Posted on 08/27/2010 8:09:52 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Everyone's excited about the forthcoming Windows Phone 7 software, which Microsoft bulls are hoping will mark Microsoft's return to relevance in the mobile industry.
Reviews of the software have been good, and the only major complaint is that it's a year behind the rest of the industry--namely Apple's iPhone OS and Google's Android.
In the rapidly evolving smartphone world, being a year behind is a recipe for trouble. If Microsoft focused huge resources on the problem, however, it might be able to close the gap.
But Microsoft actually has a bigger problem in mobile, one that threatens to turn Windows Phone 7 into the mobile equivalent of the $2+ billion-a-year cash incinerator known as Bing.
Microsoft's mobile software business model is fatally flawed.
Why?
Microsoft is still trying to jam the square peg of the old PC-based operating system software model into the round hole of mobile. And that game is over for good.
Specifically, Microsoft is trying to charge handset providers a software license fee for every Windows-based smartphone they sell, the same way Microsoft charges PC manufacturers a software license fee for every Windows machine they sell.
Five years ago, before the iPhone and Android, when Windows Mobile still had a reasonable share of the market, this model made sense. Windows Mobile was still a tiny business for Microsoft--hundreds of millions of dollars on a revenue base of $50+ billion--but the concept of handset manufacturers paying for OS software was intact.
Now, however, Google has blown that concept out of the water.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Vaporware? From Microsoft?
It can’t be!
I’ve cracked a few smartphones in my day and managed to get a semi-functional distro of Linux running on it. Granted, the phone was pretty much unusable as a phone, but the mobile Linux apps worked well enough.
I despise Microsoft’s licensing practices. One specific recent example for me was when I had to rebuild my mother-in-law’s laptop due to a failed hard drive. I went to install the retail version of Vista with the license key from the sticker on her machine, but Microsoft’s licensing service comes back and says it’s not a valid key. When I get on the phone with “Steve” from Microsoft (in India), he tells me that it’s an OEM license and the retail version doesn’t work with that key. The same damn version of Vista (Home Premium), but my key isn’t valid.
FUMS!
Well, they could shave out a niche, if they simply decided to put a netbook in a phone. Heck, Windows 98se would probably run pretty well on such a device! Battery life would stink, though. On the other hand it would be able to print via WI-FO out of the box.
Apple: One piece of hardware with new, better models launching every 12-18 months
Google: Multiple pieces of hardware, each needing a unique version of the OS for upgrade launching every month
Microsoft: A single, licensed OS and a hardware standard that allows multiple handset makers, but easy upgrades
Each has its advantages and disadvantages. It will be fun to watch this play out.
Microsoft’s problem is their left hand doesn’t know what the right one is doing. Licensing is a non-issue except for some coder geeks. Microsoft lost the ability to leverage the products they already have because ultimately, people have to work with people — and that never was a skillset at Microsoft. Sony is the same way. Bigness (and arrogance) has its limits.
Being a software developer and a true pro Microsoft bigot, and using Microsoft mobile OS for 3 years, and just receiving an iPhone4 last week, I’ve got to say as much as I hate to, the IP4 is light years ahead.
I actually look forward to using it. In fact I may buy a Mac just to play with developing Apps for it.
I’ll be struck by lighting in just a minute.
Windows 7 mobile looks intriguing but it doesn’t even have multitasking. While just last year this was true for iOS and Apple, being a year behind in the Smartphone world is like being 10 years behind in the PC world.
If being a year behind had any meaning then IBM not Dell would be the leading supplier of personal computers. If being a year behind was a serious factor then Yahoo and AltAVista would be the top search engines. If being first was a true criteria then the best selling auto in America would be a Chevy not a Ford. Other famous companies once thought of as World class included Pan Am Air, Ma Bell (AT&T) - which is really southwest bell with a new name - for the sake of worldwide sales. Finally, in the world of companies late to the party - Walmart. The media has no sense of history.
LOL.
Come to the Dark Side, Okie.
We have cookies!
Don’t feel bad. I’m loving the very rich Apple frameworks, but I just wish I could still program in C# for the Mac, Objective C isn’t very elegant.
If being a year behind had any meaning then Linus Torvalds wouldn’t have written Linux, instead the biggest free operating system of choice would be BSD (which was held up by lawsuits at the time). Oh wait, that did happen.
I’m not too impressed either. I always did like C. Inheritance and Overloads will spoil you pretty quick. Not so many names to make up.
Pssst! Hey buddy.... Yea you... Over here.... Don’t tell anyone, especially not Ballmer, but Apple’s development tools are *free*...
I’m too anal-retentive to really enjoy a system with dynamic typing. It’s already why I hate Visual Basic. I want to say what type that variable will be and I want that to be enforced forever more. It helps with predictability, it helps with readability. If I want some more flexibility, I’ll use generics, of which C# has a great implementation.
I learned the lesson of Sony long ago. Admire the Sony but never trust Sony enogh to buy it.
Well, you have to pay to get on the iPhone bandwagon with the SDK, but XCode does come free with every OS X install DVD.
Even MS is going to that paradigm.
I’m willing to give that a chance.
Processors are so fast and memory is so cheap that whatever piggishness and boxing goes on in the background is of secondary importance.
Just like free health care.
Watch out here comes that anal probe.
Well, you have to pay $99 to get your apps into the store. But you can download the iOS SDK free (comes with the latest Xcode tools) just for registering as a developer, also free. I’ve done so, but hold no illusions of actually developing apps for the platform. I was just curious.
But you never know.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.