MNB Reader Generated: “A request to Nokia fans” (+Rambles)

We received an email from MNB Reader and Nokia fan, Musadar,which included a heartfelt message to Nokia fans. It asks pretty much for the infighting between fans to stop, to move on from the past and to begin celebrating the positives at Nokia again. It’s a nice message though I do understand how some may still feel hurt. Contrary to the message, I approve of criticism – the positive criticism designed to give feedback and realistic solutions – not simply criticism to whine/moan/insult. It’s great to have a healthy polite conversation where problems are discussed openly, all in the pursuit of making sure Nokia improves. Why? Because we’re Nokia fans. It’s what we do. I love Nokia and I love the Nokia community of Nokia fans and people that work for Nokia or work closely with Nokia. Who else brings as much frustrations, drama, disappointment, speculations, history, surprise, excitement, pure elated joy – all for a brand of a phone?

For me, I’m became a Nokia fan because many years ago they were the symbol of the best of the best, always a driving force in pushing mobile further. Perhaps you have many years of fond memories using your Nokias with your friends and family. Perhaps it was your Nokia that entertained, brought laughter, connected you with friends, saved your butt, allowed to to express yourself, recorded precious memories and connected with other Nokia fans. Nokia was the ultimate brand that I could trust above all others to deliver what I wanted. Cutting edge, head turning designs, robust, reliable and desirable to all.

Nokia fans are very patient. They have ben accustomed to waiting, something is coming soon, something better is around the corner, it will get better eventually. But everyone has their limits and fans often come and go. Some Nokia fans may be fans of technology in general and go with whatever is popular or suited them best. It’s completely understandable that once Nokia fell out of favour and out of sync with their needs, these fans would move on to something else.

Nokia fell, not really for lack of talent, but due to poor decisions. They always had it in them to keep producing the best devices, but one wrong direction and inappropriate compromises just led to another. Each year it happens, Nokia gets weaker whilst the competition grows stronger. Despite the set backs, I remain a Nokia fan because of the glimmers of brilliance that appears every now again that reminds me, ‘Hey, that’s the Nokia I know and love’. I’m a fan of Nokia, more than just for the brand but what it represents for me, their history, their potential, the community army of fans they have built around them. These guys (good or bad) aren’t here simply to get their phone in your hands, but to properly deliver the best experience (e.g. performances of their camera phones, N8/808 – uncompromising quality). And neither are they the guys who give up. In their history, Nokia has been changing over and over, not as a sign of weakness or giving up but strength in being able to adapt. The mobile world is one of the toughest climates to survive in. Failure to adapt, failure to thrive and with Nokia unable to respond quickly and appropriately saw a big set back. But there’s still an opportunity to get back up. Not immediately back to the very top as that will take time, and perhaps that might not be something we would se. However, Nokia can get straight back to producing products that delight millions consumers and inspire a new generation of Nokia fans.

Good luck to all Nokia fans for September 5th, may we keep, get new ones and even reclaim lost ones back to the fold :p.

Anyway, my intro went a little long there. Onto the letter:

A request to Nokia fans
There are a huge number of unhappy Nokia fans out there. These people have been loyal Nokia fans
for long time. The cause of unhappiness being the new direction the company has taken and other
decisions that have also been made. A lot of emotions and feelings are involved as these people
really see themselves as loyal Nokia fans. Many of these unhappy fans have for some time now
criticised Nokia publically on different blogs and are still doing so. They feel like they have been
abandoned by Nokia. I am also personally a big Nokia fan and I too have my own disagreements with
Nokia. Therefore I fully understand all these fans. I really do. I have for some time now been
following and reading on this matter on different blogs and news sites. I think now is the good timing to raise my voice and say my opinion on this matter.

If you are a Nokia fan, whether happy or unhappy, you will have to admit one thing. Nokia is in a
really difficult position right now and is struggling to get back in to the fight. This is where all the
debates and discussions start. Some people say that blame for Nokia being in this position goes to
the current Nokia CEO and poor decisions made by him. Some people say the problems started much  before the current CEO. Some people say it’s because of the “burning memo”. Others say it’s because  of Nokia abandoning Symbian and Meego. Others again say that it is because Nokia chose to go with only one mobile OS, which is Windows Phone. There are so many reasons and opinions about what went wrong and why Nokia is in such a difficult position. Most of the people who are putting these opinions forward are not happy with Nokia.

Dear Nokia fans, if you are part of the group that is unhappy with Nokia and have been criticising
Nokia in the blogosphere, I understand you. I am not saying you are wrong and I am not saying your
reasons for criticising Nokia are wrong. If Nokia had acted differently maybe they would not have
been in their current position. Nokia could have been in a totally different position, much better than the current one or much worse than the current one. We simply don’t know that. Would Nokia have been in a better position today if there had been no burning memo? Maybe. Would Nokia have been in a better position if they had gone for Meego? Maybe. Would Nokia have been in a better position today if they had gone with Android? Maybe. I do not want to discuss these things over again and to be honest I don’t think that there is any point and sense in discussing these things anymore.

Whatever the reason for Nokia being in their current state, we can’t do anything about it. Nokia did
what they thought was best for the company. We are just seeing the company from the outside. We
don’t know what is really going on internally and why Nokia made the decisions it made. We might
not agree with Nokia and we might not be happy with the current state of Nokia, but we are still
Nokia fans. So if we can’t change the Nokia past, can we change the Nokia future? Maybe. At least
we can try to make a little difference to help Nokia or rather at least we should try as Nokia fans to
make a little difference to help Nokia.
Dear Nokia fans, it is time to move on. We can’t keep criticising and bashing Nokia publically as this is not good for Nokia. Do we want to see Nokia go down or do we want to see a Nokia comeback?

If we don’t stop criticising and bashing Nokia over and over again, then we are not helping Nokia and are therefore no better than the persons who we blame in the first place. Nokia might not have Symbian and Meego anymore, but Nokia is still building high quality phones with amazing designs. In fact,Nokia won a lot of design prizes in 2012. Nokia is still leading on the camera front and the location services.

Nokia needs our full support. If we truly are Nokia fans and we truly want to see Nokia back in the
game then we should get behind Nokia and help them by giving them positive publicity around the
web instead of negative. We need to recommend Nokia smartphones to friends and relatives as much as we can. We need to talk positively about Nokia around the web. Nokia need all the good
publicity they can get. There is a need for good hype and buzz around Nokia and its products. Nokia
will soon be launching their new Windows Phone 8 devices and this is the perfect time to start
helping Nokia. These are just my personal thoughts and my only motivation for writing this post is
that I am a Nokia fan and really want Nokia to do a comeback. I am sure many of you also want the
same for Nokia. You can choose to either agree or disagree with me, we are all individuals and as
such entitled to our own opinions. Thanks.

Category: Nokia