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A Windows Phone 7 For Every Microsoftie
theodp writes "So, how can Microsoft guarantee its Windows Phone 7 devices will enjoy broader adoption than the ill-fated Kin? By giving every Microsoft employee a free one, that's how. A Microsoft spokesman confirmed the move, explaining that the idea is to thank employees for all their work, and make sure that they have experience with Windows Phone 7 devices. Microsoft has nearly 90,000 employees worldwide."
I'll use a Windows Mobile phone, too... if it's free. Sure as hell never paying for another device running WinCE, the most pointless operating system ever.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
It's absolutely mind-boggling that Windows Phone 7 is missing some very fundamental features, like copy/paste, third-party multitasking, and universal search.
Absolutely mind-boggling you say? How about absolutely doomed?
In the past, competitors like Apple were lambasted by the public for not having such features, so you'd think Microsoft would take precautions not to repeat such mistakes.
You don't understand, Microsoft is adept at watching Apple do something right or make progress and then totally just think that they're different and special and therefore won't suffer from those problems.
What's worse, the rest of the smartphone world isn't slowing down, and with Windows Phone 7 not scheduled to launch till the holidays, the divide could get deeper.
It's called releasing a phone that's already behind the curve. So, unless you have a product name that causes people to hemorrhage cash regardless of the features, you're doomed. Like the release of the Zune. Except it appears Windows Phone 7 doesn't even have an exclusive 'squirt' functionality.
Criticisms aside, there's a lot we like about Windows Phone 7. The Zune integration is killer, and the core apps are much improved.
Zune integration is 'killer' you say? That's going to do it, huh? Well, everybody who owns a Zune now has the option to integrate it. All five of them. And the core apps are much improved? After suffering from the ailments of IE6 you think I want any version of Internet Exploder on my goddamn mobile device? You're insane. I don't care how refined it is.
We also commend Microsoft for being able to acknowledge that its old OS wasn't working and taking a chance on rebuilding something from the ground up.
Really? You're telling me that Microsoft owned up to and acknowledge its old OS wasn't working? I've never known Microsoft to tell their customers that something is wrong.
Long story short this product is doomed with a 97% confidence of certain doomage.
My work here is dung.
But only to true employees, not to temps and interns.
Windows Phone 7 isn't even real Windows CE. The user can't load and run apps designed for previous versions of Windows Mobile, only apps designed from Silverlight or XNA, and even then only from the official app store. Want to make your own apps? 99 bucks a year, just like iPhone. (To be fair, iPhone copied this app store model largely from Microsoft's XNA Creators Club and Xbox Live Indie Games.)
Maybe Microsoft is interested in finding out who uses it, how and why and likewise from the non-users. I don't understand what the big stir is about a company using it's own product and looking for employee feedback.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
I'll agree that 'eating your own dogfood' is good for the phone's development team, but do you really think everyone else has any real input into it? Real customers don't even get real input unless there's an antenna-gate or something.
I've been wondering for a while why companies seem to be so inept at listening to their customers. I understand the concept of 'vocal minority' and all that, but certain things should just be obvious when someone complains about them. Like lack of 'cut and paste' functionality on a 'smart phone'. I'm sure someone at Apple said 'What about cut and paste?' and someone shrugged it off. I'll even admit that I don't see why it was a big deal. But it -was-. And even after thousands of people started mocking the iPhone for not having it, Apple continued to ignore the complaints. That's the part I find so hard to believe.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
I'm sorry but this is a stupid statement and a stupid article. Apple gives a large number of it's employees an iPhone and Google gives a large number of its an Android phone. It's call "eating your own dog food".
In addition they get a friendly pool of testers who can give them instant feedback (and probably quite detailed given that they'll naturally try to use it with the products they are managing) on the devices in real world situations (such as bugs, issues, integration with web services, exchange support) and can also simulate some scenarios (such large scale remote activation, wipe and locate) far better than a couple of devices in a lab can.
Finally, if you're a manufacturer of a product, it doesn't look very good if your employees all use your competitors does it? Whenever I've dealt with a Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Apple, HTC or LG rep I've never seen them use anything but their own phones and I'd be concerned about the statement they are making if they did.
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This is a great move by Microsoft. They are getting the phone exposure while giving employees incentive. Plus this is great PR for Microsoft on the employee side and on the public image side.
http://www.thetechnologygeek.org
But why is this news? I mean, go figure, a company gives it's own employees a device it makes in house. Does this warrant discussion at /.?
Have any of you Zune haters actually used them??
Here's the problem. Unlike the iPod, where I can go to any electronics store and try one out, Zunes are always in a box, behind a glass case, or there's a fake one used for display. And since I don't know anybody who actually owns one, I've never been able to try one out.
Total Bullshit, Cynical Move by MS. Really worthy of some spleen and bile.
They stopped giving a damn about "their people" at least 5 years ago. For instance, last month, as the old fiscal year ended, they pulled all the soda cases from every office - replaced with vending machines. That's 1 year after they stopped all the regular food-service and snack items.
Any tech company in California or Western Europe has done the calculation. The expense on these things returns a fantastic benefit in the morale, productivity and retention of their best people. Cutting these "extravagances" ultimately costs them money. Microsoft are joined with Cisco, who practice similar false-economy, in a race to the bottom.
"Are You People Ready?"
They really should change that to:
"The Beatings Will Continue, Until Morale Improves. Oh, Here's Your Shitty Phone."
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
apple.com/feedback
Also, they put a lot more effort into it than some engineer coming into work and being like "hmm,
Copy and paste? Boring!"
From my experience dealing with iPhone users as part of my job, most of them don't know how to use copy and paste, or care. Yeah, super important feature. For nerds, maybe.
Would you like some cheese with that whine?
Always remember - you get what you pay for. You paid for marketing, bling, and glitz. That's what you got. If you wanted a telephone, you would have bought something without Microsoft on it.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br