Microsoft Exec Says "Big Deal" to iPhone Success

[redman042]

Read here:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/10/24/microsoft-exec-69-mil-iphones-pfft-so-what/

All I gotta say is "Put up or shut up!". I mean seriously, MS has had YEARS to update their mobile OS to something special, but all they could muster were these incremental updates every 2 years or so. Apple came out of nowhere and smoked 'em. Now they are playing catch up. Even Google is spanking them now. They'd better hurry up with WinMo 7 and 8, and those releases better be good, or else they are going to see market share flying out the door.

Sad, really sad. I used to like WinMo, before it grew all the cobwebs.

 

[Michael CM1]

I've heard about the G1 and the Storm. I have heard nothing about some "big launch" on a WinMo phone. I think this is all part of MS realizing they can't dominate computing like they did in the 1990s. Ever since Apple released OS X, I think they've been on a steady course toward breaking MS's stronghold up. The Intel switch and iPhone are just big leaps in all of that.

 

[icewing]

It's just M$ trying to inject FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). WinMo still sucks, and making a Vista version of it won't get them anywhere...which is the only thing they will be able to pull off. Micro$oft doesn't have the ability to innovate... Those who can't do, criticize others who can...

 

[zachplaysguitar]

To be honest I'll bet they really don't give a sh*t. No matter what happens in the consumer/retail market, I bet it will be a very long time before anyone makes a dent in M$ stronghold on the business market.

By business market I'm not just referring to WinMo, but more just the Windows OS in general. Aside from the areas of graphic design and similar fields, most businesses use Windows on almost all of their computers.

 

[littlewaywelt]

Read here:

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/10/24/microsoft-exec-69-mil-iphones-pfft-so-what/

All I gotta say is "Put up or shut up!". I mean seriously, MS has had YEARS to update their mobile OS to something special, but all they could muster were these incremental updates every 2 years or so. Apple came out of nowhere and smoked 'em. Now they are playing catch up. Even Google is spanking them now. They'd better hurry up with WinMo 7 and 8, and those releases better be good, or else they are going to see market share flying out the door.

Sad, really sad. I used to like WinMo, before it grew all the cobwebs.

As someone that uses both, I completely disagree. WM has more power, utility and capability out of the box than apple, by a lot. Apple has far better media integration and web browsing. Beyond that WM has nothing to worry about when it comes to iPhone. They target two very different customer bases.

 

[kdarling]

Windows Mobile has a lot of history to hold it back. Would Apple's phone OS concept run on small, very memory and cpu limited devices, with no touchscreen, as will WM Standard?

No, Apple skipped over a decade of supporting devices leading up to what is possible now. Well, actually that's not quite true. Apple tried previously to help make a phone, the ROKR, and it pretty much failed.

 

[andreab35]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

Microsoft's just jealous.

 

[kdarling]

Don't forget that Apple licensed Exchange protocols from Microsoft.

The more iPhones Apple sells, the more that Microsoft makes without having to sell or support a WM license.

 

[stevearm]

Don't forget that Apple licensed Exchange protocols from Microsoft.

The more iPhones Apple sells, the more that Microsoft makes without having to sell or support a WM license.

Shhh, don't tell the apple fanboys that

 

[BergerFan]

Micro$oft should be more worried about Android than iPhone, because the iPhone OS will only be on one device each year, whereas Google want Android to be on virtually everything else, as Win-Mo and Symbian virtually are now.

 

[jake921660]

Apple tried previously to help make a phone, the ROKR, and it pretty much failed.

Actually Motorola made this phone, Apple just let them put iTunes on it.

 

[kdarling]

Actually Motorola made this phone, Apple just let them put iTunes on it.

Yes, Motorola built it, but Apple had input. Jobs even helped announce it. But yes, Apple was embarrassed by it.

ROKR Software created by Apple

ROKR's lame UI

 

[BergerFan]

ROKR's lame UI

Lol. I guess this guy was reasonably happy with the iPhone then, judging by that wishlist.

 

[kdarling]

Micro$oft should be more worried about Android than iPhone, because the iPhone OS will only be on one device each year, whereas Google want Android to be on virtually everything else, as Win-Mo and Symbian virtually are now.

MS is probably as worried about Android as they are about LiMo. Which is to say, not too much. WM is a tiny fraction of their business.

Apple should be far more worried about Android. Right now, Apple is saying that almost 40% of their income is from the iPhone. They have far more risk, far more to lose.

