

The Engineer-Driven culture at Nokia and its problems - suprgeek
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/for-nokia-design-will-be-key-to-future/

======
aphexairlines
Great, another article pushing the viewpoint that hardware and software
doesn't matter, that investment in technology is a waste of time, that what
really matters is slick marketing and pretty packaging.

What do they think makes the iPhone battery last more than 20 minutes or an
Android app pop up on your phone when you click install on their pc website --
pixie dust?

~~~
wsf
> _"Because of the hardware similarities, the major differences of these
> devices appear within the software - specifically, the design, functionally
> and experience of the software."_

It's not saying that hardware and software doesn't matter. According to their
definition, Nokia lost because design (software) is secondary to hardware
(engineering).

Actually, the article brought up a very good point: _"In comparison to early
mobile phones, most smartphones on the market today look identical."_

And what do they look identical to? The original iphone.

Most hardware manufacturer are trying to compete on Apple's turf. The result
is that most consumers will naturally compare their design to Apple's. It's
going to be extremely difficult to catch up.

Remember the original Apple's phone collaboration with Motorola?

That's Apple trying to compete on Nokia's turf. Result: Failure.

Now the mobile manufacturers are trying to compete on Apple's turf essentially
by mimicking iphone. Is it any wonder that they will find a hard time
competing?

~~~
jlouis
I'd like to emphasize the point that in the smartphone market, software is
king to hardware. It is the software that ultimately determines what you can
do with the device and the hardware is simply there to facilitate the
execution of the software.

Hence the desperate need for a software ecosystemem.

------
aaronbrethorst
_"Some Nokia employees continually disparage Apple, internally calling it The
California Fruit Company," he said._

Classy. Nothing quite like mocking one of the companies that's been ripping
you limb from limb for the past three-and-a-half years.

~~~
sliverstorm
Can you blame them? Have you truly never made a bitter jibe into your beer at
someone who has surpassed you?

~~~
greyman
I am afraid they mean it. I think it's about the perception how the mobile
phone should be like. Not everyone considers the iPhone+iOS to be the best
concept. I personally know people who think that nokia dumbphones are the best
mobiles, or that Win 6.5. is currently the best mobile OS, etc.

I don't believe that most of the Nokia people perceive the situation as being
surpassed by Apple.

~~~
wazoox
> _I personally know people who think that nokia dumbphones are the best
> mobiles_

If voice calling is your main and only application, they win hands down. Good
sound, easy to use even with one hand and without looking at it, one week use
on a single charge...

------
SafdarIqbal
It is more of a "hardware specifications" driven culture, where design of the
software experience is secondary. But in "touch phone" devices, just getting
the hardware right can't even get you halfway into making a better product.

~~~
sliverstorm
This is actually why I love Nokia phones. They have fantastic hardware.

I'm really hoping that letting someone else do most of the heavy lifting for
the software will allow Nokia to focus on what we already know it does best.

~~~
bad_user
Yeah, but Microsoft?

If this partnership succeeds it would be the exception.

~~~
greyman
What is wrong with WP7, except of the lack of apps? Or what is wrong with
Microsoft in terms of providing developer tools or marketing support for their
products and 3rd party programmers?

~~~
tomjen3
The price.

Nokia now has to pay for the license to their mobile software as well as the
hardware while everybody else only have to pay for the hardware.

~~~
aaronbrethorst
Nokia is going to get licenses for WP7 at essentially zero cost from
Microsoft.

~~~
tomjen3
They can't keep doing that forever - Microsoft makes money selling software,
they will have to sell it to do so.

------
stcredzero
"Engineer-Driven" corporate culture is just another imbalanced over-reliance
on one competence while neglecting other areas. It's like being the highly
talented genius musician who doesn't have the social skills to market
themselves.

Stephen Elop should've taken a play from Steve Jobs' playbook. Instead of
making such a huge announcement, he should've quietly started a project within
Nokia with backing from the highest levels, just like Jobs did with the
Macintosh. This might've generated smoldering resentment and jealousy, but it
would not have generated a 1000 employee walk-out and enough negative
publicity to drop the stock price by 15% in under 24 hours.

~~~
kiiski
Perhaps he thinks it's better to make sure that everyone is clear of the
direction and committed to it rather than (potentially) wasting hundreds of
thousands of hours of work on useless platforms.

~~~
stcredzero
The tricky part is the "committed." Tell me, have you tried to get someone who
feels like they've just been slapped in the face by you to follow you?
(Outside of discussions on the Internet, of course. Mea culpa!)

What if they didn't just have to follow you, but had to apply themselves to
something difficult, challenging, and creative?

Sometimes a slap in the face is what's needed. Care should be taken to avoid
backfire, however. This is why a slap in the face is a method of last resort.
(Outside of discussions on the Internet, of course. Must eat own dogfood.)

Considering Nokia still has strong sales over the entire world, I don't think
a slap in the face was really warranted. WWMD? (What Would Machiavelli Do?
Actually, WWMWAD: What would Machiavelli write about doing?) The CEO should've
been a lot smarter by being a lot sneakier.

------
teyc
No. It is a corporate turf war. Like MS, the engineering departments have the
upper hand and prefers control to continue in engineering hands. They'd rather
die than let the design manager get promoted.

This is what you get if there is no strong alpha male founder leadership at
the top.

Ellison, Gates, Brin, Jobs were there to make sure this doesn't happen. When
the founders leave, chaos ensues.

~~~
r0h4n
I cannot picture Gates as the alpha male leader. He is a intelligent leader,
but alpha male leader?

~~~
arethuza
Here is Joel's account of a review meeting with Bill:

<http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/06/16.html>

"a person who came along from my team whose whole job during the meeting was
to keep an accurate count of how many times Bill said the F word. The lower
the f __*-count, the better."

I don't think you get to be the richest guy in the world just by being
exceptionally smart.

~~~
winestock
That story, Joel's reaction to Gates, and the reaction of the other
Microsofties has always disturbed me. Gates' behavior wasn't an example of
competence; he was a bully on a power trip.

The cognitive load of asking a question or making an objection is generally
lighter than giving an honest counter-argument. Especially if the question or
objection is a profanity-smeared act of belligerence and the answers have to
be polite or else you're fired.

"Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool
may ask more than the wisest man can answer." \- Charles Caleb Colton

~~~
teyc
One of the biggest problems running a software company is getting hoodwinked
by a developer, because they might handwave a problem away.

The second problem is one of scalability.

How does a leader make sure that the technical decisions are correct without
having to learn very deeply about it?

One is by constantly probing for weaknesses and see if people have difficulty
defending their choices, and seeing if the trade offs were reasonable.

The second is to develop a fierce reputation so that the person is
sufficiently prepared before presenting his thesis.

------
rue
I think it's simplistic to discount the effect that the bureaucracy, turf
wars, and the split-up of the various units as well as trying to push dozens
and dozens of different models would have had on the design ethos in the
company. It'd say it's more that all these externalities forced the
departments to focus on things other than maturation of design to stick
around.

------
Animus7
Yet another validation of the long-standing hypothesis that in the age where a
kid with a laptop can come up with technology that takes over the internet,
pushing tech as a process in a factory is the path to irrelevance.

------
redthrowaway
I can't agree with this conclusion. Good engineers know amazing UX is part of
the spec. I can't see engineers actively fighting against design, and if they
do, there's larger issues at play.

------
pnathan
I've observed that this can be an issue when you get too many people out of
touch with software involved in a company.

------
gorgoroth666
Nokia is very good in the design of usable mobiles. Since they acquired Qt,
they are also very good in software design. Apple is not a good example. This
article makes no sense.

