S60 Open to new features

When Apple came into the mobile phone space, Nokia's official, COMMs-approved reaction was "Welcome to the Industry, and thank you for validating our vision of converged devices." When Google announced they will soon join the open mobile OS space, Nokia's officical, COMMs-approved reaction was "Welcome to the industry, and thank you for validating our vision of open, licensable OS platforms."

These kinds of statements strike many as total BS. But there is truth to the statements. In what way? Here's a personal example.

I've been in the mobile/software industry for 10 years. In those 10 years, my mom -- my own mother -- has never -- not once -- asked me about the industry I serve or software I market. It's not that we are estranged. We talk just about every week or so, and she visits my son, her grandson, around once per month. It's just that she is not remotely interested in technology or software. She does not own a mobile phone. She refuses to carry an ATM card. She doesn't own a computer and she rarely checks e-mail. She likes her interactions, whether with family, friends, or salespeople, to be up close and personal -- Face to face whenever posible. So the only time she asks about work is when I travel somewhere, and then it is to ask about what the people or the food are like in Germany, Finland, China, whereever.

So I was visiting my parents last Sunday. My son had slept over and I was picking him up. We talked about my latest trip. How was the family, the neighborhood, etc. All is well. After a couple hours it is time to go. I'm getting my six year old packed. He of course doesn't want to leave, grandma's house is a wonderland. I finally get him out the door. I hold the door open and step out, one foot over the threshold, the other still in mom's kitchen, when mom asks "So what's this about Google making a cell phone?" I stop, dumbfounded. What is mom saying? I look at her to see if she is kidding. I am used to questions from the press and from analysts about this, but not from my mom. I mumble something about the fact that they are not making a phone, they are providing software to make phones, but she is off on her own now. "Yeah well" she says, "I heard on NPR that cell phones are too confusing to use and that's why Google has to make their own phone now". By this time cold November winds were blowing into the kitchen, and my son was down to the end of the driveway and getting close to traffic. I quickly explained to her that my N95 was actually not very confusing to use, and that Nokia also made software for mobile phones, and that lots of people not only knew how to use these phones, but actually liked using them. I also promised we would talk about it more the next time we meet.

On the drive home, I thought about how Google was able to reach my mom when Nokia wasn't. That was a bummer. Bu at the same time, I was happy to have finally been asked about software for mobile phones. So in that sense, Google' announcement was a positive for Nokia and S60. Google's announcement really did help us "Grow the Pie" in the sense that people are talking again about software for mobile phones. The Google announcement prompted a flury of phones calls to my department. Suddenly people were asking "Hey, doesn't Nokia also make software for converged devices". Well, the answer is yes, we do. And we've been doing it for some time. In fact, we've been licensing the code for 7 years. And in that time we've maintained at least 50% market share in the OS space for 28 straight quarters and sold over 100 million S60 devices. But long term success is not as exciting to talk about on a radio show as "New entrant in new space" stories are. So getting an excuse to talk about S60 again is a good thing. And Google's announcement has brought Nokia, Symbian and S60 back into the spotlight.

So I'll say it for posterity "Hello Google. And welcome to the industy."