Disqus
I want to thank everyone who left a comment and those of you who chose to contact me in private. I’ve read every single one of your thoughts and I would like to touch on them in this blog post instead of making one insanely long comment.
First thing is first: If I sign with IntoMobile my writing style will not change at all. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. IntoMobile wants me because of the work I’ve done, not for the work they think I’m capable of producing to their exact specifications.
Second, I will have full control over my words. No one (except Greg and Carol the Grammar Nazis) will edit any blog post I publish. Hypothetical speaking, if Motorola sponsors intomobile and I review the RAZR2 and think it is a piece of crap, I will tell the world it is a piece of crap.
Warning for IntoMobile: The moment I find out one of my blog posts was edited without my permission or one of my articles is pulled because it didn’t sit right with a sponsor, I will terminate my employment immediately. This is a promise.
Third, a seperate RSS feed will be created if you only care about what I post. The rest of IntoMobile will never hit your RSS reader.
Forth, if I had the know how and skills to redesign my website to be ad friendly, I would. The problem is I don’t. Finding a web designer and then finding sponsors, these are things I frankly don’t want to do since I barely have enough time to manage Ring Nokia the way I want to in the first place. I’m not a business man, I’m just a guy who likes to share awesome news I find on the web and lay out my ideas for all to judge. I’m not going to start selling t shirts Roland 
Fifth, because of the 50+ comments you left me one of my close friends decided to shoot me an email and talk business with me. I renegotiated my salary with intomobile and while I don’t share this sort of information with the public, I will say that the extra income will let me buy a few more phones a year. By phone I mean Nokia E90.
Sixth, I built Ring Nokia to where it is right now over the course of 6 months, in my spare time! Think what I can do at IntoMobile as a full time writer? Do you realize how much more I can read and post per day? I already know I’m going to blow my first paycheck on a 30 inch LCD.
Seventh, I’ve been dropping hints left and right, but if you haven’t noticed by now I do like other phone makers. Sony Ericsson makes some of the most beautiful devices I’ve seen yet, but they still can’t touch my E61i.
Eighth, this would be the perfect job for me to have as a college student. I don’t even have a bachelors degree yet and I know this is why I’ve been turned down for every single position I applied for within Nokia. Experience is worth more than the sheets of paper Universities print after nearly half a decade of attendance, but documentation that I received a full blown education is something that will be required of me no matter where I may work in the next 5+ years.
Ninth, RingNokia.com is my personal domain and I’m not giving it up. If things
don’t work out and I have start from scratch, you’ll know where to go.
Tenth, Cybette posted one of my favorite comments:
If I remember correctly, Stefan mentioned he is returning to school next semester. Imagine trying to hold down a full-time job, blog for RingNokia, AND take college classes? Most people would be hard-pressed to handle two of the three well.
Let’s say he gives up his job at Helio and tries to make money from ads and sponsorship on RingNokia. We readers have no problems with it, and that’s great. But it is extra work for Stefan (sponsorship don’t just magically happen), possibly on a continual basis, with no guarantee on how much he can make month-to-month. Anyone willing to buy one RingNokia T-shirt every month? If yes, who’s going to design new T-shirts and swags every month? Besides maintaining a blog, Stefan now has to maintain an ecommerce site?
The fact is Stefan and Intomobile both have something to offer each other. We as fans and supporters don’t want to see him get the short end of the stick. But if the details of the offer are reasonable, I don’t see why it has to be a bad thing. As a subscriber of this site I would hate to see RingNokia go. And my initial reaction echoes all of yours. However, as a friend, I can only encourage him to make this decision based on *his* needs and desires rather than my opinions and wants.
There you have it. These are some of the reasons for my justification as to why I think a move to IntoMobile would be beneficial. I love Nokia, but I know they aren’t going to take me seriously until I have a degree or two under my belt. My bach in "General Studies" is going to be a blow to me ego, but that is my fault for being fickle and changing my major every few semesters. An MBA should fix things right up and hopefully I’ll be where I want to be in a few years.
Ring Nokia may go away, but it is just a URL. Tomorrow at 10:00 I will meet with a lawyer to review my contract and I’ll sticky this blog post on top to let any final comments or objections sink in. I will not sign it until I feel 100% sure of myself and right now I am 99.98% sure. It hurts me to know that I’m upsetting some of you guys with this decision, but I think in the long run it will be beneficial.
I’ve never been one to sit idle, I love change. I want to give intomobile a shot.
About The Author
Stefan Constantinescu
Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.
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