Mark Bridge writes:
Let’s face it, last week’s Google/Motorola deal wasn’t widely predicted. Stasys Bielinis of Unwired View deserves a round of applause but I don’t remember hearing anyone else suggesting this radical move.
The HP/webOS situation was arguably easier to call, although the overall changes at HP are much bigger than most people expected.
Even Microsoft & Nokia’s partnership seemed the stuff of fantasy less than twelve months ago.
All these recent events reminded me of Charles Dunstone’s appearance at the Google Think Mobile event at the end of June.
Charles, who - I’m sure you know - co-founded The Carphone Warehouse, described his early days as “just stumbling around trying to make a living” within a minute of walking onto the stage.
He went on to talk about the early days of mobile, when the idea of 1% UK mobile penetration was considered “insane” - and the success of SMS was an “accident”.
“All the way through mobile, everyone has failed to understand its potential and then has also failed to capitalise on its potential”, he said, noting that “generally what happens in the mobile business is not ever what anyone has anticipated”.
“It’s a very, very confusing environment and there’s absolutely no-one who really knows where it’s headed and in the end who’s ultimately going to own and who’s going to be the most powerful people within this marketplace”.
I find all this reassuring. After all, if the CEO of one of the UK’s longest-established and best-loved mobile phone businesses isn’t trying to predict the future, I probably shouldn’t worry about it either.
[YouTube: Charles Dunstone at Think Mobile]