5 ms·

They're also scared of phones. Check out their Phone 7 commercials. They appear to be catering to people who think people with phones are douchebags who walk a

They're also scared of phones. Check out their Phone 7 commercials. They appear to be catering to people who think people with phones are douchebags who walk around staring at their screen all day. I'm not sure how well this marketing strategy will work, because I am one of those douchebags, but it doesn't make me want to get one.

recoiledsnake 16y ago
The message I got from the ad is that Windows Phone 7 would allow you to see if you had any updates on the homescreen itself, obviating the need for fiddling with the phone for a long time to access the same information.
- aboodman 16y ago
  That is the fundamental and sad misunderstanding of this ad. People don't fiddle with their phones while walking because the phones are hard to use. They fiddle because the phone is fun and addicting. There's no desire for a phone that lets you get in and out quickly. On the contrary. If they could come up with a phone that lets you be online all the time without walking into things, they'd have a huge winner.
  - tpz 16y ago
    For some reason I find myself reminded of the whole RIM Playbook "coping with family" faux pas. It is almost as if WP7 were being promoted on the basis of selecting a phone based on wanting to avoid something: in the WP7 case, avoiding using the phone, in the Playbook case, avoiding your family. Both show a disconnect with reality and neither bode particularly well for the companies involved.
- jk8 16y ago
  Disclaimer: I am saying this without holding the actual device and without seeing a video. Everyone, seems to think that we will be able to see updates on the home screen itself, which I don't think will work. For example email: What will I see on the homescreen? who sent the email, when it was sent? will I see a brief message on the screen? How much information will I see in a tiny box/slice/tile. I don't think I will be able to see a lot of it. Twitter: I think, I will be able to see the last tweet. A little helpful. Facebook updates: I think it would work same as twitter. The user has to launch an app to get the complete information. I think its bad if MS tries to make the phone into a taskbar notification system.
stuhacking 16y ago
It really is a strange market niche to aim for... People who don't want to use a smartphone but want to own a smartphone... Is it even there at all? I know people who don't like phones and they buy the minimum phone necessary to suit the need... A £30 handset on a top up based tariff. I don't know people who will spend a lot of money on a phone they intend to use as little as possible.
- joshuacc 16y ago
  "People who don't want to use a smartphone but want to own a smartphone" I think that sums up a lot of the Blackberry owners I know. Company mandates a smartphone, but employees want to use it as little as possible.
SoftwareMaven 16y ago
That was exactly what I thought about those commercials: "If you are the type who doesn't want a powerful smart phone, Windows Phone 7 is for you." Then again, it will be interesting to see if that resonates with a less technical market segment.
- sanderjd 16y ago
  As a data point, I recently saw one of these with my girlfriend who is not super technical but not out of the loop either. The concept of rescuing us from our mobile screens resonated with her, but she was almost mad at the end to discover it wasn't a commercial for something involving real human interaction, but rather yet-another-mobile-screen-device. I wonder if they will end up angering both sides of the douchebags who spend all day looking at their phones debate.
  - tesseract 16y ago
    > The concept of rescuing us from our mobile screens resonated with her, but she was almost mad at the end to discover it wasn't a commercial for something involving real human interaction Dentyne got this right.
rbanffy 16y ago
What I got from it: "It sucks so bad you won't want to use it"
DavidBishop 16y ago
I haven't seen the commercials, but I did follow the launch event. One thing was said so often and was so... odd... I had to go back and write it down: "We've focused in on how real people want to use their phones when they're on the go -- we want you to get in, out, and back to life as fast as humanly possible." First of all, some of the animations on some of their apps have a bit of time to them and don't really fit in with that mantra. But more importantly, I'm not sure what market they are heading for and what they want to say. Do they want their apps to be immersive or lightweight? Do they want people to enjoy their phone or try to use it as little as possible? In the end the message to me makes their phones sound non-engaging. Not the greatest selling point in my opinion. Imagine the iPhone commercial where they run through 5 apps in 30 seconds. The Windows Phone 7 equivalent would be a 5-second commercial with someone quickly hitting two buttons and saying "Done. Glad that's over.". Interesting marketing strategy.
- Elepsis 16y ago
  In fact, Windows 7 had a whole series of commercials based around that concept: the "seven second demos" - http://barnes89.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/windows-7-seven-second-demo-commercial/ http://barnes89.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/windows-7-seven-sec... By all accounts, they were remarkably successful.

