or Apple, right?), but there’s still a very, very, very long way to go.
Biggest mistake Nokia made in their Symbian strategy? Not headquartering the Foundation in Silicon Valley. I’m serious.
Has the hype won?
I guess it all depends on how ignorant the subject is. The more ignorant you are, the more chances there are that the hype has indeed won, and the main use-case for your phone is making it make 690 different fart sounds.
And often times I feel that the only thing some mobile bloggers are after is showing off how much they can lick their new device to their friends. Forget trends, understanding the market, helping people make informed (and educated) buying decisions, providing context to news and generally making people think more about these amazing tiny smart devices.
It’s all akin to mass hysteria.
And it’s not funny. Never was.
So please, Nokia fans, stop acting like you being fans is a religion and God has disappointed you because you prayed for a new toy last night and this morning when you woke up it wasn’t there and now you’re mad at God and tonight you’ll try Allah.
The problem in this narrative isn’t Nokia, or God, or Allah. It’s your childish expectations. Once you understand this, I’m happy to welcome you to the real world.
Note: The religion comparison also applies to other breeds of fanboys, without a doubt. Yet some seem more satisfied with their God than others.
Last note: It would also be cool, from time to time, to remember that the objects of your fanaticism are for-profit corporations who are driven (by the nature of capitalism) in business decisions by their investors’/stock holders’ expectations and not their consumers’ (this is fundamental, not necessarily apparent at all times). If you don’t like this, perhaps a conversation about our current form of capitalism is needed, but please, stop whining and (hopefully) start understanding. And remember, “understanding” something need not be equal to “agreeing” with said thing.
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