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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.

by jf 16y ago

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?

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.

by 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?