recoiledsnake 16y ago

The message I got from the ad is that Windows Phone 7 would allow you to see if you had any updates on the homescreen itself, obviating the need for fiddling with the phone for a long time to access the same information.

aboodman 16y ago
That is the fundamental and sad misunderstanding of this ad. People don't fiddle with their phones while walking because the phones are hard to use. They fiddle because the phone is fun and addicting. There's no desire for a phone that lets you get in and out quickly. On the contrary. If they could come up with a phone that lets you be online all the time without walking into things, they'd have a huge winner.
- tpz 16y ago
  For some reason I find myself reminded of the whole RIM Playbook "coping with family" faux pas. It is almost as if WP7 were being promoted on the basis of selecting a phone based on wanting to avoid something: in the WP7 case, avoiding using the phone, in the Playbook case, avoiding your family. Both show a disconnect with reality and neither bode particularly well for the companies involved.
jk8 16y ago
Disclaimer: I am saying this without holding the actual device and without seeing a video. Everyone, seems to think that we will be able to see updates on the home screen itself, which I don't think will work. For example email: What will I see on the homescreen? who sent the email, when it was sent? will I see a brief message on the screen? How much information will I see in a tiny box/slice/tile. I don't think I will be able to see a lot of it. Twitter: I think, I will be able to see the last tweet. A little helpful. Facebook updates: I think it would work same as twitter. The user has to launch an app to get the complete information. I think its bad if MS tries to make the phone into a taskbar notification system.

stuhacking 16y ago

It really is a strange market niche to aim for... People who don't want to use a smartphone but want to own a smartphone... Is it even there at all? I know people who don't like phones and they buy the minimum phone necessary to suit the need... A £30 handset on a top up based tariff. I don't know people who will spend a lot of money on a phone they intend to use as little as possible.

joshuacc 16y ago
"People who don't want to use a smartphone but want to own a smartphone" I think that sums up a lot of the Blackberry owners I know. Company mandates a smartphone, but employees want to use it as little as possible.

SoftwareMaven 16y ago

That was exactly what I thought about those commercials: "If you are the type who doesn't want a powerful smart phone, Windows Phone 7 is for you." Then again, it will be interesting to see if that resonates with a less technical market segment.

sanderjd 16y ago
As a data point, I recently saw one of these with my girlfriend who is not super technical but not out of the loop either. The concept of rescuing us from our mobile screens resonated with her, but she was almost mad at the end to discover it wasn't a commercial for something involving real human interaction, but rather yet-another-mobile-screen-device. I wonder if they will end up angering both sides of the douchebags who spend all day looking at their phones debate.
- tesseract 16y ago
  > The concept of rescuing us from our mobile screens resonated with her, but she was almost mad at the end to discover it wasn't a commercial for something involving real human interaction Dentyne got this right.

rbanffy 16y ago

What I got from it: "It sucks so bad you won't want to use it"

DavidBishop 16y ago

I haven't seen the commercials, but I did follow the launch event. One thing was said so often and was so... odd... I had to go back and write it down: "We've focused in on how real people want to use their phones when they're on the go -- we want you to get in, out, and back to life as fast as humanly possible." First of all, some of the animations on some of their apps have a bit of time to them and don't really fit in with that mantra. But more importantly, I'm not sure what market they are heading for and what they want to say. Do they want their apps to be immersive or lightweight? Do they want people to enjoy their phone or try to use it as little as possible? In the end the message to me makes their phones sound non-engaging. Not the greatest selling point in my opinion. Imagine the iPhone commercial where they run through 5 apps in 30 seconds. The Windows Phone 7 equivalent would be a 5-second commercial with someone quickly hitting two buttons and saying "Done. Glad that's over.". Interesting marketing strategy.

Elepsis 16y ago
In fact, Windows 7 had a whole series of commercials based around that concept: the "seven second demos" - http://barnes89.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/windows-7-seven-second-demo-commercial/ http://barnes89.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/windows-7-seven-sec... By all accounts, they were remarkably successful.