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It's pretty absurd how one of the world's biggest tech companies, with decades of leading tech experience, primarily in operating systems, simply failed to create an operating system for the most popular kind of device in use today. How come? I think competition would be healthy, and since Apple locks people into their platform, the only open platform left is Android, so there isn't much choice left.

It’s like asking why Michael Jordan sucks at soccer. Completely different markets and skill sets involved.
 
It's pretty absurd how one of the world's biggest tech companies, with decades of leading tech experience, primarily in operating systems, simply failed to create an operating system for the most popular kind of device in use today. How come? I think competition would be healthy, and since Apple locks people into their platform, the only open platform left is Android, so there isn't much choice left.

Because the incumbent is rarely the disruptor. Microsoft were too focussed on Windows and the desktop they didn't take mobile seriously enough until it was too late.

Same will happen to Apple, too focussed on smartphones and tablets and are missing the boat in AI/Smart assistants.
 
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Really wish MS didn't give up on this. I mean I understand why they did, but it was so good, especially compared to how late they entered the fray. What could have been....
 
Because the incumbent is rarely the disruptor. Microsoft were too focussed on Windows and the desktop they didn't take mobile seriously enough until it was too late.

Same will happen to Apple, too focussed on smartphones and tablets and are missing the boat in AI/Smart assistants.

Apple is right where it needs to be - wearables.
 
I haven’t been an active Windows Phone user since my Nokia died and they refused to fix it under warranty. But while it worked, it was AMAZING Zander I absolutely loved Windows Phone 10.

It was a superior platform. But nobody made apps for it, and that’s what killed it.
 
Really wish MS didn't give up on this. I mean I understand why they did, but it was so good, especially compared to how late they entered the fray. What could have been....

I have used Windows Mobile OS(I think it was called as Windows CE or something like that) much before iPhone came, iMate 9502(sliding keyboard) with stylus. It was sold for $950 and I liked is features and it was built like a tank.

They didn't try it with total belief and vision. Dropping the ball like this is not good. Hope we get to see additional couple of competing mobile OS with Desktop capabilities in the near future.
 
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As much as people bad mouth Bill Gates, most all of Microsoft's blunders took place after he retired.
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Of the companies you list, I'd say Amazon has been amazingly innovative. Their very diversity in marketing online business transactions seems unmatched.[/QUOTE]


You better check your timeline. Gates stepped down as Chairman of the Board in 2014. His miss on the Internet and mobile are all on him. Also, if you think Amazon selling diapers on other stuff online at a loss for many years to drive out the competition makes them the most "visionary and innovative," tech company, then there's nothing more to say.
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JFYI neither Apple or Jobs created the first mouse or GUI. They did not invent them either.
[.

No one claimed they "invented" them. The vision and innovation was bringing them to the personal computer in a compelling and effective manner, which set the standard and revolutionized personal computing. Apple didn't invent the smart phone, just the first one that changed the entire industry and became the most successful consumer product ever.
 
It’s like asking why Michael Jordan sucks at soccer. Completely different markets and skill sets involved.
Microsoft is no stranger to mobile phones. They had Windows CE and Windows Mobile before iPhones.
It's about being complacent. The same happened to Blackberry, Nokia S60, and Palm. They and Windows Mobile were the major players in smartphones prior to iOS and Android, but they failed to innovate as they were stuck in the old paradigm of what a smartphone should be. Even Android was heading towards the same direction before Schmidt saw the iPhone.
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I haven’t been an active Windows Phone user since my Nokia died and they refused to fix it under warranty. But while it worked, it was AMAZING Zander I absolutely loved Windows Phone 10.

It was a superior platform. But nobody made apps for it, and that’s what killed it.
Windows Phone had the potential. It was supposed to deliver the best of iOS and Android, meaning updates from the OS maker instead of carriers, fluid and lag free UI, and variety of phones from different OEMs.

But it ended up taking the worst of both iOS and Android with walled garden apps (and no developers), no Google apps at all (Google just ignored the platform), no updates to major WP version for most models, and MS was favoring Nokia that other OEMs just bailed (lack of choice).

Windows Phone had promise in the low end due to low end Android phones really sucked back then, but the tech and the Chinese OEMs caught up real quick.
 
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MS really missed the ball on a mobile OS.
Microsoft very rarely gets things right the first time. The history of Windows is Garbage -> Great/usable -> Garbage -> Great/usable, etc. For whatever reason, their development process doesn't usually seem to yield quality results, without at least a few good hard stumbles along the way. Who can say why...
 
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I have used Windows Mobile OS(I think it was called as Windows CE or something like that) much before iPhone came, iMate 9502(sliding keyboard) with stylus. It was sold for $950 and I liked is features and it was built like a tank.

They didn't try it with total belief and vision. Dropping the ball like this is not good. Hope we get to see additional couple of competing mobile OS with Desktop capabilities in the near future.
Yeah, my best friend's dad had one of those back when blackberry had a name too lol.

