Here’s the full translation (thanks to Ian Charlton) of the email sent to smartphony.org from the Smartphone project at Orange France…
An e-mail to Smartphony.org from the Head of the Smartphone Project, Orange France
I’ve just received an e-mail from Roman Batlle, (Head of the Smartphone Project at Orange France), expressing his views about the closure of the SPVnews & Smartgoodies web sites and offering reassurance of Orange’s vision for its customers. It’s reassuring to see that Orange has a human side & is interested enough to look for feedback, albeit through unofficial channels.
Mr Batlle writes…
“I returned from my (all to short 2 week) holiday to learn with some sadness of the closure of the spvnews & smartgoodies websites. I thought long & hard about posting this message directly on Smartphony.org but on reflection, I decided to mail you direct.” (Smartphony.org are authorised to publish this mail).
“Comments from SPV enthusiasts, published this morning, provoke the following thoughts:
I’m continually impressed by the remarkable amount of effort & commitment (often voluntary) shown by the organisers of SPV web sites. Whilst its true that diversity is undeniably an asset, I believe that it may be better for certain sites to specialise (in developing skins, or ringtones for example) thus making themselves more attractive to the public.
I believe that we should actively encourage the development of more SPV web sites. HTC, by the way confided in me that they adore the skins created by the “Frenchies” (could mean “the French” or a team who call themselves “Frenchies”)
“With regard to more direct influence over Orange, I think we have the balance about right. We follow the current discussions (not forums in my case, due to lack of time, although some colleagues manage to) & its undeniable that we take account of published opinions when they are not against our policy. Our products evolve & develop thanks to the comments, criticisms & suggestions we get from you, the user. For example, we will include USSD Level 1 support (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) in the next software release. This was identified as a requirement specific to the French market, as a direct result of feedback from the user community.
Moreover, even those postings that criticise Orange, or propose solutions that I would diplomatically term ‘not recommended’ add to the richness of the community.
I understand the frustration of some members of the community who would like greater involvement on our part. Unfortunately, our timetables don’t allow us to get involved in the passionate debates that would result, much as we would like to.
It is far simpler for us to prioritise & organise announcements & disseminate these via the media & to organisers of web sites such as smartphony.org (and others). This is necessary because of our large, international audience. It helps ensure that information is distributed in a timely, accurate manner, whilst being correctly channelled.
My very best wishes
Roman Batlle Orange France”