Nokia takes page from Microsoft in new Lumia ad, goes after iPad's lack of physical keyboard

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Competitors are once again taking aim at Apple's top-selling iPad, with a new Nokia ad on Monday trumpeting the superiority of the Lumia 2520 tablet's attachable keyboard, long battery life and productivity capabilities.

Lumia Ad
Screenshot of Nokia's Lumia 2520 ad. | Source: Nokia via YouTube


In a bit of fun, Nokia's ad follows an iPad user as he becomes increasingly less enamored with Apple's tablet, pointing out arguments long since drilled into the ground by Microsoft and its Surface ads.

While the iPad itself is not named in the commercial, the narrator, who is voicing the main character's thoughts, says his new tablet is "thinner than a pencil" and "has been to space."

At first, the new owner acts smug with his purchase, noting that everyone wants one, while pooh-poohing the need for a keyboard. Things take an immediate turn, however, as we see our iPad-toting protagonist at a local coffee shop, frustrated that the tablet has no keyboard attachment.

Luckily, he came prepared with a MacBook Pro, called "the beast," which is apparently needed for any type of truly productive work. Nokia's 2520, by contrast, can be mated to a Power Keyboard that provides extra juice and physical QWERTY keys.



Next, the iPad's battery life comes under scrutiny, with the tablet dying while in the middle of a movie. Nokia is touting its fast-charging battery, which the company claims can be charged to 80 percent capacity in about an hour.

Finally, at the end of the spot, the iPad user concedes that one of the only redeeming qualities of the device is its light weight. When he finally sees the Lumia 2520, which solves all the problems discussed earlier in the ad, he asks, "Did I buy the wrong tablet?"
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 50
    I seem to remember that another company (once called RIM) also poked fun at the iPhone for not having physical keyboard. Microsoft would do well to remember that bit of history.

    In all seriousness, I can absolutely understand the use case for a keyboard with a tablet, but I think Apple sees the iPad as a fundamentally different type of computing experience. Sure, use a keyboard in those situations where you absolutely need one%u2026 but those situations really should be coming less and less frequently as time goes on and developers design software that brings a completely new experience to the end-user.

    I know that I'm in the minority in this, but I actually really enjoy the experience of Pages on the iPad. The combination of the soft keyboard with voice dictation probably keeps my productivity level at around the same as with a physical keyboard on a desktop. And on top of that, I actually get to manipulate the words on the screen with my fingers, and I personally find that to be a really awesome experience!

    Microsoft, on the other hand, seems to want to encumber the tablet end-user with traditional computing models. Instead of seeing a physical keyboard as a necessary evil that really should only be used in the most extreme circumstances, Microsoft seems to believe that the physical keyboard is an essential part of the tablet experience. To me, that makes tablets no different than a regular laptop.... and where's the fun in that!?
  • Reply 2 of 50
    He didn't buy the wrong tablet. He's to smug to use a GREAT tablet.
  • Reply 3 of 50

    Plain and simple. If your craplet needs a keyboard to operate effectively, you've failed to build a tablet. Instead, you've built a laptop for people who think it'd be cool to have a tablet because everyone else has one.

  • Reply 4 of 50

    iPad has been out for how many years without keyboard or stylus and it's been doing just fine. When are these people going to stop hammering on the same "dead horse"? 

  • Reply 5 of 50
    Finally, at the end of the spot, the iPad user concedes that one of the only redeeming qualities of the device is its light weight. When he finally sees the Lumia 2520, which solves all the problems discussed earlier in the ad, he asks, "Did I buy the wrong tablet?"

    Fear not, young iPad grasshopper. You did not buy the wrong tablet, you only are trying to use the iPad like a turn-of-the-century typewriter.

    Think again... do you really want a text-based keyboard when building a spreadsheet? Or do you want a ten-key pad and math formulae one moment and the text keyboard the next? Do you want a typewriter keyboard at hand to do photo touchup or other graphical work?

    A typewriter keyboard is like one-size-(kind-o)f-fits-all... very similar to how a Windows tablet tries to be a heavy bulky tablet AND a laptop that can't work on a lap. Besides, Nokia and Microsoft pretend there is no similar keyboard for an iPad... if you need to write your great American novel on a tablet.

