That's what I got out of it. People who already like S60 (of which I am one) will love the N97 (which I do). People who are not familiar with it will probably get frustrated, especially if they are coming from something much more user friendly to neophytes, like the iPhone.
That is essentially Nokia's dilemma. How can it appeal to a wider audience while remaining in the good graces of the people who made it the number one phone manufacturer in the world? Palm completely scrapped it's OS for something brand new but can Nokia take such a huge risk?
"if they are coming from something much more user friendly to neophytes, like the iPhone."
Let's not over-generalize: I've owned several Symbian devices and after N95 swore that was the last time I trusted them with my money. Been very happy with iPhone ever since...
Taking your UI back to the drawing board every few years as technology makes better interfaces possible is an extremely good idea, and it's something that I think is absolutely necessary for anyone in the mobile game right now.
It's unfortunate that the only realistic way to do that on a platform supported by third party apps is to trash your old OS and build another from scratch, but that's what it takes to survive. Microsoft refused to realize that which is why I dumped WinMo for Android and didn't look back.
@Omagus: except it's neither probable nor exceptional - the overwhelming evidence is that most people will still prefer to use an iPhone even after being exposed to Symbian, smartphone sale numbers tell the story.
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So, uh, to summarize:
-Chris: if you're coming from a Nokia background, this is a solid upgrade.
-Thomas: sell your soul to Apple.
Fair summary?
So to summarize,
Thomas, your doing it wrong.
That's what I got out of it. People who already like S60 (of which I am one) will love the N97 (which I do). People who are not familiar with it will probably get frustrated, especially if they are coming from something much more user friendly to neophytes, like the iPhone.
That is essentially Nokia's dilemma. How can it appeal to a wider audience while remaining in the good graces of the people who made it the number one phone manufacturer in the world? Palm completely scrapped it's OS for something brand new but can Nokia take such a huge risk?
"if they are coming from something much more user friendly to neophytes, like the iPhone."
Let's not over-generalize: I've owned several Symbian devices and after N95 swore that was the last time I trusted them with my money. Been very happy with iPhone ever since...
Taking your UI back to the drawing board every few years as technology makes better interfaces possible is an extremely good idea, and it's something that I think is absolutely necessary for anyone in the mobile game right now.
It's unfortunate that the only realistic way to do that on a platform supported by third party apps is to trash your old OS and build another from scratch, but that's what it takes to survive. Microsoft refused to realize that which is why I dumped WinMo for Android and didn't look back.
@Slaven
I didn't generalize. That's why I used the words "probably" and "especially."
@Omagus: except it's neither probable nor exceptional - the overwhelming evidence is that most people will still prefer to use an iPhone even after being exposed to Symbian, smartphone sale numbers tell the story.
@Slaven
Sales? Symbian smartphones still sell more than Iphone OS ones, so I don't think your argument made much sense