 

[Aumz]

As bad as the WM platform is it does have cut and paste and even MMS wow imaging a smartphone in 2008 not having that function...oh hold on there is it is called iPhone 3G

And I went out and bought one...whoah is me..ah well at least I do not have to give monkey boy jobs more of my cash to buy an ipod or such like.

 

[milani]

As bad as the WM platform is it does have cut and paste and even MMS wow imaging a smartphone in 2008 not having that function...oh hold on there is it is called iPhone 3G

And I went out and bought one...whoah is me..ah well at least I do not have to give monkey boy jobs more of my cash to buy an ipod or such like.

If you bought it then you fail, not Apple.

 

[redman042]

As someone that uses both, I completely disagree. WM has more power, utility and capability out of the box than apple, by a lot. Apple has far better media integration and web browsing. Beyond that WM has nothing to worry about when it comes to iPhone. They target two very different customer bases.

I also have used both, extensively, and I disagree. WM is a much more flexible OS, I'll give you that. There are also many more options in the menus of each program, including cut and paste.

However, the WM UI is extremely tedious to use. I hated almost every minute of using my WM phones. And while WM is more customizable, with things like 3rd party skins, high-functionality home screens, etc., it seems like every add-on just increases lag and instability. I spent the first year of owning my Motorola Q heavily customizing the phone, and the second year stripping it back down to near factory settings to get rid of lag and instability. That should tell you something.

The iPhone OS is slick, very powerful, and incredibly easy and satisfying to use. It is a modern OS designed from the ground up for touch use. No you can't cut and paste (yet). You also can't extensively customize the OS. But what's there works very well, and is reliable. It's a joy to use. It impresses everyone who sees it. And there are a ton of 3rd party apps out there that prove the surprising horsepower of the CPU and the OS on this phone, including X-Plane and Google Earth. Plus you have jailbreaking that will allow things like full multi-tasking and full customization of the UI.

So I would argue that the iPhone (both hardware and the OS) are FAR more powerful than WM.

I'm no fanboy. I'm a very critical gadget user with high expectations. And the iPhone meets nearly all of them, and exceeds many of them. And given the unprecedented support from both Apple and 3rd Party developers for this phone (something WM can NEVER claim), I know it will only get better.

I gave Microsoft a nice long time to win me over. They failed.

 

[kdarling]

So I would argue that the iPhone (both hardware and the OS) are FAR more powerful than WM.

I think you're mixing apples and oranges. The iPhone's hardware is not so special. There are phones with higher resolution, faster CPU, better GPU, more RAM, battery, you name it.

The main thing that makes the iPhone OS nice is that it was never meant to run on smaller phones like all other phone OS's, or phones without touchscreens. Thus it could be optimized for one type of input only. Furthermore, Apple understands that adding glitzy (though useless and battery wasting) transitional effects makes the user happy.

Something hit me today, though, while surfing as usual under Safari. People moan about having to hit tiny buttons under native WM, and yet (like me) spend all day hitting teensy tiny links on mobile Safari, while trying to avoid them while scrolling furiously to the bottom of a long page.

Both actions (links and scrolling) actually are ridiculous compared to using a D-pad on other phones to choose the exact link and scroll fast.

From a UX standpoint, it's fascinating what people will put up with.

 

[iblastoff]

i'm confused as to why everyone keeps saying the iphone OS and hardware is slick and very powerful. NO it is not. it can only run ONE app at once minus the ipod player/alarm. safari as a full browser is a plus but even then, safari runs out of memory ALL of the time and just shuts down. i can barely load full webpages with it without crashing at least a few times a day. there are plenty of other phones older than the iphone with way better specs. everyone knows this. the iphone only stands out because of its UI.

you'd have to be a pretty blind apple fanboy to think otherwise.

 

[aridon]

The iphone is a great device and I own one and use it.

That said, WM is light years ahead of the Iphone in many respects. If it wasn't for the pretty Desktop icon look which will easily be copied, the outstanding browser which will also be copied and the glass touch screen the Iphone would be a flop.


All those 3 advantages will be copied and what does the Iphone lack?

1. True 3rd party integration, the API is so limited 3rd party developers really can't add much functionality to the phone without hacking it. Not true of the Other OS's


2. Multi tasking

3. Mobile browser cache

4. Copy & Paste

5. ****** calandar. Lets face it the Iphone calandar is pretty terrible as are the notifications something WM does much better

6. Attachment support. The iphones attachment support is very limited this includes video and other attachments. You can't even open .eml attachements to get to the actual email if forwarded as attachement a few times.

