NB tho, Symbian already knew (see 1998) how to make a "truly excellent mobile GUI" - sure, it was a PDA, but we were already making phone UIs with phone licensees then, and could happily have made a "well-designed high-level UI framework".
I'd've loved that "parallel universe".
Alas, the Symbian deal nixed it, and our new owners simply wanted us to make their kind of phone platforms for them: four whole new ones, in 18 months (heh right), mainly to their specs, while recruiting 100 new devs and 10 new designers.
So I feel it's a little harsh to say "the biggest failing of Symbian was to disown the UI" -- we never had the option to keep control of it. (It was a major failing of the Symbian deal itself, sure.)
1a) and be sure you have those sales, and keep them
I know a startup that failed because they thought they were doing ok on sales, but it turned out: lots of people were signing up for the product, but then not using it, or not being able to, and un-signing soon after.
NB tho, Symbian already knew (see 1998) how to make a "truly excellent mobile GUI" - sure, it was a PDA, but we were already making phone UIs with phone licensees then, and could happily have made a "well-designed high-level UI framework".
I'd've loved that "parallel universe".
Alas, the Symbian deal nixed it, and our new owners simply wanted us to make their kind of phone platforms for them: four whole new ones, in 18 months (heh right), mainly to their specs, while recruiting 100 new devs and 10 new designers.
So I feel it's a little harsh to say "the biggest failing of Symbian was to disown the UI" -- we never had the option to keep control of it. (It was a major failing of the Symbian deal itself, sure.)