windows 7: iphone series (2 steps forward, 3 steps back)

[frazell]

I really think Microsoft is gambling really hard. They are doing what no one else in the industry was dumb enough to do. They copied Apple in every way almost in an attempt to capture the new consumer market...

On paper is sounds like a great idea. Apple has sold millions of them on one carrier and continues to sell them. By copying them with the ability to be on all carriers you might stand a chance at doing some real sales...

Problem is I don't think Microsoft has what Apple has. Microsoft can't come out with a "me too" device and get it to sell like hot cakes. Apple has a unique brand identity (cool, hip, and iconic) that Microsoft lacks. The core users like us who fuel Android* and Windows Mobile currently will drop Windows Phone 7 Series for Android or RIM. Microsoft has to get some serious traction in the consumer market for this to work. As they basically have to sell enough to replace us and to exceed us by a LARGE number. VERY VERY risky.

The argument that Microsoft has to ditch all the things we love, multi-tasking; storage cards; copy-paste; etc., to chase the consumer market is false. Google isn't having a problem chasing it and they have all of these features!

*Android is currently the fastest selling Smartphone OS in the US.

Microsoft has made a "me too" and I am very sure they will fail. If Apple allows the iPhone on more than just AT&T this June then MS is REALLY done.

Originally Posted by testacon

Sure I don't mind if they create a whole new OS, what I do mind though is that the new implementation lacks what the old currently has i.e. removable flash, copy/paste, file system access, multitasking and open platform for starters. They couldn't even clone the feature set of the current iPhone OS, they chose to run with something more primitive and doesn't support copy/paste. I'm supposed to be happy that they stole Apples ideology, attempted to cloned their business practices and botched the basic function that Windows is supposed to provide? Epic fail on their part IMO, it shouldn't even be called Windows at all. Everything that made this platform unique like a desktop computer is basically stripped away leaving some new shell of an OS.

For all the Apple bashing that goes on in these forums, I can't believe that more of you aren't as ed as I am. Some of you are even defending Microsoft--shame on you, we should be bashing them right now before release. Look what complaining did to the end of life of Windows XP. They caved over and over again for almost 18 additional months. All they seem to care about right now is the cell phone providers and not the end users. I can't wait until all you Microsoft "fanboys" find out the amount of apps that'll probably be rejected. We can see her lips through that burka or the carriers say, wah too much bandwidth--remove it from your app store and MS says, "yes sir!".

Welcome to the dark ages of fascist cell phone dictatorship...

Well said.