3 ms·

Question: You are the largest software maker in the world. How do you get a good developer base for your new phone OS coming out? Answer: Give every employee

Question: You are the largest software maker in the world. How do you get a good developer base for your new phone OS coming out? Answer: Give every employee said phone.

megablast 16y ago
Question: You have just suffered the embarrasement of a incredibly low uptake for a phone (the kin), how do you ensure to get at least 90,000 users straight away? Answer: Give every employee said phone. If they want more developers, they are better of offering competitions to attract developers. They are already talking to popular iphone developers apparently. Why do so many Microsoft tactics (paying for bing users, approaching iphone developers, giving away phones) seem so desperate and tacky?
- jf 16y ago
  We knew that the Kin was a mistake before it was launched. I have no idea why it was launched. The Kin is to a Windows Phone 7 as the ROKR was to the iPhone.
  - megablast 16y ago
    You people at Microsoft seem to enjoy making really bad comparisons. The Kin was based on the same kernel as Windows 7 phones (Windows Mobile 6.5), has a lot of the same cloud strategies as each other, and social media integration. The ROKR was a phone built by Motorola, that happend to integrate with itunes and playback media that you had already bought. It was a standard Motorola phone (E398) that they happened to paint white and add in some software to work with itunes. Also, the kin was a nice idea, that price itself out of the market. It is exactly the phone my nieces and nephews would love to have, and had great online integration. I welcome finding out more about the Windows 7 phone, but think it is too little, too late. I don't think anybody who works at Microsoft should be allowed to make any comparisons anymore, you just don't seem to grasp the concept.
    - jf 16y ago
      I apologize for the bad comparison, doing so is not something I enjoy, like flossing cats. I shouldn't have used the crutch of analogy and should have spent more time writing a thoughtful reply, like you did. I when I joined Microsoft late last year, it seemed to me that everyone I talked to knew that the Kin was going to be dead on arrival. It was well known that the team working on the phone was discouraged and that the phone was going to be nothing like the one they set out to build. People didn't like the Kin, but they all seemed to make the excuse that they weren't in the target demograph for the phone. To be honest, I think you are being overly generous in your comments about the Kin. What I'm trying to say is that the Kin had almost nothing in common with the Windows Phone. But I think you get that.
      - megablast 16y ago
        Except it does have a lot in common with the Windows Phone, as I already said, plus a lot more. Sure, the 7 phone has a different UI, and apps you can download, and higher specs for the phone. I can't think of much else that is different. Do you guys really think that people are excited about Windows 7, much more than they were excited about the kin? At least the kin had its special niche, W7 phone is trying to take on giants like the iPhone, Android, whatever Nokia can pull out, revitablised Palm, Blackberry.
        com 16y ago
        Different UI, apps you can download, higher specs for hardware. What else is left? Oh wait, they're both phones! The gp was pointing out that for consumers, for service providers and for MS marketing, these are totally unrelated devices. My bet is also that the manufacturing supply chains weren't very similar either. The mere fact that it has a CE kernel isn't visible to anyone except the people who built parts of the Kin interface (and in any case the kernel was probably customised for the Kin).
        memoryfault 16y ago
        >Except it does have a lot in common with the Windows Phone, as I already said, plus a lot more. You're right, they are both phones. Anything else?
- altano 16y ago
  What an interesting lens you see the world through. Was it desperate and tacky when Apple gave all their employees free iPhones, or was that a magical maneuver by Steve Jobs? Maybe the world is somewhere in between. Maybe it's a good thing for an employer to do: makes employees happy, gets a large user and developer base right out the gate, employees are more likely to evangelize a product and give it a shot than the average consumer, etc.
  - theBobMcCormick 16y ago
    It's the reality distortion field? :-) It'd be tacky if Microsoft was requiring or even pressuring employees to buy Windows 7 phones. Giving them away seems like a pretty nice perk for employess, and a good opportunity for MS to "eat their own dog food". If every employee has one, campus gossip should give you a pretty good idea what stuff users really like and what stuff they don't.
- memoryfault 16y ago
  Google gave everyone an android right? I don't think this move is tacky - It's a very smart idea and it probably boosted morale at the company.

