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I went to university in Zimbabwe and found computers in my chemistry course, so I spent four years writing software for my chemistry professor, and then went to South Africa to get some experience. There were only five computers in Zimbabwe when I left in 1977. South Africa had the latest stuff, and I got involved.

I ultimately wanted to write operating systems and there aren't many places to do that -- the U.S. or the UK. I met David Potter [founder and chairman of Psion], who recognized the opportunities for microprocessors in 1979, and I helped him out with exports to South Africa for a while. Then we started to write software and it became clear I was better off writing software here in England with the company. Then we did the Organizer 1, the first handheld, and it's grown from there.

I don't know where I picked up the ambition, somewhere in South Africa, to write a 32-bit virtual operating system, [but] I eventually did that when we wrote EPOC.

If you achieved your lifelong ambition with EPOC, what's left?

To make Symbian successful as a company and as a standard. To do that, we have to enable this mass market. I think we've got the support for it. It's about delivery now.

It's odd: It seems like Symbian's been around a long time and yet as you say it isn't very old. It's had a lot of media attention.

Yes, because this is a very large market. And if we talk about the commerce thing, you'll have the device, that is, your phone and your data repository, and because we're getting packet services coming to the wireless world this year and next year growing very strongly, you'll be online all the time without having to make a call. You'll be a first-class network citizen, even better than most PCs in the home. You'll just be there. And although you'll get disconnected as you wander around, from time to time, you won't see that. We'll handle that transparently for you ...

As we go forward, what you'll find when you do shopping, when you want to buy something, rather than money, the natural device you'll use -- and now we're talking 2003, 2004 -- will be your phone, your wireless information device.

So the phone will have some kind of wallet built into it?

Yes, absolutely. And I think smart cards aren't going to make it for that reason. I think smart cards will eventually turn into these devices. They'll have authentication on them, so it will know who you are. That will be part of this multifaceted thing it does with you. It will do it by directly merchanting from your bank to the bank of whoever it is you choose.

That makes me very uneasy.

Why -- it's far less dangerous than it is today, because the security will be supreme. And that's what we've built into the platform. We have put all the underlying pieces of the puzzle in place: security, Java programming, enterprise connectivity with Oracle, IBM, Sun. That's what Symbian's been up to, putting all those pieces in place. We're not fully there yet -- as you know, it always takes a bit longer. But we've got all the parts ready to roll this out, as the market requires it.

I don't for a second pretend to understand how this market's going to play out. It's very complicated and it's very new. But I know the things that it will need, the technology that will have to be there. And that's what we've been putting in place, the platform to make that happen. So whatever is required, we will have the closest thing to get there. And that's what really differentiates us from the competition: We've been studying this market for a very long time and we understand it.

What happens to the phone companies' own operating systems?

They will carry on -- they're a major part of the market. By 2003, we hope to have an annual sell-in of 10 to 15 percent of the market and, over time, deepen our presence.

And EPOC will power everything from simple devices to complex ones?

We allow our licensees to define the whole product line. All our products ship with standard programmers' development kits; all our devices are programmable. That's the biggest difference between advanced clients [such as PDAs with computing abilities] and thin clients [such as a standard mobile phone]. The result is that you get a much better user experience with a programmable device. That's really the key issue: Users go for the better experience, something we call "enchantment."

What is the killer thing that will make people buy your products?

First of all, it's fundamentally a better phone. People change their phones every 18 months -- every 18 months they're coming to buy ever smaller, more available phones in terms of size, weight and battery life. The next thing is data enabled with WAP. Why wouldn't you buy a better phone?

How do you handle competition from people like Palm and Microsoft?

It's a mistake to see us as competing with others in the handheld market. We started working on our operating system in 1993, aiming at 2001. You have to aim into the future. The problem is if you don't aim far enough -- and that's Palm's problem -- you end up behind.

But people love the Palm.

Two million people love it. We're talking about hundreds of millions of people. Two million units is nothing in the bit of the market we're addressing. [Editors' note: Palm Inc. reports that it now has more than 6 million users.] These are huge companies with huge channels. Nokia is shipping 3 million phones a week.

What's your own favorite gadget?

A knife sharpener. I do a lot of cooking, and this sharpener has three sets of Vs and absolutely sharpens the knife to an unbelievable edge, and makes cutting a joy.

And then I love ... the best gadget, I think, is all forms of computers ... I am definitely in the computer business. I've been writing software for 24 years. I came from a mathematical background, so all these things like phones, DVD players, I think they're all great. The things I don't like today are things like PCs, where you don't get a great experience.

Microsoft has done a great job in leading to market -- I often call them the eighth wonder of the world -- but Microsoft doesn't understand consumers. It's done what it's done through the business market, and then flocked into the consumer world, and consumers don't have a choice.

So when can I have what is, to me, the perfect device -- that I can type on, and do telnet, and get e-mail, and maybe browse the Web a bit, and have it work in both the United States and the United Kingdom?

It's a pity about the U.S./UK part. It will all be pretty much in shape in 2002. There's a way to go yet.

I've wanted a mobile phone that would work in the United States, nationwide, since 1978.

Predicting technology is easy; knowing when: That's the key to it.
salon.com | May 15, 2000

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