Texrat

Is User Apathy About Smartphones Becoming Apparent?

There are some fundamental flaws in both the article and the fanboy responses, but I'll be kind and just point out a few:

-The assessment of smartphone desire ignores the reality of paradigm shifts and demographic differences. Claiming that US users don't want to download applications is overly broad and ignorant. People tend to not want what they don't know. Education works wonders, and THAT is Nokia's real challenge here. Remember, at one point the average consumer didn't *need* a cell phoen at all. Wasn't that long ago, either. Things change. Companies drive that. That makes dithers' comment above on target (although I question the difficulty of installing apps on the N95).

-The OS does not alone make or break a smartphone. Linux is just as capable as supporting smartphone functionality as any other OS-- even more so in some cases.

-Given its functionality, many consider the iPhone to be a smartphone, and many market measurements are placing it in that category for comparisons. Treating it as alien to smartphones is disingenuous. Some people are confusing novelty with overall functionality.

-The iPhone is not the Holy Grail.

-I own a Nokia smartphone. It is very easy too use.

-Symbian sales are down, in large part, to guess what: a downward economy. I realize that comes as a shock to the ivory tower theorists who still insist the months-long recession isn't here yet, but those of us paying attention for the last 2 years have a clue.