MS said the same thing when launching the PlayForSure initiative, that it wouldn't do a PMP. Then came the Zune. The truth is that MS would (and should) do whatever it takes to compete in the burgeoning mobile space, which is shaping up to be the next computing platform. We all know that the desktop is stagnant and giving way to mobile devices. Smartphones & MIDs are the logical evolution. The difference is that, unlike desktops where MS has its OS entrenched, it's far from being dominant in the mobile space. Apple is currently the top dog in innovation & mindshare for smartphones (although not market share), and Google's Android is opening up with some pretty impressive artillery as well.
Let's face it, we all know Ballmer would sell his own grandmother if that's what it takes to beat the competition. A little mea culpa isn't going to stop him. The problem with MS isn't so much the desire to compete--it's that, as Jobs would say, it just has no creativity, nor an understanding of the user experience.
MS sure did promise not to make a PlaysForSure PMP (they needed to do that to rally the industry around the format) - but when the industry wasn't able to come up with a good PMP, MS had to take matters into their own hands (hence the Zune). And the Zune is pretty awesome so I'm glad they did this. Of course, this also explains why Zune doesn't use PlaysForSure.
Same thing applies here as well -- except that MS hasn't promised anybody that they won't make a phone. They've just said that they don't have plans at the moment. I have a feeling that will change in the future. The Danger! acquisition, WinMo7, and the Zune - the synergies are pretty obvious, and there are some really cool design chops in these teams that could result in a really nice product if they combined their talents.
I don't see why everybody wants this so much I'd rather WinMo 7 be a success then another closed platform obviously their hardware partners aren't just gonna take it sitting if Microsoft builds their own device in the end developers will have it worse, having to port their products over so many devices
i'm fine with there being no MS Phone. WinMo is something they should focus on making better so even more third-party phones can support and use it. If Microsoft made their own phone, it's like taking your ball and going home. It's literally going into business for yourself - and with that kind of move, you'd see providers either pull support from Windows Mobile - or MS would look really stupid if their own hardware had more problems running its own OS than the other guys.
Letting other companies adopt Windows Mobile for their devices is about as close as Microsoft will ever get to being "open," but from my view it's a much better option than throwing walls up around yourself and controlling every little aspect of HW/SW/online capabilities.
Windows Mobile fans, don't fret. Microsoft has NEVER built their own mobile, nor have they built their own PC. Google doesn't plan on building mobiles either. Microsoft & Google are software companies.
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say it isn't so microsoft ... say it isn't so
MS said the same thing when launching the PlayForSure initiative, that it wouldn't do a PMP. Then came the Zune. The truth is that MS would (and should) do whatever it takes to compete in the burgeoning mobile space, which is shaping up to be the next computing platform. We all know that the desktop is stagnant and giving way to mobile devices. Smartphones & MIDs are the logical evolution. The difference is that, unlike desktops where MS has its OS entrenched, it's far from being dominant in the mobile space. Apple is currently the top dog in innovation & mindshare for smartphones (although not market share), and Google's Android is opening up with some pretty impressive artillery as well.
Let's face it, we all know Ballmer would sell his own grandmother if that's what it takes to beat the competition. A little mea culpa isn't going to stop him. The problem with MS isn't so much the desire to compete--it's that, as Jobs would say, it just has no creativity, nor an understanding of the user experience.
@d00b
Stop sniffing glue. Seriously.
@d00b - you're right on target man.
MS sure did promise not to make a PlaysForSure PMP (they needed to do that to rally the industry around the format) - but when the industry wasn't able to come up with a good PMP, MS had to take matters into their own hands (hence the Zune). And the Zune is pretty awesome so I'm glad they did this. Of course, this also explains why Zune doesn't use PlaysForSure.
Same thing applies here as well -- except that MS hasn't promised anybody that they won't make a phone. They've just said that they don't have plans at the moment. I have a feeling that will change in the future. The Danger! acquisition, WinMo7, and the Zune - the synergies are pretty obvious, and there are some really cool design chops in these teams that could result in a really nice product if they combined their talents.
I don't see why everybody wants this so much
I'd rather WinMo 7 be a success then another closed platform
obviously their hardware partners aren't just gonna take it sitting if Microsoft builds their own device
in the end developers will have it worse, having to port their products over so many devices
i'm fine with there being no MS Phone. WinMo is something they should focus on making better so even more third-party phones can support and use it.
If Microsoft made their own phone, it's like taking your ball and going home. It's literally going into business for yourself - and with that kind of move, you'd see providers either pull support from Windows Mobile - or MS would look really stupid if their own hardware had more problems running its own OS than the other guys.
Letting other companies adopt Windows Mobile for their devices is about as close as Microsoft will ever get to being "open," but from my view it's a much better option than throwing walls up around yourself and controlling every little aspect of HW/SW/online capabilities.
Windows Mobile fans, don't fret.
Microsoft has NEVER built their own mobile, nor have they built their own PC.
Google doesn't plan on building mobiles either. Microsoft & Google are software companies.