7. Mobile doc support (not a big deal but again others have it and you can edit the docs)

8. Nickle and dime for every little thing, want ring tones offically you have to pay for them as an example.



So the iphone is a great device but its hardly the leap forward some of you make it out to be. Safari is truly a leap forward and advances the mobile browsing but as a phone and PDA the Iphone is actually pretty poor in the job it does.

Just so happens moblie browsing is mostly what I want it for and thats why I have it. That advantage will be gone soon enough and the next best thing will be out.

All the while the Iphone will be relatively unchanged. Take a look at Apple's track record at updates and you'll see they are always extremly slow at updating. They are a take it or leave it type of company which works well when they are out in front but ends up biting them in the ass in the long run.

Remember Mac's vs PC 20 year ago? Same crap is going to happen with the Iphone. It will stagnate into mediocrity as other companies adapt, move faster and do it cheaper.

 

[JLatte]

I think you're mixing apples and oranges. The iPhone's hardware is not so special. There are phones with higher resolution, faster CPU, better GPU, more RAM, battery, you name it.

The main thing that makes the iPhone OS nice is that it was never meant to run on smaller phones like all other phone OS's, or phones without touchscreens. Thus it could be optimized for one type of input only. Furthermore, Apple understands that adding glitzy (though useless and battery wasting) transitional effects makes the user happy.

Something hit me today, though, while surfing as usual under Safari. People moan about having to hit tiny buttons under native WM, and yet (like me) spend all day hitting teensy tiny links on mobile Safari, while trying to avoid them while scrolling furiously to the bottom of a long page.

Both actions (links and scrolling) actually are ridiculous compared to using a D-pad on other phones to choose the exact link and scroll fast.

From a UX standpoint, it's fascinating what people will put up with.

From a UX standpoint, if you think it's flawed on the iPhone, then I suggest you relook at the numbers. 13M iPhones sold and I'd say a large reason is simply because of the UI / UX. If you still haven't figured out how to actually use Safari without worrying about teensy tiny links then well... maybe you should get a different phone.

 

[JLatte]

That said, WM is light years ahead of the Iphone in many respects. If it wasn't for the pretty Desktop icon look which will easily be copied, the outstanding browser which will also be copied and the glass touch screen the Iphone would be a flop.

Well, it's been 2 years. Where are these phones that everyone says can be easily copied? Only thing that looks remotely promising is Blackberry Storm, and even that lacks WiFi.

 

[kdarling]

From a UX standpoint, if you think it's flawed on the iPhone, then I suggest you relook at the numbers. 13M iPhones sold and I'd say a large reason is simply because of the UI / UX.

Absolutely I'd agree that a large reason for sales is the UI/UX. But that doesn't mean for a second that it's perfect or even close. Of course it has flaws.

I've done touch UIs for almost two decades, for industrial, military and casino devices. What Apple tried is not new or innovative in our industry. It is new to phones.

If you still haven't figured out how to actually use Safari without worrying about teensy tiny links then well... maybe you should get a different phone.

No need to be rude.

Check the forum history. I'm not alone in thinking that it's not fun trying to scroll down to the bottom of long web pages without accidentally firing off a link once in a while.

The point is, we'll all put up with some poor interface sections in return for other parts being nice.

 

[milani]

I think you're mixing apples and oranges. The iPhone's hardware is not so special. There are phones with higher resolution, faster CPU, better GPU, more RAM, battery, you name it.

The main thing that makes the iPhone OS nice is that it was never meant to run on smaller phones like all other phone OS's, or phones without touchscreens. Thus it could be optimized for one type of input only. Furthermore, Apple understands that adding glitzy (though useless and battery wasting) transitional effects makes the user happy.

Something hit me today, though, while surfing as usual under Safari. People moan about having to hit tiny buttons under native WM, and yet (like me) spend all day hitting teensy tiny links on mobile Safari, while trying to avoid them while scrolling furiously to the bottom of a long page.

Both actions (links and scrolling) actually are ridiculous compared to using a D-pad on other phones to choose the exact link and scroll fast.

From a UX standpoint, it's fascinating what people will put up with.

The iPhone's touch hardware is quite ahead of everything else - and I believe that a lot of it is patented as well. So no, I don't agree that all other phones have superior hardware. If they did, other phones wouldn't have such terrible touch screens compared to the iPhone.

I don't think the D-pad would be faster. On a D-pad you have to scroll through every line of text, pausing at each link... While I agree there ought to be a page up or page down gesture or something, the iPhone is WAY ahead of everything else in terms of actually navigating the UI (especially the mobile browser).

 

[definitive]

WM6 is a business oriented OS. Think of it as a real ISP, while iPhone is more user friendly for the novice user; think of this as AOL.