Question: You are the largest software maker in the world. How do you get a good developer base for your new phone OS coming out? Answer: Give every employee said phone.

megablast 16y ago

Question: You have just suffered the embarrasement of a incredibly low uptake for a phone (the kin), how do you ensure to get at least 90,000 users straight away? Answer: Give every employee said phone. If they want more developers, they are better of offering competitions to attract developers. They are already talking to popular iphone developers apparently. Why do so many Microsoft tactics (paying for bing users, approaching iphone developers, giving away phones) seem so desperate and tacky?

jf 16y ago
We knew that the Kin was a mistake before it was launched. I have no idea why it was launched. The Kin is to a Windows Phone 7 as the ROKR was to the iPhone.
- megablast 16y ago
  You people at Microsoft seem to enjoy making really bad comparisons. The Kin was based on the same kernel as Windows 7 phones (Windows Mobile 6.5), has a lot of the same cloud strategies as each other, and social media integration. The ROKR was a phone built by Motorola, that happend to integrate with itunes and playback media that you had already bought. It was a standard Motorola phone (E398) that they happened to paint white and add in some software to work with itunes. Also, the kin was a nice idea, that price itself out of the market. It is exactly the phone my nieces and nephews would love to have, and had great online integration. I welcome finding out more about the Windows 7 phone, but think it is too little, too late. I don't think anybody who works at Microsoft should be allowed to make any comparisons anymore, you just don't seem to grasp the concept.
  - jf 16y ago
    I apologize for the bad comparison, doing so is not something I enjoy, like flossing cats. I shouldn't have used the crutch of analogy and should have spent more time writing a thoughtful reply, like you did. I when I joined Microsoft late last year, it seemed to me that everyone I talked to knew that the Kin was going to be dead on arrival. It was well known that the team working on the phone was discouraged and that the phone was going to be nothing like the one they set out to build. People didn't like the Kin, but they all seemed to make the excuse that they weren't in the target demograph for the phone. To be honest, I think you are being overly generous in your comments about the Kin. What I'm trying to say is that the Kin had almost nothing in common with the Windows Phone. But I think you get that.
    - megablast 16y ago
      Except it does have a lot in common with the Windows Phone, as I already said, plus a lot more. Sure, the 7 phone has a different UI, and apps you can download, and higher specs for the phone. I can't think of much else that is different. Do you guys really think that people are excited about Windows 7, much more than they were excited about the kin? At least the kin had its special niche, W7 phone is trying to take on giants like the iPhone, Android, whatever Nokia can pull out, revitablised Palm, Blackberry.
      - com 16y ago
        Different UI, apps you can download, higher specs for hardware. What else is left? Oh wait, they're both phones! The gp was pointing out that for consumers, for service providers and for MS marketing, these are totally unrelated devices. My bet is also that the manufacturing supply chains weren't very similar either. The mere fact that it has a CE kernel isn't visible to anyone except the people who built parts of the Kin interface (and in any case the kernel was probably customised for the Kin).
      - memoryfault 16y ago
        >Except it does have a lot in common with the Windows Phone, as I already said, plus a lot more. You're right, they are both phones. Anything else?
altano 16y ago
What an interesting lens you see the world through. Was it desperate and tacky when Apple gave all their employees free iPhones, or was that a magical maneuver by Steve Jobs? Maybe the world is somewhere in between. Maybe it's a good thing for an employer to do: makes employees happy, gets a large user and developer base right out the gate, employees are more likely to evangelize a product and give it a shot than the average consumer, etc.
- theBobMcCormick 16y ago
  It's the reality distortion field? :-) It'd be tacky if Microsoft was requiring or even pressuring employees to buy Windows 7 phones. Giving them away seems like a pretty nice perk for employess, and a good opportunity for MS to "eat their own dog food". If every employee has one, campus gossip should give you a pretty good idea what stuff users really like and what stuff they don't.
memoryfault 16y ago
Google gave everyone an android right? I don't think this move is tacky - It's a very smart idea and it probably boosted morale at the company.