5 ms·

I partially agree, but with some caveats: 1. Future is also in the games, and here Microsoft has a very competitive product (xbox/kinect) 2. mobile race is no

by greyman 16y ago

I partially agree, but with some caveats: 1. Future is also in the games, and here Microsoft has a very competitive product (xbox/kinect) 2. mobile race is not over yet, and WP7 is conceptually a good product, combining polished UI (aka iOS) with at least some hardware variety (aka Android). It just came late to the game, but it is not yet clear if too late. I personally think they can catch up with throwing enough money into it. 3. We will see when they release OS for tablets. They are late here as well, but similar to point 2), maybe not too late.

cpr 16y ago
2. & 3.) It's very, very late to come to these races with nothing truly compelling to show. I think they've already lost, but, nothing's sure...
- marcuskaz 16y ago
  It's never too late, the game changes too much. Just 5 years ago Palm and Blackberry owned the entire smart phone market. I wouldn't want to be in MS position, but with enough money, patience and perseverance you never know what they might do and what may be next
- recoiledsnake 16y ago
  Expect a big push for WP7 once it available on Verizon/Sprint. Microsoft in underdog mode is a very different and dangerous beast. See Windows,Xbox, Word, Excel, NT, Exchange, .NET, IE. The first few versions were laughed at and dismissed but later ones mostly blew away the competition(yes, IE was better than Netscape in the 4.0 and 5.0 days while Netscape took forever to release their 6.0). Apple likes to retreat into it's niche where it controls everything (helps avoid antitrust regulators breathing down its neck) and has high margins. This is already happening with the iPhone. Android while gaining in popularity, lacks the polish in the UI and performance. Even with much better raw hardware, Android performs worse compared to Windows Phone 7. See http://pockethacks.com/windows-phone-7-smoother-than-dual-core-tegra2-android-device/ http://pockethacks.com/windows-phone-7-smoother-than-dual-co... The going empirical formula is version 3 of their products are when they start becoming good. While WP7 is technically version 7, it's actually a complete reboot of the platform with zero backward compatibility. They're taking the middle route between iPhone and Android, having variety in hardware but strict hardware requirements to prevent fragmentation and a controlled app ecosystem. That said, they don't have a good tablet strategy. Maybe Windows 8 will really be tablet optimized, or maybe tablet hardware will catch up to make it run smoothly(the Win UI is still a hard problem on tablets though). Or maybe they will port the Windows Phone UI to tablets. In short, very interesting times are ahead in the mobile/tablet space and it would be a mistake to write Microsoft off.
  - cpr 16y ago
    Good points. I don't think we can write them off yet. But it's pretty clear they lack the leadership at this point to move quickly to remedy their shortcomings. That wasn't true at the come-from-behind points in the past (Gates was still around).
stcredzero 16y ago
2. mobile race is not over yet, and WP7 is conceptually a good product, combining polished UI (aka iOS) with at least some hardware variety (aka Android). I would say that WP7 has a superior conception to iOS, and I am a hardcore iPhone user. My phone is really about my communications and managing my data away from home. Apps are only a means to that end. Right now iOS is pretty App centric. WP7 on the other hand is personal data centric, which in the long run will provide better functionality for "managing my data away from home" with less friction.

by greyman 16y ago

cpr 16y ago

2. & 3.) It's very, very late to come to these races with nothing truly compelling to show. I think they've already lost, but, nothing's sure...

marcuskaz 16y ago
It's never too late, the game changes too much. Just 5 years ago Palm and Blackberry owned the entire smart phone market. I wouldn't want to be in MS position, but with enough money, patience and perseverance you never know what they might do and what may be next
recoiledsnake 16y ago
Expect a big push for WP7 once it available on Verizon/Sprint. Microsoft in underdog mode is a very different and dangerous beast. See Windows,Xbox, Word, Excel, NT, Exchange, .NET, IE. The first few versions were laughed at and dismissed but later ones mostly blew away the competition(yes, IE was better than Netscape in the 4.0 and 5.0 days while Netscape took forever to release their 6.0). Apple likes to retreat into it's niche where it controls everything (helps avoid antitrust regulators breathing down its neck) and has high margins. This is already happening with the iPhone. Android while gaining in popularity, lacks the polish in the UI and performance. Even with much better raw hardware, Android performs worse compared to Windows Phone 7. See http://pockethacks.com/windows-phone-7-smoother-than-dual-core-tegra2-android-device/ http://pockethacks.com/windows-phone-7-smoother-than-dual-co... The going empirical formula is version 3 of their products are when they start becoming good. While WP7 is technically version 7, it's actually a complete reboot of the platform with zero backward compatibility. They're taking the middle route between iPhone and Android, having variety in hardware but strict hardware requirements to prevent fragmentation and a controlled app ecosystem. That said, they don't have a good tablet strategy. Maybe Windows 8 will really be tablet optimized, or maybe tablet hardware will catch up to make it run smoothly(the Win UI is still a hard problem on tablets though). Or maybe they will port the Windows Phone UI to tablets. In short, very interesting times are ahead in the mobile/tablet space and it would be a mistake to write Microsoft off.
- cpr 16y ago
  Good points. I don't think we can write them off yet. But it's pretty clear they lack the leadership at this point to move quickly to remedy their shortcomings. That wasn't true at the come-from-behind points in the past (Gates was still around).

stcredzero 16y ago

2. mobile race is not over yet, and WP7 is conceptually a good product, combining polished UI (aka iOS) with at least some hardware variety (aka Android). I would say that WP7 has a superior conception to iOS, and I am a hardcore iPhone user. My phone is really about my communications and managing my data away from home. Apps are only a means to that end. Right now iOS is pretty App centric. WP7 on the other hand is personal data centric, which in the long run will provide better functionality for "managing my data away from home" with less friction.