had some fun there i see

the fun thing about nokia is that they are at least as diverse as apple, and maybe even more so. Iirc, the company started out making rubber boots, and have at some point or other made all kinds of electronics, like say set top boxes...

ah, i see now that you touched on that at a later reply...

btw, i really do wonder what it is with apple that produces such apparent loyalty...

Highly focusing.

That's been obvious since the first MacIntosh:

Phase I

Get yourself an a*shole genius dictator. For more information on how he should act, go to folklore.org.

Phase II

• Create practical technology that is thee most pleasant and thee most fun to use.
• Rinse
• Repeat

Then you get the woman, loyalty, and high margins.

Marketing. Effective marketing.

Ding!

Simplifying the product, the ease of use, and ratcheting up the exclusivity (whether in price, look, use, or all of the above), is a very sound marketing ploy to those who have money, and don't know what to do with it. Therefore you get these people to pay more for less, and you rake in the profits.

Remember also, RIM and Apple hedge things on platfoms then devices. Right now, that's not what Nokia is doing. Its in the BES and iTunes side of things that these two companies make more interesting a smartphone investment. If Nokia can find a means to make Ovi a platform where its relevancy becomes a destination irregrardless of whatever it is they are selling, then the smartphones have something to be smarter about.

*Its also for this reason of profits that Symbian is being pushed downmarket, and Maemo being pushed in front of the market. The initial costs of doing a Maemo device may invite better profits down the line for Nokia; hence, why they'd be playing that card.

^ nailed it nicely

while correct, i find myself reading that as "restriction of use" each time i bump into it.

mama corp says you should always do things "this" way, and just to be sure, have made it very hard to do it any other way...

the trick, imo, is making it easy to use out of the box, while also allowing the geeks to run riot of so wanted/needed (need being in the eye of the geek, not the corp)...

Actually, "ease of use" should read "restricted use." I'm sorry if you don't feel that is right, but the only what that you can guarantee a high level of quality of service, while ensuring profitability, is to either standardize on some type of convention with a ton of other folks (W3C for example), or be your own standards (Apple) and utilize your position to level set expectations for everyone else.

Contrary to the "geek" want, restrictions invite success. The key is finding innovation when there are walls around you. If you will, freedom is not anarchy, but knowing the rules and succeeding in spite of them.

not everyone agrees on the restrictions bit:
http://futureoftheinternet.org/

and agreeing on good conduct rules are one thing, another is having them forced from on high.