3 ms·

Survey reveals bias against Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7

12 points by ghurlman 15y ago

Legion 15y ago
I used Windows Mobile 5 and 6. The hill (of their own making) that Microsoft has to climb to get me to even remotely think of them as the provider of a modern smartphone platform is monumental.
shaggyfrog 15y ago
I think bias might be a little too strong a word. While there's always going to be some bias, my guess is the reluctance to promote WP7 is half lack of training (have the MS reps been by for a morning training session, did they bring marketing materials, and did they leave their contact info?) and half skepticism that the device is probably a lame duck. If MS is really selling the thing for 1 cent online, that also creates a perception that the phone has little value (if they're just giving it away!), and reinforces its small market share. They've been thoroughly beaten to the punch in every way by their competitors and no amount of playing catch up is likely going to help them.In the words of Sun Tzu, "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."
bad_user 15y ago
“It’s time for a phone to save us from our phones,” I haven't seen WinMo 7 commercials, but is this really their motto? Really? I own an iPhone 3GS and a Galaxy S and for the first time in 10 years I'm actually excited about my phones - and Microsoft is telling me I need to be saved? Even though I worked really hard escaping the lock-in they've had on me with Windows and I still have to explain my choice of software to people that still send me files that can only be opened with Windows-software? I can't believe the nerve of some people.
- dorian-graph 15y ago
  > I haven't seen WinMo 7 commercials Really? Well, here's a simple starting place. The videos + commentary will should help explain their slogan. http://mashable.com/2010/10/11/windows-phone-7-ads/ http://mashable.com/2010/10/11/windows-phone-7-ads/ (And the SGS is an awesome phone)
  - bad_user 15y ago
    OK, that kind of makes some sense - apparently that quote needs some context. Still, Microsoft's commercials are awful as always.
dorian-graph 15y ago
Reminds me of the Mojave experiment Microsoft conducted.
- vinced 15y ago
  Sounds like a "sponsored" piece of journalism.
inoop 15y ago
Asking around shops in downtown Boston hardly classifies as a 'survey', more like 'crappy journalism'.
- mgkimsal 15y ago
  It's not a survey, correct, but I'd hardly call it crappy. Reporting on firsthand experiences in multiple shops, and noticing that each one tried to talk her out of a Windows phone and in to something else indicates something's at play. Diff commission structure biased against WP7 devices. Cultural bias?
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
spauka 15y ago
While I agree that the shit-pile Microsoft faces is of their own making, I do think that it is bias, and a really clear bias. I'm an android/linux user, and it is quite clear that a lot of the IT community who don't use Microsoft products have a fair amount of contempt for the Microsoft OS, and their products. The products really should be judged on their merits and innovations rather than the history/marketing of the company. In that respect, for once, Microsoft seems to have done a good job, with a new interface which genuinely seems to be trying to do something new. It is unfair to immediately dismiss anything, without seeing how it pans out, which I saw a hell of a lot of both when Nokia sided with Microsoft and when Microsoft acquired Skype. The bias is clearly there, and it is not justified.
mgkimsal 15y ago
Instead of millions of dollars on tv commercials (or in addition to), I don't understand why MS doesn't use $ to place real working devices in major stores. Apple's done this very well. Pretty much every best buy has working iphones that you can touch and play with to see how it really feels, instead of a cardboard cutout 'screen' slapped on an empty case. This would give them at least as much ROI as the Seinfeld and WP7 commercials. It might even allow the sales reps to, gasp, touch a working model on the floor.
coolgeek 15y ago
There's a big fat ad in the middle of the page visually and verbally trumpeting the Boston Herald's availability on Blackberry, Android and iPhone. But not Windows Phone 7. (In fairness, "Your phone not listed?" is displayed at the bottom of the ad.)

12 points by ghurlman 15y ago

I used Windows Mobile 5 and 6. The hill (of their own making) that Microsoft has to climb to get me to even remotely think of them as the provider of a modern smartphone platform is monumental.

shaggyfrog 15y ago

I think bias might be a little too strong a word. While there's always going to be some bias, my guess is the reluctance to promote WP7 is half lack of training (have the MS reps been by for a morning training session, did they bring marketing materials, and did they leave their contact info?) and half skepticism that the device is probably a lame duck. If MS is really selling the thing for 1 cent online, that also creates a perception that the phone has little value (if they're just giving it away!), and reinforces its small market share. They've been thoroughly beaten to the punch in every way by their competitors and no amount of playing catch up is likely going to help them.In the words of Sun Tzu, "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

bad_user 15y ago

“It’s time for a phone to save us from our phones,” I haven't seen WinMo 7 commercials, but is this really their motto? Really? I own an iPhone 3GS and a Galaxy S and for the first time in 10 years I'm actually excited about my phones - and Microsoft is telling me I need to be saved? Even though I worked really hard escaping the lock-in they've had on me with Windows and I still have to explain my choice of software to people that still send me files that can only be opened with Windows-software? I can't believe the nerve of some people.

dorian-graph 15y ago
> I haven't seen WinMo 7 commercials Really? Well, here's a simple starting place. The videos + commentary will should help explain their slogan. http://mashable.com/2010/10/11/windows-phone-7-ads/ http://mashable.com/2010/10/11/windows-phone-7-ads/ (And the SGS is an awesome phone)
- bad_user 15y ago
  OK, that kind of makes some sense - apparently that quote needs some context. Still, Microsoft's commercials are awful as always.

dorian-graph 15y ago

Reminds me of the Mojave experiment Microsoft conducted.

vinced 15y ago
Sounds like a "sponsored" piece of journalism.

inoop 15y ago

Asking around shops in downtown Boston hardly classifies as a 'survey', more like 'crappy journalism'.

mgkimsal 15y ago
It's not a survey, correct, but I'd hardly call it crappy. Reporting on firsthand experiences in multiple shops, and noticing that each one tried to talk her out of a Windows phone and in to something else indicates something's at play. Diff commission structure biased against WP7 devices. Cultural bias?

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

spauka 15y ago

While I agree that the shit-pile Microsoft faces is of their own making, I do think that it is bias, and a really clear bias. I'm an android/linux user, and it is quite clear that a lot of the IT community who don't use Microsoft products have a fair amount of contempt for the Microsoft OS, and their products. The products really should be judged on their merits and innovations rather than the history/marketing of the company. In that respect, for once, Microsoft seems to have done a good job, with a new interface which genuinely seems to be trying to do something new. It is unfair to immediately dismiss anything, without seeing how it pans out, which I saw a hell of a lot of both when Nokia sided with Microsoft and when Microsoft acquired Skype. The bias is clearly there, and it is not justified.

mgkimsal 15y ago

Instead of millions of dollars on tv commercials (or in addition to), I don't understand why MS doesn't use $ to place real working devices in major stores. Apple's done this very well. Pretty much every best buy has working iphones that you can touch and play with to see how it really feels, instead of a cardboard cutout 'screen' slapped on an empty case. This would give them at least as much ROI as the Seinfeld and WP7 commercials. It might even allow the sales reps to, gasp, touch a working model on the floor.

coolgeek 15y ago

There's a big fat ad in the middle of the page visually and verbally trumpeting the Boston Herald's availability on Blackberry, Android and iPhone. But not Windows Phone 7. (In fairness, "Your phone not listed?" is displayed at the bottom of the ad.)