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New York City Cops Will Replace Their 36,000 Windows Phones With iPhones (theverge.com)
The New York City Police Department says it will give up its 36,000 Windows phones and transition to iPhones by the end of the year. The Verge reports: The switch is prompted in part by news in July that Microsoft was ending support for Windows Phone 8.1, which a large percentage of all Windows-powered phones are still using. It's a predictable end to the Windows phone, considering that its market share had already slipped below 1 percent at the time the police department adopted its phones last year. The ill-fated decision to go with the Windows phone was made solely by its NYPD deputy commissioner for IT, according to The New York Post, and apparently did not receive further judgment before implementing the program. The Windows models were Nokia Lumia 830 and Lumia 640 XL, equipped with special 911 apps, case management apps, and the ability to receive assignments. They were purchased as part of a $160 million initiative to modernize the NYPD, which has been around since 1845. The new business for Microsoft's phones was clearly not enough to keep Windows Phone alive.
Or buy older iPhones. Because that's a lot of money...
It will be absolute proof of the old saying, "No one gets fired for buying Microsoft."
The most charitable excuse for this is "IT understands how to work with Microsoft products." Of course, that's the IT flea wagging the Police Dog.
...just whoindahell could be dumb enough to think that Windows phone would ever last? Hell, us North Georgia Rednecks(TM) stayed away from them in droves! Christ, that one sale must have been half of all Windows phone sales. What maroons!!
There goes the 1% market share that Windows Phone had...
I loved this...
"Nobody purchases 36,000 phones based on the judgment of one person," a source said. "I don’t care if you’re Jesus f--king Christ, you get a panel of experts."
#DeleteChrome
I never have the opportunity to use Windows Phone, couldn't even say if it had a blue screen of death. I carried a .. what was it called, Windows Mobile 6? ...phone for awhile. (Work phone. No choice.) What I liked most about it is the popup "(blank) has caused an error and will now close". Something that could be easily ignored, right? Punch OK and move on. But the thing that was not named happened to be the audio driver. The phone would not ring or make any alert sound until it was rebooted. And would only ring or beep up until the next "(blank) has caused an error and will now close".
After fighting with that for awhile, it was: never again. No Microsoft personal electronics. So I completely missed out on the Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 8 debacle. That sounded like fun.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
http://nypdnews.com/2017/08/de...
Interesting part:
"The contract entered provided for the smartphones at no cost. It also allowed for the NYPD to replace the smartphones with devices of our choosing two years later, also at no cost."
She also claims that they're already neck deep in Windows, so the Windows phones were easier to roll out. Plus, iOS and Android didn't allow "us to cost-effectively utilize prior investment in custom Windows applications."
As others have noted, she's a political appointee. It would be interesting to find out why or how the contract provided for the smartphones at no cost.
Do you have ESP?