POST-SLUSH PART 2: A CRITIQUE (Constructive Criticisms)

Having put together my thoughts on the ‘positive’ points which came out of SLUSH (which was Part 1 of this critique), where I went into some detail on what areas I personally felt Jolla excelled, I can’t help feeling that since the SLUSH event and now having had some time to analyse, there were a few constructive criticisms that have been niggling away at me.

Now before I continue, I want to stress that under the circumstances and without wishing to sound patronising, I truly feel Jolla did an amazing job at SLUSH and there were many elements which blew away my expectations.  I also stress that this is constructive criticism and at the very least something which I hope Jolla can benefit from.

CONSTRUCTIVE Criticisms:

  • For a company who are primarily all about the software and attracting future hardware partners, I did feel that the level of depth we saw of the Sailfish OS on the day was decidedly lacking.  I understand there are probably a myriad of reasons for this (ie. not wanting to show competitors too much; a lot is actually still unfinished; keeping things simple etc).   The fact is we really only witnessed 3 key elements of the OS in the keynote: Multitasking, Ambience, Lockscreen.  This I feel is a very limited view but I do think that the general vibe of Sailfish was depicted very well and we could at least get an idea for the way future elements of the OS will shape up.   Perhaps the idea behind this was that Jolla have realised, in order to create a successful ecosystem, they need at least some input from the people who count and therefore giving us a look at the barebones at least gets the ball rolling for a part-community but ultimately Jolla-driven Sailfish future.  Sailfish is what we make of it: ‘unlike’ ?
  • The lack of details relating to the software throughout the event I found frustrating – I think this would be my main criticism.  For instance not letting on the finer details of the android compatibility was frustrating but again, I’m sure there were reasons for this.
  • There were many key elements of the software that again people who are considering Jolla as an option to Android/IOS will feel disappointed about not hearing on the day.  Maps; Camera app (this one’s more device dependent though so I guess it’s understandable); Email functionality; Basic phone/SMS functionality; finer details of how multitasking functions; Notifications; and so many more holes that I’m not going to care to mention.
  • Again understandable, but the lack of hardware information given on the day was hugely lacking if non existent – not even a hint at screen size or something basic?  In their defence Jolla have stated a release is due for Summer 2013 and updates on this early next year are also expected so in the meantime, we will just have to keep our ear to the ground.

Okay, I think that just about sums up my main gripes and I guess the most constructive thing Jolla could do in the coming months as I’m sure they are planning to, is to follow up SLUSH with further illustrative videos/updates of the areas of Sailfish which have not been touched upon yet.

I certainly have not written this up to take anything away from the Jolla’s achievements which once again, under the circumstances blew most of my expectations way out of the water. :-)

I’m also more than aware that a critics position is a very easy one (ie. it’s always easier to criticise than to try and get out there and do something like what Jolla have achieved in such a short timeframe) and is only ever useful if the critic is compassionate and offers a constructive solution to balance the criticism.

With that in mind, if you have anything more to add, please comment below as I feel it will be really helpful for Jolla moving onwards – thanks! :-)

(In part 3 we will formulate a poll to illustrate to Jolla what the community behind them feels of their achievements to date.)

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Category : Discussion, Jolla, Marc Dillon, N9, N950, Review