> He didn't even mention the soundness of Nokia's strategy or the competence of their management
I assumed that was implied in the defense of the visual identity reformulation.
> I don't see what (...) Windows Phone 7, the company's overall strategy, the company's management has to do with the Nokia Pure typeface.
Nothing and that's the point. Why waste focus on a visual identity overhaul? Was it broken?
> Are you suggesting they should have put Bruno Maag to work on OS development
This is a false dichotomy. Why hire Bruno Maag in the first place when they, yes, need to hire developers (hardware and software) so they can make phones they can sell?
No, you're presenting a false dichotomy — I was just pointing it out. Having Bruno Maag design a typeface does not in any way prevent Nokia from hiring developers, and doesn't appear to be a major company-wide focus.
Nokia's problem is that it doesn't know how to compete with Google and Apple, not that it's resource-starved. Blindly throwing money at developers without an intelligent vision is how Nokia got into this mess to begin with.
When Apple redesigns its website or switches corporate typefaces, do you complain about Apple's abhorrent lack of focus? No. The people designing the website are not the ones who develop your software, so the iPhone didn't suffer from the redesign. The same is true of Nokia. This typeface doesn't make their hardware or software any better, but it also doesn't make it any worse — it's unrelated.
> Nokia's problem is that it doesn't know how to compete with Google and Apple
I would point out that visual identity has very little to do with it.
> not that it's resource-starved
That pressure will increase in the future.
> Blindly throwing money at developers without an intelligent vision is how Nokia got into this mess to begin with
I agree with that - just throwing money on the problem won't make it go away. They hired an outsider (Microsoft) to give them a coherent vision. They should act on it.
And yes, redesigning every printed material and web presence is a small fraction of their overall budget, but is a loss of focus nevertheless and hardly an irrelevant expenditure.
I assumed that was implied in the defense of the visual identity reformulation.
> I don't see what (...) Windows Phone 7, the company's overall strategy, the company's management has to do with the Nokia Pure typeface.
Nothing and that's the point. Why waste focus on a visual identity overhaul? Was it broken?
> Are you suggesting they should have put Bruno Maag to work on OS development
This is a false dichotomy. Why hire Bruno Maag in the first place when they, yes, need to hire developers (hardware and software) so they can make phones they can sell?