Ever since the February 11 2011 Nokia event cheekily tagged as #NoWin and known colloquially as The Elopocalypse, I’ve struggled to cover Nokia’s present and abandoned strategies here with equal care. Don’t be misled by my attempts of objectivity over Linux and Microsoft activities, though– it hasn’t been easy. I’ve been moderating an internal conflict between a growing invasion of open source love versus a legacy of Microsoft development experience combined with strong curiosity. Neither side has a clear advantage over the other for me and therein lies a conundrum.
I could have very easily avoided the whole controversy at the start. When I assumed responsibility for Maemo internet tablet quality in the North American market, I could have taken the easy route and stuck to the basics. That meant developing test plans, training auditors and inspectors, hosting Finnish and Mexican product teams, and making sure CES 2007 was supplied on time with 200 pristine N800s. Nothing more.
But no. I’m a device nut. An admitted hardware geek. As I’ve shared many times, laying eyes on the Nokia 770 tablet changed everything for me. It put what I saw then as the future in my hands, literally and figuratively. I could not just treat this product line as I did the various and sundry cell phones I also touched. I took tablets personally. Continue reading
Tabula Crypticum 