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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Bealman on November 23, 2016, 12:48:49 AM

Title: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Bealman on November 23, 2016, 12:48:49 AM
I was just digging around in some drawers (wooden furniture ones, before you get in, Mick), and came across an old Nokia phone of mine:

(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/45/255-231116003934.jpeg)

Which got me to thinking. Nokia used to be the Bees Knees in the game for a long while, but since the advent of smartphones, you hardly seem to hear of them any more, as if they've left the race.

I used to like that old Nokia - metal case, for one thing. Also had an SD card which was a bit advanced at the time.

Of course I managed to reflect yours truly with his replacement plastic phone after getting mine stolen at the weekend (as per angry thread) - phone # 3 so far this year!!  :worried:
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: dannyboy on November 23, 2016, 01:13:38 AM
Nokia was bought by Microsoft for a reported $7.17 billion.  :goggleeyes:. So now you buy a 'Microsoft' phone, not a 'Nokia'. But I still refer to my phone as a Nokia  :thumbsup:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia

'Crooked Spire' just beat me!
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Chetcombe on November 23, 2016, 01:31:23 AM
Love the fact that you can see the reflection of the smartphone you are using to take the picture on the screen of the Nokia!

I wonder when we will be looking back at iPhones and Android phones with the same nostalgia...
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Timofpenk on November 23, 2016, 08:13:55 AM
Nokia made the lumia  that was a smart phone it had several mainly due to me breaking them. You couldn't get a strong weather proof case for them. I never really got on with them and was more than happy wen the phone company offered to put me back with an iPhone as they are idiot proof ;)

Tim
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Michael Shillabeer on November 23, 2016, 08:17:28 AM
When the iPhone appeared Nokia management said "people don't want touchscreens"

At an engineering level we said "Apple is bad news for Nokia! People will love them!"

Nokia replaced it's CEO with Stephen Elop a former Microsoft executive. He publicly announced that Nokia's Symbian operating system was rubbish and would be replaced by Windows... in a year's time... sales dried up... and he sold Nokia to Microsoft making himself a $25.4million bonus, while making 1000's of engineering staff redundant...

Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Karhedron on November 23, 2016, 10:33:16 AM
Like most of the "feature phone" manufacturers, Nokia simply failed to realise how significant the "smartphone revolution" was. They thought touch-screens and apps were gimmicks rather than the essential features they are now regarded as. I worked for both Nokia and Ericsson between 1999 and 2010 and I saw the collapse first-hand.

Nokia had actually developed their own smartphone OS called Series 60 when Apple released the first iPhone but had failed to put it in any kind of slick package. Ericsson tried to add things like a touch screen on top of their existing embedded operating system without rethinking the underlying architecture.

Most of the "big fish" in the mobile phone world 10 years ago failed to spot the smartphone trend and got out-evolved by Apple, Samsung et al.

Nokia tried to change course with their Lumia phones but made (what turned out with hindsight to be) the mistake of backing Windows Mobile as their operating system which has pretty much become the Betamax of smartphone OSs. This is a pity as I have a Lumia 610 that actually works very well. Despite its modest power, it is robust (4 years old and going strong), reliable (it never glitches) and great battery life (I normally get 5 days out of it, far beyond most other smartphones). Unfortunately the selection of apps are terribly limited and I make little use of its "smart" features.

Ericsson had a stake in Sony via their joint Sony Ericsson operation and Sony Android smartphones are quite good but have had difficulty recapturing market share after being late off the starting blocks.
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: dodger on November 23, 2016, 12:03:01 PM
Quote from: Michael Shillabeer on November 23, 2016, 08:17:28 AM
When the iPhone appeared Nokia management said "people don't want touchscreens"

At an engineering level we said "Apple is bad news for Nokia! People will love them!"

Nokia replaced it's CEO with Stephen Elop a former Microsoft executive. He publicly announced that Nokia's Symbian operating system was rubbish and would be replaced by Windows... in a year's time... sales dried up... and he sold Nokia to Microsoft making himself a $25.4million bonus, while making 1000's of engineering staff redundant...
Thats why I bought a Nokia phone earlier this year.

Dodger
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: dannyboy on November 23, 2016, 09:24:50 PM
I have had Nokia phones for as long as I can remember and love them  :thumbsup:. My current one, Lumia 920, (I think!), replaced a previous Lumia. I did once try another make and operating system, but just could not get on with it and after a couple of months, went back to Nokia. People bemoan the fact that there are not a lot of app's for Windows - how many diaries/weather/music app's do people want!  ???. Plus I can swap files between the laptop and the phone.  An yet, SWMBO can not get on with Nokia and has a Samsung. Strange woman  :). But it just goes to show that we are all different.  :beers:
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Rabbitaway on November 23, 2016, 10:11:04 PM
Why, why do people love iPhones

I commute on a busy train and watch people play with their iPhones and around 40% have cracked screens. Over priced un-durable rubbish sold on hype.

