> Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
Who didn't?
Seriously, nobody actually expected it to win over either iOS or Android.
Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
191–200 of 724 posts
Re: Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
#192Windows Mobile is my favorite example of ecosystems being more valuable than individual user experiences. They came out later and really managed to hit a bright spot in between the customizability of Android and the sleekness of iOS. But without the deep app ecosystem backing them up, I'm not sure we're going to see any new players emerge in this current form factor of mobile computing. So far we've seen: - Amazon fa…
The irony of the Microsoft side of the story is that they tried many times to get into mobile. They had a full-powered smartphone, including apps and a web browser, for many years before the iPhone.
I remember going to a store around 2005 or 2006 and deciding, "if I can get slashdot to load, I'm going to buy this phone." I couldn't figure it out! I don't know if I just couldn't figure it out, or the phone was misconfigured, but either way, I just didn't want something so difficult to use in my pocket. From what I remember, the browser was buried under a tree of menus.
When I first tried the iPhone in 2007, it was very easy to figure out how to load slashdot!
Later, when someone showed me all the "cool" things about the Windows phone, they were just a snazzy UI that had totally unintuitive features that I would never use. I just couldn't see the point of the phone; except as a toy for people who like to tinker.
Re: Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
#193I wanted to develop for Windows Phone, I really did. I even bought two phones, hoping that my experience with the first one would be fixed with the second.
But I just couldn't: getting the environment to work required me to upgrade my version of Visual Studio, upgrade my version of the OS, pay a developer fee (or send an e-mail with a scan of my ID and grade transcript to get it waived as a student). And even after sorting all those obstacles, the IDE was so buggy that I couldn't even place a date picker object.
The impression I got was: you can develop for WP, as long as you do it the way we like it (OS version, Visual Studio version) and invest about a hundred dollars getting up to spec.
Compared to Android's "here's the free IDE for your OS of choice", I'm not surprised developers weren't thrilled.
Re: Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
If a Ubuntu in 2017 isn't user friendly I really don't know what that phrase is even supposed to mean.
As someone that only works on linux systems.... The state of Linux is not great. We still can't get the basics like sound, wifi, etc out of the box. I get why it's a problem, and it's generally not the fault of Linux devs, but it's still a problem that turns people away. I really want to see Linux take over on the desktop, but turning a blind eye to our problems is a poor way to do it.
>We still can't get the basics like sound, wifi, etc out of the box.
Complete and total fabrication. Video for gaming is still trouble, but I have no more issue with Linux wifi or sound output than I do with Windows. In fact, Linux networking to me is better than Windows.
Re: Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
#195I don't think the problem was primarily the lack of apps but a major reason to use Windows mobile. With iOS you get the high end hardware and deep integration with Apple's ecosystem. With Android you get deep integration with Google's services and a wide range of devices in prices and features. What did you get with Windows mobile?
Performance at a low price point. I mentioned this elsewhere but when I was using a Windows phone, I'd buy $30-$50 windows phones and love them. When I eventually made the switch to a $40 Android phone is was borderline unusable so I had to pay for $300 Nexus.
Re: Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
#196I was working in Microsoft about 5 years ago and Satya's not lying when they say they tried everything to incentivise app developers. It was a big focus of the company at the time. For keystone apps they tried to partner with developers doing most of the work for them. For more niche apps they ran promotions for students and independent developers giving away free phones etc. But nothing was enough to get over the pr…
I bought someone a Windows phone and they had the same feedback - big name apps not available (whatsapp, instagram, etc.)
I wanted to buy a Windows phone since I use none of these apps, but there was no hardware refresh or major announcements around Windows phones and that deterred me. I don't understand how MS went on to a successful Surface and failed phones, I would think they're similar markets - hype-driven, takes a few iterations to get right, etc. I bought the Google G2 and it was far from what an Android phone is today, but Windows phones seem to run on a no-upgrade strategy which is strange
Re: Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
#197I was working in Microsoft about 5 years ago and Satya's not lying when they say they tried everything to incentivise app developers. It was a big focus of the company at the time. For keystone apps they tried to partner with developers doing most of the work for them. For more niche apps they ran promotions for students and independent developers giving away free phones etc. But nothing was enough to get over the pr…
"but the lack of apps ultimately made us move to another ecosystem" Nuts. People don't even use apps [i]. They may have facebook or netflix installed - but then it gets real thin. https://www.apptentive.com/blog/2017/06/22/how-many-mobile-a...
The data you posted do not support the claim “People don't even use apps”, but instead only “most individual users do not regularly use a large number of apps”. But that doesn't mean that either the small number they use frequently or the larger number that they use infrequently are unimportant to the overall utility they derive from their phone, or that there aren't a large number of apps used regularly across any given platform.
Re: Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
>For more niche apps they ran promotions for students and independent developers giving away free phones etc. But nothing was enough to get over the problem of the lack of an initial user base. The one thing MS didn't try to incentivize independent app developers was to eliminate the 30% revenue cut MS would take on the sale of paid apps. I always thought it would have been a good differentiation as there were always…
Not sure it would have helped. Any rational high-profile dev will compute that 70 % * 100 000 downloads is better that 100 % of 1000 downloads.
Sure, but it's not like they have to choose one or another. And 100% of 1000 downloads is better than 70% of 1000 downloads.
Re: Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
#199I see a lot of people going on about incentives. Actually the simple problem is that MSFT know how to effectively fuck up a product:
1. Schizophrenic product direction.
2. Entire platform change half way through.
3. Quality control issues galore.
4. Regional issues galore.
5. Reinventing wheels, badly.
It's just crap. That's happening to windows 10 too. It's just not quite as far down the toilet.
Re: Microsoft gives up on Windows 10 Mobile
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is my understanding that MS has given up on ARM. Sooner or later there will be x86 based phones, which partly solves the "app" problem. They just run a regular windows on the phone.
That doesn't make much sense, apps made for mouse and keyboard on a large screen won't magically become usable on a small touchscreen...
That's always been a weakness with Microsoft's strategy. First with a stylus for Windows Mobile, later with the ribbon in Office.