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Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

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Re: Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

#41

Post by damianknz »

barrkel wrote: post #13
damianknz wrote: post #6

I made the switch from an Android Sony to a Lumia 530 this Christmas. Apart from the LCD TN screen the Lumia is easily the best phone I've ever had at half the price.

You can't make a statement like that without qualifying it. Why is it easily the best phone? What do you use your phone for? I know I very rarely use my phone for phone calls. For me, it's all about apps and the capabilities those apps have. My own phones have all been Nexuses. The reasons being that I consider Apple fascist[1], and Android is the only alternative with the combination of lots of apps and a way of rep…

Hi, Here is what I like: It was $95 in New Zealand. It has a quad core processor. It comes with Office. Live tiles and they way you can move then and resize them is just nice. The OS only takes up 2.2 GB Other apps seem to need much less space, like about half the space and they can be installed on an SD card which I haven't even got because I don't need one. I'm a C# programmer by day so there's that too.

Re: Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

#42

Post by blumkvist »

shmerl wrote: post #26
teh_klev wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Journalists and their "scare" quotes. I think people need to get over that period in Microsoft's history. To be honest Oracle, Google, Facebook et al aren't exactly angels when it comes to their own acquire and bury practices.

> I think people need to get over that period in Microsoft's history. Are you saying they righted their wrongs in this regard? I don't think so. They are slightly better than before may be, but they have a lot of old baggage left. I can't say they stopped their lock-in tactics already and became friendly to open standards. Others have their wrongs as well, but the article is about Microsoft.

It is just how to world operates.

You are powerful -> you take measures to keep that power.

I don't know what all the fuss is about. It's the most natural thing. Did they take it over the top? Yes. Did the DoJ cut them in half for it? Yes. At this point I think it's hipster boys mindless repeating a mantra they haven't even thought about more than 2 minutes in their lives.

Re: Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

#43

Post by louhike »

CmonDev wrote: post #35
frozenport wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>like Google But in an ironic way! Both companies are the foundations upon which the digital age sits, everybody runs Windows/Office and everybody uses Google search. MS and Google can do whatever the heck they want and fail often without consequence.

"...everybody runs Windows/Office and everybody uses Google search..." Several years ago you could add "...and everybody uses an iPhone...". Well, not anymore.

I disagree, even if they sell a lot. The iPhone was far from common because of its high price.

Re: Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

#45

Post by _nedR »

_nedR wrote: post #28

Microsoft is adopting the "Services, not devices" (or OSes) strategy envisaged two years ago ( http://stratechery.com/2013/services-not-devices/ ). Under Ballmer, Microsoft had a brief identity crisis, trying to be a vertically integrated company like Apple. It is clear that Satya Nadella is taking Microsoft the other way to become a horizontally-integrated company like Google ( http://stratechery.com/2013/understand…

Sorry for the typo in the link in the comment above. Too late to edit it. Here's the link :

http://stratechery.com/2013/understanding-google/

Re: Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

#46

Post by slightmarginal »

CmonDev wrote: post #35
frozenport wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>like Google But in an ironic way! Both companies are the foundations upon which the digital age sits, everybody runs Windows/Office and everybody uses Google search. MS and Google can do whatever the heck they want and fail often without consequence.

"...everybody runs Windows/Office and everybody uses Google search..." Several years ago you could add "...and everybody uses an iPhone...". Well, not anymore.

This was actually on Darging Fireball just the other day,

> It’s true that Samsung passed Apple in smartphone market share years ago, but “the crown” was never Apple’s to cede. In the years prior to Samsung’s rise in 2010, Nokia led the industry, by far, in smartphone market share. RIM, too, was ahead of Apple until 2010.

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2015/01/31/chmieliewski-sma...

Re: Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

#47

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

Aoyagi wrote: post #39
frozenport wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>like Google But in an ironic way! Both companies are the foundations upon which the digital age sits, everybody runs Windows/Office and everybody uses Google search. MS and Google can do whatever the heck they want and fail often without consequence.

Each of those "everybody" should have a huge asterisks next to them.

everybody*

* not everybody

Re: Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

#48

Post by serve_yay »

Zigurd wrote: post #14
FreakyT wrote: post #11

I find it somewhat disingenuous when the CEO of Cyanogen makes claims about people wanting use CyanogenMod without the Google Apps. Look at any custom-built CyanogenMod roms out there -- every one of them includes instructions on flashing the Google apps. The only company that has had any success with a forked Android is Amazon, and I suspect that's less about writing replacement apps (as I guess Cyanogen plans to do…

Office for Android doesn't suck. That was a big missing piece.

But why is MS any better or different than Google?

Re: Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

#49

Post by TheCondor »

chriscub wrote: post #31
shmerl wrote: post #7

> Perhaps they’ve been looking in the wrong direction and can return to their “trusted” Embrace and Extend tactics. Does he refer to the despicable practice of "embrace, extend and extinguish"[1]? It's one of the most disgusting stains on Microsoft's reputation (along with their lock-in and standards hijacking practices). I'm surprised author even suggests to do that as something acceptable. [1] https://en.wikipedia.…

I frankly think that Microsoft more nefarious tactics have hurt them more than helped them over the long run. Take the browser wars as an example. Bundling IE got massive share which then bred arrogance, stagnation, and lack of standards compatibility. That set that stage for IE becoming reviled for all of those things and the rise of Chrome/FireFox. There was certainly a bad ride for consumers along the way, but the…

Those tactics took them from being a big PC software company to one of the largest and most powerful corporations on the planet, that was just printing money under the "flat years" of Ballmer.

Are you suggesting that those tactics are so ingrained that they cannot be repaired? Sure ie isn't the thought leader, but who gives a shit when you are printing money like they are? I think the hipster chic only matters for growth, they are a dividend company now. They've shown an incredible resiliency and the industry is such that mistakes are costly. I just can't imagine counting them out.

Re: Microsoft Makes Clever Moves

#50

Post by anjc »

I don't know why people would suggest that Microsoft fork Android. Windows Phone is by far and away the best experience i've had on a phone, and my Lumia 930 is the nicest phone i've used (after coming from a series of iPhones). Don't get me started on the Surface Pro 3, which is probably the most impressive device i've ever had.

Microsoft's devices strategy wont be clear until after Windows 10 is launched, I feel, and until a full product line is evident. And you'd be being very silly to discount them at this stage.

I feel like people on tech sites/forums experience observation bias because of, maybe, a tendency towards using OSX and Linux, and they seem to forget that Microsoft are utterly dominant in many areas. They've also entered new industries in the last decade and became dominant in short order too.

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