If It’s A Computer, I Want A Keyboard And Mouse

-What’s in a name? -A lot, actually. and Nokia guys understand that.

“Harry Santamäki vows to take a sip of cod liver oil from the bottle on his desk if he  ever utters the word phone.

That's odd, considering Santamäki works at Nokia, the largest mobile phone maker in the world.

"We are forbidden to call them phones," said the vice president of multimedia strategy and business development. Instead, they're "multimedia computers.””

Today, the company plots its message on the future of mobile technology from Nokia House. The idea, says Antti Vasara, vice president for corporate strategy, is to change the perception of how we use the Internet. Where we now get content from a range of gateways - desktop computers, handheld devices, TV set-top boxes - Nokia is working to make mobile the "one way - the dominant way - to access it.""

[via Seattle Times]

The way you call your product/ service, is how you want it to be defined (and judged). Naturally, Nokia people want to push the mobile phone (have some cod liver oil) further, exploring new capabilities and technologies. But (I'm affraid there's always a "but" somewhere) there's a major obstacle - most people just want a phone (cod liver oil - not drinking that stuff!) "to make and receive calls and SMS". The solution - change the point of reference by changing the name from “phone” (hell no!) to “multimedia computers”. Nice, but as Mr. Glass, a digg member, phrased it - “if it’s a computer, i want a keyboard and mouse!” :)

Technorati Tags: nokia, mobile, phone, mobile phone, multimedia computers, name

Comments

[Martin]

Hey Xen, There actually is a bluetooth keyboard for these devices :-) (called SU-8W) I use it quite frequently for writing SMS and eMails. For me it makes sense to call them "multimedia computers". If you just want a phone for voice calls and SMSes they are far beyond what you need.
Martin