What is important to Jolla. Everyone matters. [answered]
The last year has been the most difficult yet rewarding in our lives. Ooh my, what a journey in getting a product created, funded, planned, ultimately launched and sold. Everyone, from the original Maemo/Meego community of serious open source developers, to those who have found in Jolla a promise of an open and independent future, gave us the strength in ourselves to perform miracles and do the impossible. Which we did, together. We could not have done it without you.
Two and a half years ago in our little boat we had a values workshop with a dozen eager sailors. Nearly a year ago, with four dozen more, we renewed our values. There was always a question: are the values what we aspire to, or what we think we are? The answer was clear: our values are what is important to us.
We have come to realize these four words more deeply, how they apply to our lives, our company, our culture, our community, everyone.
A year ago, we lost our chipset provider, killing the product we had almost ready for market. The Jolla boat was rocked, but the nearly sixty souls aboard were ready to do whatever it takes to sail the tall seas amongst some of the biggest ships in the world. We built the boat again in the middle of the water. Talk about a committed crew...
We called some of our fans, supporters and friends to Jolla Love Day in May 2013, showed our prototype and promised we would deliver the same year. Why? Because without coming out of the harbor already, we would not even get a chance to sail. The love we received that very day was unlike anything. What is love? Love is accepting others for who they are, without expectations. If everyone you meet comes to you as they are, you accept them and they accept you. Without the love we received that day, there would be no Jolla.
Our first job is to make sure those sailors have all they need to follow their passion: creating revolution for mobile users. Wow, what a gargantuan task to realize our collective vision! We organized ourselves and worked hard on two things: building a product and making sure we could afford to build it. We did it!
It is not every day that the first new device from a new manufacturer with a new operating system is sold to an excited group of people. We would have wanted to invite everyone, but instead had to invite only the first 400 ones. The very next day, we started working on the first software update. We knew that we could do better to serve all people that had shown their support to us. This is our passion.
We have received a lot of feedback. We take it. We plan it. We code it. As fast as time allows, we consistently deliver through each update. Our mission is to keep improving our OS to make it yours. This is transparency.
We started with a promise: to be open, independent, unlike the others for a reason: to provide choice for you, the consumers, an inclusive community, a movement that will change the world. We always work to communicate what is going on, we could do better. Opening up the roadmap of features takes a while: when making monthly releases it is a huge push to get the right stuff planned, staffed, developed, documented, tested, debugged, tested again, and released. Invariably some features get pushed into the next release, re-planning is a part of software development. We don't want to promise what we cannot deliver.
The biggest thing I learned about transparency, respect, passion and love are that they go both ways. We have received a lot, we need to give back a lot. We need to keep delivering for those who believed in us and supported us by buying a Jolla phone, we need to keep communicating. We have a deep respect for our community worldwide, we feel the love and passion from you every day.
We are listening. We do care. We are doing everything we can to continue to deliver, tell our plans, and give you back the passion and love that you continue to give us, to deliver on the promise of an unlike future. Without your support, we would not be here. Respect.
Transparency, respect, passion, peace and of course, love <3
Marc, your humble cruise director
I would be delighted if you also share your views, and would welcome any questions <3
Marc ( 2014-06-11 12:18:48 +0200 )editI just want say thank you to all you sailors on this boat! You're doing a great job so far.
SagaciousT ( 2014-06-11 12:22:11 +0200 )editKeep up the good work and make jolla 2 (the phone) even greater. And please don't fuck it up. :P Going back to another phone OS will feel like going to the past.
As for the haters, naggers and all the energy sucking people around turkish people have a saying: It ürür, kervan yürür.
Keep it on.
ApB ( 2014-06-11 12:23:38 +0200 )editHey Sailors! Please WIRE THE FM CHIP for the next model.
t0mps0 ( 2014-06-11 12:26:17 +0200 )editYou're giving us the feeling to be part of this awesome movement, that's the passion that is so special about this community <3
scharelc ( 2014-06-11 12:26:40 +0200 )editJolla guys are the humblest people I know. Respect and Love for all of you <3
Saqib Iqbal ( 2014-06-11 12:29:12 +0200 )editMaybe would have been better to keep the "beta" tag for some time. A lot of people here are ok with this and are ready to report bugs and make reports. But people who just want their phone to work would say that the os and phone are shit and wouldn't try it even in the future. Better have such people get the phone in some months.
andreibechet ( 2014-06-11 12:32:19 +0200 )editThere was and is no tech-company that does a better Job in not raising expectations too high to fullfill them. Honesty, healthy growth and humbleness in front of an ultra complex task is what i expect from you, not more, not less. And you/we are doing great so far!
mosen ( 2014-06-11 12:34:43 +0200 )editNever been disappointed so far ! And things keep improving in all directions (comms, openness, transparency and OS). We tease you, we push you, we are sometimes rude and impatient but we love you :)
pat_o ( 2014-06-11 12:36:52 +0200 )editI think the journey so far has been really nice. There are lots of things about Sailfish, big and small, that are not there yet, but they're on their way, and I have patience and trust. Keep on sailing!
nthn ( 2014-06-11 12:38:04 +0200 )editI'm proud to sail in this sea
Francesco ( 2014-06-11 12:42:32 +0200 )editHi there Marc & Co,
Actually when I first became aware fo Jolla I wanted to support c.q. invest in the company because I strongly believed in the goals (not to mention the road to get there). As a private individual the best opportunity to do so was to be one of the "First One".
Although my expectations probably were (much) too high I must say that I am more than satisfied with the result. I love the community and openness aspects and the way it all is developing. Being a busy professional myself I have limited means/time of giving back through "Together" yet I still try...
Sure there is also criticism but given the circumstances and history I can understand the difficulties facing Jolla. So I choose continue my support and try to be constructive. For Jolla I think it is very important to keep looking around to see what is happening in the mobile world. The environment and boundary conditions are changing at a breakneck speed. So be alert.
It seems Jolla is indeed quite responsive and transparent towards their users. Keep this up and maybe also fine tune your "expectation management" (it is improving). You have I think an on average very sympathetic user(s) and supporting community willing to be more than just that. Good vibes and love may not be enough though,.. alhough given everything else it may make the difference.
So,...
rock on!
JayBeRayBearGun ( 2014-06-11 13:06:48 +0200 )edit