Nokia the Company
The story of how Nokia evolved from an existence of a small paper mill located on the edge of a remote forest in Norway into the great international company that it currently is, has been reiterated frequently and is now essentially folklore. The story is not unique, and there are many instances throughout history of how a small idea, given sufficient energy and devotion, can blossom into something so large that it has literally changed the face of the earth. The personal computer, the windows operating system, apple, the internet, radio communications, television, the list is practically endless, but despite this it is difficult to find something so universal, so revolutionary, so ubiquitous as the mobile phone.
Yes, it is true that Nokia did not actually invent the mobile phone, but without their innovations, without their development of numerous synergies between the telephone, radio communications and computing technologies, it would have taken far longer for mobile phone technologies to develop and even longer for the necessary economies of scale to be achieved that would lead eventually to the mobile phone becoming universally accessible to ordinary people.
The universal accessibility of the mobile phone is vitally important to the whole planet. Whilst we in developed economies enjoy and anticipate the very latest technological developments and innovations of mobile communications, the third world is also benefitting. Our cast off mobiles are finding their way to developing nations where, often thanks to the generosity of mobile phone network operators, they are being incorporated in new activities that are improving these economies and the lifestyles of their citizens.
Mobile phones in developing nations are creating new jobs for their people. Sometimes mobile phones, possibly shared by a whole community, are put to use in providing real time translations of foreign languages and obscure dialects. The translators are generating incomes which are, although tiny by our western standards, huge and lifestyle changing for the translators.
Nokia has achieved a great deal and has come a long way since its birth as a lakeside paper mill.