What ixmeant was, theycremember entered the smartphone landscape with a very mature iOS and Android. I personally think their fallback was apps. That just didn't win enough people over.

Their plans to effectively go from doig work in desktio windows to your phone on the go could have been a game changer. It's something neither apple nor Google have really come close to.
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Microsoft very rarely gets things right the first time. The history of Windows is Garbage -> Great/usable -> Garbage -> Great/usable, etc. For whatever reason, their development process doesn't usually seem to yield quality results, without at least a few good hard stumbles along the way. Who can say why...
Fwiw this wasn't their first try. They just took a small break haha.
 
Well... with Continuum Windows Phone would have been the great experience a phone should be able to deliver in 2019. Dock it on USB-C => Start working desktop. Might have even allowed certain office workers to ditch their laptop.

Now my last hope regarding that rests in iOS/OSXonARM hybrid tablet.
 
Gates' talent was to catch up to industry trends either through weasel work, buying an existing product and repackaging it, the infamous "embrace, extend, extinguish" tactic, or some combination of those three. It worked amazingly well in the '80s and '90s, but with the rise of the internet in the '00s things started moving much too fast for that to be effective anymore. It became like trying to change course with a cargo ship to match the course of a speedboat.

As of this moment:

Microsoft Market Cap: $827B
Apple Market Cap: $742B

Seems as though Microsoft figured out how to keep up while you weren't looking. :D
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Conversely, while Microsoft has the undisputed lead in desktop computing, it has been having extremely difficulty leveraging on this dominant position to break into other markets. This might simply be as far as it goes.

Microsoft is huge in Cloud services. Actually bigger than Amazon in that regard.
 
If they had nailed it years ago before Apple they would have had the world at their hands given the already mega size of their company.

But I still give MS credit, they bounced back and now just need to wait out the smart phone crazie

Yeah, they surely have bounced back, didn't they recently make it to the worlds most valued company? That actually surprised me. They certainly have excellent business leadership now.

There are some interesting products they have, however, I still find Windows horrible to use compared to Linux and macOS.

I know phones will change since so many of us use chat/video/audio Apps these days, like I mainly use Signal and WhatsApp. But I definitely still see the need for a handheld device or some sort of wearable as we go forward. Although, I want to be surprised :)
 
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Microsoft celebrates death of Windows phone with ‘mock’ funeral at its Redmond campus.

iphone-casket.jpg

Is that for real?
 
Which company has been more innovative than Apple ? (not talking about demo products that never ship.)? Certainly not Google or Amazon or Microsoft or Samsung.

True, I just wish Apple would drop those prices though :( ... especially since the AUD has dropped. Now $1USD is worth $1.40AUD, so we pay 40% more (generally).
 
The same monopoly MS had helped them/it also to dominate with Office! going back to the ?early 90's.

Their last best OS is still Windows 7.

Waiting to see Windows II/11 to see what they deliver - 10 is not as good as MacOS.

I know a lot of people/businesses still on WIN7 ... and when you think about it Apple have released, what? 9 new variants of mac os x since?
 
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If it’s wearables that will succeed the smartphone, then Microsoft might not be in a better position either.

Thing is - Apple won the smartphone market (in terms of profits), and as such, has a much better chance of succeeding in any market whose success is inexorably linked to mobile. Eg: wearables.

Conversely, while Microsoft has the undisputed lead in desktop computing, it has been having extremely difficulty leveraging on this dominant position to break into other markets. This might simply be as far as it goes.
The funny thing is Microsoft did diversify and has been able in these recent years to systematically lower their dependence on their Windows product doing great in terms of sales.
And they've been doing a better job than Apple.
Have you heard of Azure? At one point in 2018 is was up almost 90% in comparison to the previous year.

https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/105341471-MSFTproductgrowth.PNG?v=1532031757&w=1910
 
I know a lot of people/businesses still on WIN7 ... and when you think about it Apple have released, what? 9 new variants of mac os x since?
Windows 8
Windows 8.1
Windows 10
Windows 10 build 1503?
Windows 10 build 1511
Windows 10 build 1603
Windows 10 build 1611 or 09
Windows 10 build 1703
Windows 10 build 1709 or 11
Windows 10 build 1803
Windows 10 build 1809

You get the idea, no doubt you know starting with Windows 10, Microsoft is doing basically what Apple does with OSX releases.
 
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Windows 8
Windows 8.1
Windows 10
Windows 10 build 1503?
Windows 10 build 1511
Windows 10 build 1603
Windows 10 build 1611 or 09
Windows 10 build 1703
Windows 10 build 1709 or 11
Windows 10 build 1803
Windows 10 build 1809

You get the idea, no doubt you know starting with Windows 10, Microsoft is doing basically what Apple does with OSX releases.

Ahh, good point. Although, were these updates for WIN10 as significant as the macOS changes each year? I've been fooled into thinking they haven't been updating the OS like Apple does with different desktop images and overall themes, and new features (if you get what I mean).
 
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