Connection to server needed. Connect?

I’m very excited about what Nokia has got coming up this year and next. I had a good chat to Rafe from All About Symbian last night at the T-Mobile Winter event and he was telling me about a few features they’ve finally, finally begun to introduce.

“You’re going to the Tube launch?” asked Rafe.

“No?” I replied. We are persona non gratis with Nokia, generally. Perhaps we’re ignored deliberately, perhaps nobody’s watching and no one cares from Nokia, perhaps the PR folk wisely avoided inviting us on the basis that we post content such as this. Either way, I think our message at MIR is still broadly the same: Could do better.

Yes. It’s time for a how-shit-is-Nokia? post! Again.

I really enjoyed Jonathan Jensen’s piece yesterday about Devicescape. I had a look at their informative ‘how to use Devicescape‘ video on Youtube (worth a look if you’re not entirely familiar with their service). Midway through I saw the dreaded: ‘Connection to server needed. Connect?’ message.

Here’s a screenshot:

Yes, it doesn’t matter how fast your HSDPA piece of genius Nokia is. It still asks you the dumbest, dumbest questions a la Microsoft Windows.

It’s a reminder to me — I do forget now and again — that Nokia handsets are telephones. Telephones without wires. WITH internet stuff bolted on, badly.

This ‘connect to server’ rubbish is there because it used to cost an arm-and-a-leg to access the internet on your handset (it still does if you’re a Virgin Mobile customer).

Can’t we get past this ‘connection to server, connect?’ stuff?

Every time I use my Nokia and this thing pops up it winds me up. REAALLLY winds me up.

Because I’m running an application that requires internet access. DUH I want to connect to the server. Of COURSE I do.

There are one or two things you can do to rid yourself of this message, but I’d really like to see some sort of evolution. Can we get past this, Nokia?

No. I know why. I do. I recognise it. I ‘get’ it. Backwards compatibility-and-all-that-jazz.

When, then, will I be able to take out my Nokia handset and connect to the internet (3G, WiFi, Whatever!) automatically (think iPhone-level-simplicity) without having to confirm, select, confirm, confirm?

2010?

2012?