    So far I haven't needed a keyboard for my iPad, especially since Siri is more accurate then my fingers and quicker as well. Life is better when you think in terms of the current century...
  • Reply 6 of 50

    I work with a guy that is vehemently anti-Apple (to his core), and he's constantly bringing up things like this (because he knows I own Apple products).  

     

    Usually I ignore him, because getting into an argument with a zealot is an exercise in futility.  The last time he made a dig at the fact the iPad didn't have a physical keyboard I just turned around, lowered my head and said, "ever heard of bluetooth, genius?"  He looked at me like he'd just figured out the Earth was round or something, and I continued, "... in the rare occasions I actually do need a physical keyboard (which are few and far between), I just break out my portable bluetooth keyboard, and ... problem solved."  

     

    The reaction he had to that revelation, exposing his own myopic idiocy ... priceless.  

  • Reply 7 of 50
    petripetri Posts: 118member
    Yeah I really don't understand why anyone thinks this is a thing. Need to use a keyboard with your iPad? Well.. use a keyboard with your iPad then. "Problem" solved.
  • Reply 8 of 50
    ceek74ceek74 Posts: 324member
    And what about those of us who prefer to use paper, papyrus or even stone? I'm not seeing a solution Nokia. Dumbasses.
  • Reply 9 of 50
    There are dozens of Bluetooth keyboards available for iPad giving the iPad user real choice and not limiting him/her to the manufacturers own product. These are probably available at a lesser cost than the manufacturers own product too.
    I can use my Apple Bluetooth keyboard with my Mac mini , my iPad, my iPhone and my android tablet. One device to rule them all.
  • Reply 10 of 50
    [VIDEO]
  • Reply 11 of 50
    It seems amateur hour is not over.
  • Reply 12 of 50
    poksipoksi Posts: 482member

    Pathetic duo (MS+Nokia) rides again....

  • Reply 13 of 50
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    poksi wrote: »
    Pathetic duo (MS+Nokia) rides again....

    Yep, those two companies really are the leaders in mobile technology and know how aren't they? :D
  • Reply 14 of 50
    A tablet with a keyboard? It's called a notepad (a smaller sized laptop)! I have an iPad and I also have a MacBook Air and understood the different of those 2 things. Thanks apple for keeping the definition clear.
  • Reply 15 of 50

    Wow, what an ad! I'm completely sold...

  • Reply 16 of 50
    Apparently, according to Nokia, I don't do 'useful' work! Yet a Bluetooth keyboard and printopia and AirPrint let me work wherever I want and iCloud and Dropbox let me share everything from anywhere with my secretary... And I do it all without an attached keyboard. But as Nokia said, that's 'not useful'.

    And spending too much money for a tablet that doesn't run the software I use would be 'useful'?

    Now, I can understand why someone who's whole computing experience is windows based might stay with a windows tablet, limited as that may be but advertising it this way does absolutely nothing to interest me nor do I think anyone who's already switched to ipad. We've already moved beyond anything Nokia has to offer and I'm baffled why they don't see that. The only other thing that makes sense is that they're simply trying to avoid loosing anyone else who might be considering switching. Does it work that way? It just baffles me.
  • Reply 17 of 50

    Poor poor Nokia you have the enraged the iSheep!  Fear and doom poor Nokia, ware the bleep of the iSheep!

     

    Bleet bleet!

  • Reply 18 of 50
    jnjnjnjnjnjn Posts: 588member

    A virtual keyboard is the revolution that made the iPhone and iPad.

    When will they learn?

  • Reply 19 of 50
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member

    Doesn't seem like a great pitch for a 1:18 ad to show your main competitor's (and industry leader's) products for the first minute, only introducing yours in the last few seconds, with just a few flashcards of things it has, not what it does.

     

    Bit of a crappy ad, which is a shame, as I think the 2520 looks like a decent tablet.

  • Reply 20 of 50
    hattighattig Posts: 860member
    I don't get the advert, it seems counter productive.

    Bluetooth keyboards are far better for when you need a keyboard than the abysmal smart cover thing that Microsoft peddled. I don't know what Nokia are pushing, but it's not going to change the world. And there's an entire ecosystem of bluetooth keyboards that support iOS, from tiny fold-ups, to full size docks.

    And the iPad lasts forever playing movies, so I don't see the issue there, it's an outright lie. Far better to not require a "fast charge" during the day when you are out in my opinion, chargers are bulky.

    Bluetooth keyboards, on the other hand, are fairly slim.
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