Interesting that Samsung had to withdraw their latest phone due to a few faulty batteries but Apple get away with selling phones that the screen cannot take to lightest of nocks and therefore clearly not fit for purpose

My company issued 2 year old Lumia has been dropped, handled and used continuously without a case and has hardly a scratch. As a business phone the Lumia is away ahead and works well with Microsoft



Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Bealman on November 23, 2016, 10:28:05 PM
Interesting observation. My daughter's iPhone is cracked, when I come to think of it.
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Gordon on November 24, 2016, 01:07:44 AM
.

I find this thread quite amusing, as when I was growing up I put Nokia's on my feet!

Nokia was well known as a rubber boot maker (amongst many other things), and got into phones almost by accident.

I had a very sturdy pair of Nokia waterproof boots (actually better designed than Wellingtons) with screw in snow studs (a Finnish company remember...) bought in the 1970s (long before most people thought of mobile phones as a possibility) which lasted about 30 years .


Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Mr Sprue on November 24, 2016, 06:32:26 PM
Although now my current phone is a Samsung J5  I still have my trusty little 8310 which is a great pocket phone, and fits just nicely into my suit trouser pocket unlike the J5 which is nearly the size of a small book!
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: DELETED on November 24, 2016, 07:09:09 PM
Quote from: Bealman on November 23, 2016, 12:48:49 AM

(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/45/255-231116003934.jpeg)


...Gosh, just a bit surprised at the pic of that phone.  Having used raspBlackberrys for a number of years at work before, if that didn't have NOKIA on it I would have easily mistaken it for one of my old phones!

QuoteWhy, why do people love iPhones

...Is it something to do with "Post Truth" (a new phrase I hard for the first time this week but is apparently used eveywhere ???).  If you say something is "best" or "better" so many times folk start believeing it without any real demonstrative proof.  I have to hand it to Apple though, reviews I read of every one of their phones almost always rank them equal, or usually 2nd place to something else but their marketing is fantastic -people just have to have one, and a better one, and the newest one when there's nothing wrong with their old 6 month old one :heart2:

I haven't had a NOKIA for a decade or so.  I'm a big HTC fan now.  Tried a couple of Sony's before and a phone running Windows which was just awful.  Last Sony cost me £500+ as my contract wasn't quite up and was so bad I had to get rid of it 6 months later when my free upgrade came up, I'd never have another Sony again!  No accounting for tste is there :-[

I was in Finland on a ship conversion job for about 9 months and I remember passing by the Nokia HQ back in winter of 2009/2010 on the (very good) train when my flight from Pori to Helsinki was cancelled due to the extreme cold (again).  I remember the press releases that they were pulling out of some of the smartphone industry but didn't realise they made other things.  Every day is a school day.

(I'm maybe not a good judge though -what's an "app" -why aren't they just called programs any more >:D First thing I do when I get a new phone or laptop now is strip-off as much GUFF as possible like facebook, Google Shopping etc etc. and disable the other rubbish which can't be removed.  Why do I need a "youtube" or a BBC "app" when I can just go to the websites like normal, why do I need a text message "app" when the regular text messaging works just fine?  Too stuck in my ways I guess LoL!

Rich
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Bealman on November 24, 2016, 07:59:09 PM
I must admit to being a fan of WhatsApp. With two daughters living in Sydney and one in Darwin,  it's great for sending and receiving pictures of what we are all up to.
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Railwaygun on November 26, 2016, 12:07:29 AM
this was my favourite phone - Nokia 6310i . massive battery life, texts, and fitted any pocket.
(http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/45/941-261116000706.jpeg) (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=45698)
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: pape_timmo on November 26, 2016, 06:23:40 AM
I saw a documentary on Nokia, and they were saying that Nokia always strived to get great battery life and didn't catch on to the smartphone thing until too late. The name Nokia came from the village where the company started out.

I must admit, work still issue us with the most basic Nokia phone you can get, it phones and it texts, not much else, but it sits in the bottom of my kit bag for months on end, and is there for emergencies, or when the iPhone dies for the 3rd time that day...

Cheers, Timmo
Title: Re: Whatever happened to Nokia?
Post by: Bealman on November 26, 2016, 06:42:43 AM
 :laughabovepost: :laughabovepost: