Quartz on Jolla

Christopher Mims has an interesting piece for Quartz on Jolla, the spin-off from Nokia’s MeeGo mobile platform. Some interesting ideas in there. But I don’t get the headline at all: “Here Comes the First Real Alternative to iPhone and Android”.

This is sheer sensationalism and the laziest sort of tech punditry. When something is announced but as-yet unreleased — like Jolla — it’s easy to project upon it whatever one wants. You might not like Windows Phone 8 or Blackberry, but they are alternatives to the iPhone and Android. You can go into a store today and buy one. Jolla, today, is vaporware. And it’s silly to argue that there haven’t been other alternatives: Palm’s WebOS, Symbian, and yes, MeeGo. It’s just that they all failed. The iPhone and Android have forged a duopoly not because there are no alternatives, but because they’ve beaten all the alternatives.

★ Monday, 3 December 2012