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Gizmodo verdict on dumbphones and the W995. |
anonymuser
Joined: Dec 17, 2002
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How many existing loyal customers does SE have to alienate these days? Not enough, certainly.
I really think the red herring here is any hint at mimmicking the iPhone, it's really not about that at all. If anything it's about mimmicking the process that gave birth to the iPhone, and coming up with some original thinking on how people interact with their phones, and how the experience might be improved. We're phone geeks, and all far too conversant with the status quo to actually imagine that very easily, or see a phone like the W995 through the eyes of someone that hasn't necessarily used every other SE interface before it, but SE (and Nokia etc) should be employing people who can do exactly that.
Just ask yourself, when do you think was the last time SE (for example) did actually design a whole new phone interface from scratch, rather than cobbling together a few more extensions to an existing platform, or copying a few more conventions forming elsewhere? Then ask yourself how many new features, functions, and expectations have come to mobile phones in that time... it's not as if we're talking about the design of a spade, what people expect from a mobile now would be almost unrecognisable to the designer of a mobile phone just ten years ago, and yet the kind of interface SE is still using really wouldn't be.
SE must recognise this themselves to some extent, or the A300 interface in the forthcoming Aino wouldn't be messing around with touch as well as keypad, but maybe this is just taking the iPhone lesson too literally and again just cribbing a few new tricks from somewhere else and stapling it on to the same old tired and testing formula... I think they need to do a lot more.
[ This Message was edited by: Boinng on 2009-06-08 16:04 ] | |
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jmcomms
Joined: Mar 12, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Jonathan Morris
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I wouldn't want Apple radically changing OS X when they release Snow Leopard, and I am not sure that SE simply axing their UI now for an all-new one is a good idea.
I really don't see what they stand to gain from it. It would be change for the sake of change.
I think they DO need to speed up the hardware and work on the design of the handsets, but the core operating system seems fine to me - and seems pretty easy to use for the average consumer too.
Now, if we were talking about Motorola then this would have been a totally different story!
Jonathan Morris
Editor, What Mobile magazine - the UK's leading mobile phone magazine
www.whatmobile.netforum.whatmobile.net
Twitter @jmcomms |
goldenface
Joined: Dec 17, 2003
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From: Liverpool City Centre
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The best thing about the SE UI is the 3x4 Icon layout and the keypad shortcuts. As long as they use a keypad then this is the best way to navigate the menus - minimal scrolling and just a simple keypad press.
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anonymuser
Joined: Dec 17, 2002
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On 2009-06-08 17:20:26, jmcomms wrote:
I wouldn't want Apple radically changing OS X when they release Snow Leopard, and I am not sure that SE simply axing their UI now for an all-new one is a good idea.
But surely OS X works well for today's Macs because it was designed from the ground up, not so very long ago, for todays Macs and everything they generally do, right? It's not just Mac OS 9 with a few extra bells, whistles, and extensions, which is pretty much what A200 is to the longstanding SE user interface.
I really don't see what they stand to gain from it. It would be change for the sake of change.
Their market share is dropping, it's almost getting to the point where they've nothing to lose and everything to gain.. as a seasoned mobile phone maker, why shouldn't they draw on their experience and come up with something new and revolutionary? Why leave all the new ideas to the upstarts, particularly when it's been working this badly for them over the last few years?
Now, if we were talking about Motorola then this would have been a totally different story!
Moto may be the first to fall, but I think SE and Nokia are pretty much in the same boat, and certainly their performance in the market is starting to reflect that.
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se_dude
Joined: Nov 07, 2007
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I thought the Aino was a step in th right direction. And seriously, how do you plan to extensively mod a non-touch phone?? It has to have the grids, has to have a startup screen. |
jack00
Joined: Feb 20, 2003
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On 2009-06-08 17:32:23, goldenface wrote:
The best thing about the SE UI is the 3x4 Icon layout and the keypad shortcuts. As long as they use a keypad then this is the best way to navigate the menus - minimal scrolling and just a simple keypad press.
don't fix what ain't broken eh ? but the thing is, it is already broken
at some point when the market screams out loud someone needs to listen
after all, what we are currently experiencing is the late tidal wave of the 3G earthquake(hype). back in the days where (umts)3G started to reach the market hardly anyone was interested in surfing the web on its mobile phone or use any other 3G feature(video call). the mobile phones back then really mirrored this, but today in 2009 where web2.0(or call it web society) reaches the masses mobile phones still look the same.
but we are not talking solely about web2.0 stuff, peoples approach to multimedia in general changed - its music,its video,its pictures and even gps apps. people expect a certain user experience from their phone that suits exactly their life style. smartphones can adapt easier, this is why their demand is increasing constantly, but most of them are still not "adjustable" enough.
mobile phones didn't evolve like the people did.
[ This Message was edited by: jack00 on 2009-06-08 17:45 ] |
jmcomms
Joined: Mar 12, 2002
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From: Jonathan Morris
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Most of the services exist but people just don't know how to use them. People want Facebook, twitter and email but a lot of consumers don't even know how to set up email or use a mobile browser.
Apple has made that simple, no doubt, as well as the awesome App Store allowing anyone to try out new apps - and of course, iTunes - love it or hate it - makes it easy to get music, video, podcasts etc.
Even backing up the phone is simplicity itself on the iPhone.
So these are the things SE and the like need to look at - not changing a perfectly good OS for the sake of it.
If you're watching the WWDC stuff you'll see new features coming to the Mac, but OS X hasn't changed much over the years. It was a MASSIVE change from Classic/OS 9 - but it has maintained a consistent user interface from 10.1 to 10.5 - the same for Windows pretty much.
