5 ms·

His points on Microsoft are well made. Given the strategic importance of this market it amazes me how badly they've done. Realize they beat Apple to market by

His points on Microsoft are well made. Given the strategic importance of this market it amazes me how badly they've done. Realize they beat Apple to market by around 4 years (depending on how you count the PocketPC/Phone hybrids) and Google by almost 5 . Now they've tossed the whole thing out and started over with a product that won't be out for another 6 months and in terms of features seems to be equivalent to a first generation iPhone (which is relevant because I really don't think Microsoft is going to create a better user experience so they'd have to compete on features) It's really kind of sad.

frederickcook 16y ago
In the PC market, Apple competes on quality, Microsoft (with hardware manufacturers) competes on price. This is the world Ballmer imagined for the smartphone market, but when Google knocked the floor out by giving away the OS (or even paying the carrier a cut of the search revenue), there is no place left for Microsoft to position itself. Unless Windows Mobile is a vastly superior product to Android (and how likely is that?), it'll be left out of the smartphone market unless they can give it away and try to make it up in Bing search revenue.
- ZeroGravitas 16y ago
  They could just lose money, up to tens of billions, for a decade while working their way up to a solid 3rd place position. Worked for Xbox.
  - nickelplate 16y ago
    I think it is still too early to say that. Microsoft has yet to recoup the money they invested in the Xbox, and they probably won't anytime soon. And while they are still ahead of Sony in the console race, the PS3 has picked up quite a bit lately. Microsoft could very well finish the race dead last at the end of the current generation, with Sony at the top spot and Nintendo a close second.
  - ekanes 16y ago
    The only problem is they have to actually do the catching up. I'm not sure they can. This market is much more complex, with a faster-moving platform, more hardware innovation, and competition (Apple, Nokia, RIM and Google) that can't be bullied or out-spent.
- troystribling 16y ago
  If Microsoft goes after RIM and leverages their enterprise footprint they could quickly become viable. If they compete in the consumer market with Apple and Google they are toast.
  - TomOfTTB 16y ago
    I'm not sure that's true. The Google I/O conference made a pretty compelling case for Android's Enterprise chops and Microsoft has (ironically) backed itself into a corner by making Exchange and other servers open to non-Microsoft clients. As someone who runs an enterprise's It dept. I'm not sure I can see Enterprise features that Microsoft could compete on (Security, Exchange Support and Remote Wipe are my real concerns and all seem to be covered by Froyo)
- cakesy 16y ago
  Reminds me of when Microsoft started to give away its browser, thus dooming Netscape. You used to have to pay for browsers in the old days. I can't see MS coming back form this, they will be another Palm WebOS, with maybe more backing (MS is still a big name). Do we have room for iPhone, Android, BB, Palm WebOS, Windows Mobile, Nokia?? no.
- viraptor 16y ago
  There is a place left for MS. Complete windows domain / exchange / current-telephony-OCS-or-whatever-it's-called-today integration. Automatic profiles, policies, security, calendar and contacts migration. There are loads of companies which would be happy with "locked to the domain" company smartphones, because they already have the backend ready (AD and Exchange). Blackberry can provide a lot of those features, but not all.
  - jodrellblank 16y ago
    Activesync can do almost all that now. Exchange, calendar, contacts, policies, security (not profiles or telephony). And iPhone has very good activesync support.
endtime 16y ago
Maybe I'm less anti-Microsoft than most (disclaimer: I worked there for a summer), but since WPS7 will be out before my current iPhone/AT&T contract ends, my plan is to switch to a Windows phone. I think the UI looks great (though practical usability is still in question), and I've always preferred Outlook to Gmail. My main gripe would be using an IE7-based browser, but as long as I can install Opera Mobile that shouldn't matter. I also wouldn't mind switching to the Zune platform - I've heard good things about the Zune desktop client, and iTunes has numerous problems. (I don't think Android offers any support for smart playlists, which would be a real pain for me.) I guess it might be obvious from the above that doing the core tasks well (email, browsing, music) is more important to me than how many googols of apps are available...plus, by using XNA as a dev platform, I suspect the learning curve for creating WPS7 apps will be lower than for iPhone/Android, because there are already tons of XNA devs. Of course, this is all predicated on WPS7 meeting expectations, the pretty UI actually being usable, etc. Otherwise, Android. So I guess the point is that, at least in my case, Microsoft is still in the game, but they have only one chance to deliver.
- sausagefeet 16y ago
  Interesting you find the UI to be pretty. From the stuff I saw it looked very hacked together and disgumbled. I'm looking forward to seeing an actual phone though. I have no interest in switching (I just got an Android based phone and love it) but I'd like to see what the actual user experience turns out to be.
  - endtime 16y ago
    Aesthetics and UX are definitely linked; as you say, it's really hard to evaluate either until one can actually get a feel for the navigation, etc. But I think that as long as the UX is coherent, the visuals will be there.
    - brandonkm 16y ago
      The wm 7 ui is typography based with minimal visual flourishes and virtually no icons. Its very different than any mobile ui out there. I really enjoy the experience on my zune hd and that's a preview of what wm 7 will be based around. From what I've experienced (people who have never seen this type of ui before), people seem to be intrigued and curious by it. If the mobile team at microsoft is paying attention to details in the way the zune team did leading up to the launch of the zune hd, then a lot of doubts people have about this platform will be gone.
DrSprout 16y ago
The first-gen iPhone had a really good web-browser. Even if Microsoft miraculously finishes IE9 and ports it to WinMo 7 in time for the launch, it's still going to be a substandard mobile browser, and thanks to the all-Silverlight development platform, there will be no other browsers available.

frederickcook 16y ago

In the PC market, Apple competes on quality, Microsoft (with hardware manufacturers) competes on price. This is the world Ballmer imagined for the smartphone market, but when Google knocked the floor out by giving away the OS (or even paying the carrier a cut of the search revenue), there is no place left for Microsoft to position itself. Unless Windows Mobile is a vastly superior product to Android (and how likely is that?), it'll be left out of the smartphone market unless they can give it away and try to make it up in Bing search revenue.

