Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 27th Dec 2011 21:50 UTC
Fascinating, this. As a Windows Phone 7 user, I can attest that it is every bit as good as iOS and Android - heck, in my experience, it is more polished, more consistent, smoother, and faster than either of those two. Yet, despite raving reviews and glowing user comments all over the web, Windows Phone 7 simply isn't selling. Former Windows Phone 7 general manager Charlie Kindel believes it's because neither carriers nor device makers like the control Microsoft exerts over the platform.
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Member since:
2011-12-29
I'm a linux geek from way back, but I never jumped on board the smartphone train. I never really had the need for them, I still don't, even though I now on a WP7 phone.
Everytime I considered buying one, I always ended up putting off the purchase because my 5 year old nokia brick phone still worked fine, and these smartphones become outdated at a rate that makes PC components look like a good investment!
I tried friends and families iOS and Android phones, the interfaces of them never really 'grabbed' me as being what I ideally wanted in an personal computing device, but I resigned myself to eventually getting one as the contacts/task management/email integration on the nokia is horrible or non-existant.
I also had an old Windows CE PDA that I didn't really like, I ended up putting linux and QT on it, but that had limited functionality also, eventually stopped using it altogether.
When my old classic-style nokia finally packed it in a few weeks back, I went to the phone store to look at WP7 phones after all the positive comments I had read about them from Thom. After using it for a few moments, I was sold. The interface is so responsive, and I am really happy with the decision. It is a really nice phone to live with. The 'tiles' are easy to manipulate and all the text is large and clear. I installed zune and was quite impressed by it also, it is a lot nicer than iTunes on windows.
I've shown my wife my phone and I think her next phone will be WP7 too, she currently has an android.
I really think the forking, fragmentation and lack of updates for existing phones will become a bigger and bigger problem over time for the android platform. It isn't PC land where people can readily roll their own and use an existing supply of devices/drivers to get any OS up quickly on pretty much any hardware, if you stuff up your PC you just start over, if you brick your phone, well -- you've bricked your phone. How terminal that is depends on the particular bit of hardware you're dealing with, and a lot of endusers don't want to funk around at that level to begin with.
Apple & MS's support and update arrangements work well in this environment, and if a particular android phone maker takes it upon themselves to establish a reputation for having a smooth update cycle, and providing updates for a long time on their phones, it will be a selling point to consumers and distinguish themselves from the pack.