I really can't see why SE needs to scrap everything, or any other company, and I don't buy the fact that their UI is flawed. It's probably the best non-smartphone UI out there
Jonathan Morris
Editor, What Mobile magazine - the UK's leading mobile phone magazine
www.whatmobile.netforum.whatmobile.net
Twitter @jmcomms |
kits
Joined: Oct 03, 2007
Posts: 82
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In a year people will complain about iPhone interface looking/feeling old. But will Apple change it? I used SE feature phones, WinMo, S60, and now iPhone. Each has it's merits and nothing is pefect. But, I feel SE has a great interface. iPhone interface is not the best someone who uses a lot of apps as you can't organize them like Games, Entertainment, etc. And that interface can be a pain as it doesn't let you have shortcuts nor is it very easy to make calls compared to say WinMo or SE which have smartdialing.
Also, I am currently using iPhone with 3.0 OS and have to SE has better interface for SMS and MMS compared to iPhone. SE MMS interface is probably the best. It lets you attach clipArt, Animations, Audio, Video, photos all from one screen unlike iPhone. Also, some prefer to have the SETTINGS for app within App and not like in iPhone were we have to go to change settings in a general place.
Just because something is old doesn't make it useless like Gizmo guy blindly claims. |
jmcomms
Joined: Mar 12, 2002
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From: Jonathan Morris
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And Apple has now launched the new 3GS with virtually no major changes at all - thus proving you don't change things for the sake of it.
I bet if Sony Ericsson announced a C906 tomorrow with the same design and a 12-megapixel sensor and VGA/D1 capture, people would moan that they've missed the boat! But that's what Apple has basically done tonight - well, if you call the upgrade to a 3-megapixel camera a major improvement. The compass is about the only major thing, and that's not exclusive to Apple (the Satio will presumably have one as the I8910 does).
Mind you, Sony Ericsson already did release an update for the C905 adding Smile Shutter, YouTube etc - so you could compare this, just, to iPhone OS 3.0!
Jonathan Morris
Editor, What Mobile magazine - the UK's leading mobile phone magazine
www.whatmobile.netforum.whatmobile.net
Twitter @jmcomms |
jack00
Joined: Feb 20, 2003
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actually i just wrote a post where i counter comments(from above), but i deleted it again simply because it wouldn't matter.
instead i want you to look objectively on today’s market shares and market trends. numbers don't lie. and its exactly this manner of "denying the obvious", which runs today’s companies very often against the walls.
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anyway
i just had a look at the video of AINOs interface @ se-nse.net. its a nice take (maybe ui design wise too much like the iphone, but i'm okay with that ... the design works, thats important)
but i guess only the final model can tell if this touchscreen is just a gimmick or really enhances the user experience |
gtr83
Joined: Sep 27, 2008
Posts: > 500
From: Indonesia
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Numbers never lie. Which is why we can see that Nokia is facing a decline, iPhone is starting to get too mainstream for their own good (the 3GS doesn't really bring anything new) and the like. Even such facts, as market share proportions, can still stir different opinions. So 'companies denying the obvious' is actually a rather two-sided argument. But seeing that I haven't even installed iTunes yet on my laptop, you can probably call me too subjective... |
kits
Joined: Oct 03, 2007
Posts: 82
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SE and Nokia should seriously think about partnering with some US Carrier. Unlocked phones are purchased only by gadget freaks in US. If iPhone is not subsidized by any US carrier, Apple wouldn't have sold even 20% of what they current sold.
For SE, T-mobile is the best option if they can only make GSM phones as T-Mobile lacks unlocked NAM 3Gs. I think SE and dream about second-life if they can get Verizon to subsidize their Satio. |
carkitter
Joined: Apr 29, 2005
Posts: > 500
From: Auckland, NZ
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On 2009-06-09 02:25:25, kits wrote:
SE and Nokia should seriously think about partnering with some US Carrier. Unlocked phones are purchased only by gadget freaks in US. If iPhone is not subsidized by any US carrier, Apple wouldn't have sold even 20% of what they current sold.
That's a good point and an aspect which is often forgotten in these discussions.
The iPhone touch UI brings with it some unique problems such a temperamental sliders and unresponsive browser accelerometre movements and I think an Aino solution would be better. The Aino would need to find some seriously good apps in a hurry though to rival the iPhone.
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anonymuser
Joined: Dec 17, 2002
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On 2009-06-08 21:56:52, jmcomms wrote:
And Apple has now launched the new 3GS with virtually no major changes at all - thus proving you don't change things for the sake of it.
I bet if Sony Ericsson announced a C906 tomorrow with the same design and a 12-megapixel sensor and VGA/D1 capture, people would moan that they've missed the boat! But that's what Apple has basically done tonight
I can see I'm talking to a few brick walls here, but seriously, do you feel Apple and Sony Ericsson are in quite the same place right now? Is this the time for SE to sit back on their laurels, as Apple are doing to some extent, and congratulate themselves on a job well done? I doubt the shareholders see it quite that way. The 3G S is a logical refinement of a hugely popular and successful market leading design. The W995? Not so much.
But the band, as they say, played on.
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jj03
Joined: Oct 29, 2002
Posts: > 500
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i received a phone call yesterday from o2 asking if i'd like to upgrade to the iphone..i said no..they asked why and i said because im using both an n82 and a n95 8gig..his response was 'but the iphone has better features and is touch'. I laughed quite hard before saying that i couldnt give a toss for touch, or its ui. I asked if they were trying to shift old stock. . No replie. I hung up. I see cpw advertising the iphone at a new 'fantastic low price' of 35 ppm. Lol. What a joke. It was a complete rip of when it launched. Essentially paying a fortune for it ui but not alot else. I certainly wont be told what i can and cant do with my music either..i hate itunes. | |
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Posted: 2009-06-08 16:55