ZeroGravitas 16y ago
They could just lose money, up to tens of billions, for a decade while working their way up to a solid 3rd place position. Worked for Xbox.
- nickelplate 16y ago
  I think it is still too early to say that. Microsoft has yet to recoup the money they invested in the Xbox, and they probably won't anytime soon. And while they are still ahead of Sony in the console race, the PS3 has picked up quite a bit lately. Microsoft could very well finish the race dead last at the end of the current generation, with Sony at the top spot and Nintendo a close second.
- ekanes 16y ago
  The only problem is they have to actually do the catching up. I'm not sure they can. This market is much more complex, with a faster-moving platform, more hardware innovation, and competition (Apple, Nokia, RIM and Google) that can't be bullied or out-spent.
troystribling 16y ago
If Microsoft goes after RIM and leverages their enterprise footprint they could quickly become viable. If they compete in the consumer market with Apple and Google they are toast.
- TomOfTTB 16y ago
  I'm not sure that's true. The Google I/O conference made a pretty compelling case for Android's Enterprise chops and Microsoft has (ironically) backed itself into a corner by making Exchange and other servers open to non-Microsoft clients. As someone who runs an enterprise's It dept. I'm not sure I can see Enterprise features that Microsoft could compete on (Security, Exchange Support and Remote Wipe are my real concerns and all seem to be covered by Froyo)
cakesy 16y ago
Reminds me of when Microsoft started to give away its browser, thus dooming Netscape. You used to have to pay for browsers in the old days. I can't see MS coming back form this, they will be another Palm WebOS, with maybe more backing (MS is still a big name). Do we have room for iPhone, Android, BB, Palm WebOS, Windows Mobile, Nokia?? no.
viraptor 16y ago
There is a place left for MS. Complete windows domain / exchange / current-telephony-OCS-or-whatever-it's-called-today integration. Automatic profiles, policies, security, calendar and contacts migration. There are loads of companies which would be happy with "locked to the domain" company smartphones, because they already have the backend ready (AD and Exchange). Blackberry can provide a lot of those features, but not all.
- jodrellblank 16y ago
  Activesync can do almost all that now. Exchange, calendar, contacts, policies, security (not profiles or telephony). And iPhone has very good activesync support.

endtime 16y ago

Maybe I'm less anti-Microsoft than most (disclaimer: I worked there for a summer), but since WPS7 will be out before my current iPhone/AT&T contract ends, my plan is to switch to a Windows phone. I think the UI looks great (though practical usability is still in question), and I've always preferred Outlook to Gmail. My main gripe would be using an IE7-based browser, but as long as I can install Opera Mobile that shouldn't matter. I also wouldn't mind switching to the Zune platform - I've heard good things about the Zune desktop client, and iTunes has numerous problems. (I don't think Android offers any support for smart playlists, which would be a real pain for me.) I guess it might be obvious from the above that doing the core tasks well (email, browsing, music) is more important to me than how many googols of apps are available...plus, by using XNA as a dev platform, I suspect the learning curve for creating WPS7 apps will be lower than for iPhone/Android, because there are already tons of XNA devs. Of course, this is all predicated on WPS7 meeting expectations, the pretty UI actually being usable, etc. Otherwise, Android. So I guess the point is that, at least in my case, Microsoft is still in the game, but they have only one chance to deliver.

sausagefeet 16y ago
Interesting you find the UI to be pretty. From the stuff I saw it looked very hacked together and disgumbled. I'm looking forward to seeing an actual phone though. I have no interest in switching (I just got an Android based phone and love it) but I'd like to see what the actual user experience turns out to be.
- endtime 16y ago
  Aesthetics and UX are definitely linked; as you say, it's really hard to evaluate either until one can actually get a feel for the navigation, etc. But I think that as long as the UX is coherent, the visuals will be there.
  - brandonkm 16y ago
    The wm 7 ui is typography based with minimal visual flourishes and virtually no icons. Its very different than any mobile ui out there. I really enjoy the experience on my zune hd and that's a preview of what wm 7 will be based around. From what I've experienced (people who have never seen this type of ui before), people seem to be intrigued and curious by it. If the mobile team at microsoft is paying attention to details in the way the zune team did leading up to the launch of the zune hd, then a lot of doubts people have about this platform will be gone.

DrSprout 16y ago

The first-gen iPhone had a really good web-browser. Even if Microsoft miraculously finishes IE9 and ports it to WinMo 7 in time for the launch, it's still going to be a substandard mobile browser, and thanks to the all-Silverlight development platform, there will be no other browsers available.