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The Deal That Makes No Sense

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Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#61

Post by raverbashing »

polemic wrote: post #11

> "...I think Microsoft ought to abandon Windows Phone. The war is over, and iOS and Android won." That's remarkably short-sighted. The first iPhone was released only 6 years ago, Android 5 years ago. You really think that Microsoft - a company with nearly infinite runway, an enormous R&D investment and serious history - is going to down tools after a few years of frustration? Not likely. The prize is too big and con…

> "...I think Microsoft ought to abandon Windows Phone. The war is over, and iOS and Android won."

This sounds like (some years ago) "I think Google ought to abandon their search engine, the war is over and Yahoo and Altavista won"

Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#62

Post by freehunter »

venomsnake wrote: post #35
telephonetemp wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I don't see why this isn't like saying > "...I think Microsoft ought to abandon the Xbox. The war is over, and Sony and Nintendo won." a decade or so ago.

Except you have tabula rasa in console business every few years so you could jump anytime if you have the money. And games as entertainment products rarely have legs longer than a generation - we the PC master race are spoiled with decade long backwards compatibility but in the console world it is rarely so. And entertainment business (because the console is just a hardware dongle) is different beast.

I would argue that any investment in the Halo series, God of War series, or Mario series is a big draw towards buying the next console the same as the console you currently have. Yeah, you'll have to buy Halo 5 on the Xbox One, but you've already played Halo 1-4. Switching to Killzone halfway through the series won't scratch the same itch.

Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#63

Post by NZ_Matt »

Alphasite_ wrote: post #50
harrytuttle wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't agree. Most of the general users I know forget their email password every time they fuck up their phone and just buy all the apps again. This is the norm. The only thing people give a shit about is their data (and that is usually when it's way to late and they're about to lose it), not the apps.

No it's not. People may forget, but they don't rebuy things repeatadly.

People spend hundreds of dollars on DVDs and Books that they only use one time, apps probably fall in a similar category for a lot of consumers.

Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#64

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

hannibal5 wrote: post #12
beloch wrote: post #5

The notion that Nokia was about to jump-ship or simply go under is certainly plausible. Another possibility is that MS wanted to start using Nokia's resources for their other hardware projects and it was going to be awkward slicing off teams from Nokia and having them start working under a MS department. MS might not be selling as much hardware as Apple, but their XBox line is the current king of consoles. With a new…

I think Microsoft sees Smartphones as strategic must have for long term. MS saw that Nokia is the only player in the Windows market and Samsung is never going to be big on MS. They just bought the hardware and are making Windows phones into closed platform like iPhone is. I don't think that Samsung and others are going to continue making windows phones after MS bought Nokia.

Samsung and others weren't going to continue making windows phones before MS bought Nokia, either.

Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#65

Post by narcissus »

raverbashing wrote: post #61
polemic wrote: post #11

> "...I think Microsoft ought to abandon Windows Phone. The war is over, and iOS and Android won." That's remarkably short-sighted. The first iPhone was released only 6 years ago, Android 5 years ago. You really think that Microsoft - a company with nearly infinite runway, an enormous R&D investment and serious history - is going to down tools after a few years of frustration? Not likely. The prize is too big and con…

> "...I think Microsoft ought to abandon Windows Phone. The war is over, and iOS and Android won." This sounds like (some years ago) "I think Google ought to abandon their search engine, the war is over and Yahoo and Altavista won"

There is a slight difference, though, in that as soon as Google went to market with their search engine, it was a hit. Or it seemed like it at least. I don't have the numbers, but I can only imagine that uptake of Google was a lot faster than that of Windows Phone.

Now I understand that search engines are a lot easier to switch to than phones etc. but it still makes for a less compelling comparison.

Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#66

Post by pessimizer »

redact207 wrote: post #6

Can I add my own conspiracy theory and put forward that MS wanted to buy Nokia years ago when the world was going mobile but couldn't. Then one by one, MS VPs mysteriously left their posts to go work with Nokia. Fast forward to today, MS finally buys the firm they wanted to in the beginning.

That was the consensus amongst Nokia fans after the burning platform speech - that Elop's purpose was to drive down the price of Nokia until it was a cheap acquisition.

Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#67

Post by hippiefahrzeug »

iaskwhy wrote: post #56
rmc wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should it be abandoned? Just because the author isn't a fan of WP8? The general public aren't a fan of WP8 either.

20% of the general public in Poland, Mexico and some Eastern European countries don't agree with that claim. People forget how varied is the smartphone market across regions.

People want smartphones. WP phones are the cheapest entry level smart phones (such as Nokia 510, 520, 610, 620) they can afford in eastern europe.

You see WP devices 'a lot' (that is: you get to see them once in a while) over there, but these are mostly owned by people who wanted some sort of smartphone. Also a lot of them are quite annoyed that there are no apps.

Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#68

Post by pessimizer »

300bps wrote: post #41
kennethh wrote: post #7

Elop must have the record in destroying a company. In 5 years a company went from being market leader with something like 90% of the smartphone market to almost bankrupt. I do not think something like this have ever happened this fast.

Yeah the completely market revolutionizing iPhone taking all of the high end market and Android taking all the low to high end market had nothing to do with Nokia's downfall.

And the announcement that they were abandoning Symbian when all of the phones they were selling were Symbian didn't have anything to do with that?

You don't announce that you're abandoning your current platform when you haven't developed your replacement platform yet unless you're a moron or intentionally sabotaging your company.

Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#69

Post by lttlrck »

300bps wrote: post #37
shangaslammi wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but the effect of ecosystem lock-down is huge compared to 5-6 years ago. It's not about who makes the best phones or phone-OS anymore. People are invested in their respective app ecosystems and all their photos, contacts, documents etc. are in Apple's or Google's cloud. I'm not saying that Microsoft doesn't have a chance at all but I think the odds are against Windows phones ever reaching a significant market sh…

IPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, Lumia 928. Those are my last four smart phones. I didn't feel locked in at all to the "app ecosystem". Honestly web and email were paramount and everything else is secondary. At some point in the future I believe native apps will be passe in favor of a complete move to web applications making the underlying platform completely personal preference. ...oh.and at one time I was locked int…

Why did you switch if web and email are paramount? I am genuinely interested.

Re: The Deal That Makes No Sense

#70

Post by krenoten »

arethuza wrote: post #18
polemic wrote: post #11

> "...I think Microsoft ought to abandon Windows Phone. The war is over, and iOS and Android won." That's remarkably short-sighted. The first iPhone was released only 6 years ago, Android 5 years ago. You really think that Microsoft - a company with nearly infinite runway, an enormous R&D investment and serious history - is going to down tools after a few years of frustration? Not likely. The prize is too big and con…

For some reason your argument reminds me of DEC and the PC market - given their position in the early 1980s they should have been in a great position to compete, but they were always on the back foot and constantly playing catch up with the actual market leaders (including, of course, Microsoft).

Microsoft does have a history of doing great work while chasing others.
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