* Posts by Mark 40

2 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Dec 2010

Nokia: When pigeons fly home to roast

Mark 40

Don't confuse analysis with strategy

I read with interest Stephen Elop's famous speech. I agreed with his observations regarding competitors and his 'burning deck' story was a good way to motivate the troops. However, I am worried by his strategy.

I am a happy Nokia customer, having bought a variety of their phones over the years. I am also an unhappy Microsoft customer, having been given a variety of Windows Mobile phones by employers. I am unhappy because of errors and inconsistencies in their user interface design.

Nokia's products may seem old-fashioned but they are reasonably intuitive. Recently my 13 year old son asked if he could downgrade from a smartphone I had given him to a simpler Nokia, which he found easier to use.

Consequently, when I come to replace his phone one of my requirements is that the replacement must NOT be compatible with Windows Mobile. Similarly for my wife's phone - also a Nokia.

If Mr Elop's strategy is to adopt Windows Mobile then he loses me as a customer. Choosing to annoy existing satisfied customers does not strike me as a good strategy.

Car immobilisers easily circumvented by crafty carjackers

Mark 40

This attack was known far earlier

In 1994 I applied for a patent on an immobiliser that guarded against this. In order to describe the improvement I first described a 'strawman' design for a poorly-designed system that would be easy to attack. I then described how to fix it.

The lawyer who drafted my application told me that my strawman matched a design from Texas Instruments.