jkontherun: "Smartphone Makers: Better Wake up and Smell the Applesauce"

[onlydarksets]

Why can't it be a boy named Sue?

[onlydarksets]

Why can't it be a boy named Sue?

[rlieving]

I would consider myself a Windows Mobile power user and I think the WM platform has reached the end of it's life cycle, to be surpassed by better products. With the advent of Exchange support on the iPhone, that just gives me one more excuse to jump ship.

But why would i? I have had nothing but problems with my WM device. Sure it's highly configurable - but configuration is REQUIRED to make it an acceptable device. I had to buy SPB Mobile Shell to make the UI usable, PocketInformant to make the contacts usable, and defragmentation/memory management software to keep it running.

And even then, there is the inevitable registry corruption, which means 3 hours of rebuilding the phone and reloading the software. (I keep a 50-point list at Ta-Da of all the various tweaks to return it to the preferred settings.) A hard reset is required every 6 months - it's the first thing Sprint tells me to do if something goes wrong.

At it's core, it integrates with Exchange as advertised. But even that is sullied by the fact that the battery (with ActiveSync turned on every 15 minutes) cannot even last 12 hours. A dead battery does not sync.

So going back to Aunt Sue...does she want a high maintenance phone that has to be tethered to a docking station, except when taking walks around the block or making it home at night? Does Aunt Sue want to get a phone, only to have to turn around and buy a whole bunch of software to make it work properly?

To be sure, the iPhone is not perfect, which is why I won't be waiting in line on July 11th. It won't serve as a modem for my computer for instance - and I am taking a 'wait and see' on the data plan - especially the new costs for a 'family plan'. (Sprint, my current carrier, beats AT&T on data plans costs.)

But one thing is for sure. I will NOT be getting another WM phone because the platform is so flawed and so horrific to maintain. I'm not Aunt Sue, but I just don't have the time to worry about the details. And so, I will be seeking something more stable, better looking, MORE USEABLE. Palm is even back as a candidate. I am also thinking about the Android.

But Balmer can have my WM phone. Because a person can only take so much.

[virain]

Originally Posted by David Tucker

Because enterprise applications aren't generally cross-platform? Your hypothetical scenario was the same exact one that failed Apple in the 80s. Capturing the mindshare of the consumer doesn't help Apple break into the workplace. Especially when the devices Apple makes are about as anti-business as you can get. Its harder to use an Apple product for work than it is to use a PC for fun.

Apple probably won't return to its dark late-90s days anytime soon but I think there is a pretty firm cap on how much growth they can achieve.

Isn't that why Apple opens up Apple Store and invests millions of dollars to attract developers? I think they learn the mistake of the nineties.

[Phillip Dyson]

Originally Posted by David Tucker

Capturing the mindshare of the consumer doesn't help Apple break into the workplace.

My company has already started investigating open a secure exchange connect. Why? Because some people will be getting iPhones. Up til now we've been a Goodlink shop.

Didn't the congress start complaining about the whole device locking issue shortly after the first iPhone released? I wonder why? Granted it didn't go anywhere.

I suspect that Microsoft started the whole Home Use Programe, allowing people to purchase MS software at severely discounted prices because they realized that if people use something at home, then they start asking about using it at work.

Heck, I started using my Windows Mobile device personally before I started synching it with my Work computer.

Just my $.02

[whydidnt]

Originally Posted by Don't Panic!

I've been saying the same thing as James since Microsoft started this Pocket PC thing. Microsoft just doesn't pitch to consumers. I still believe had Microsoft aggresively marketed to consumers when the Pocket PC first came out in 2000 there would have been no iPod or iPhone crazes like we have now. The Pocket PC was the original Web browsing, Email sending, MP3 listening, Movie viewing, Games playing, Offfice Apps editing, Remote control eliminatin machine that could fit in your pocket. With all that going for it Microsoft left out the consumer market all together and went after the Enterprise dollars. I still scratch my head at that decision.

I'd almost take this one step further and say it's almost like they tried to push AWAY consumers. It's pretty obvious MS never tried to attract a consumer focused OEM to deliver PPC's as a consumer device focused on game play and entertainment. However, with a few tweaks to the media player, a more user friendly skin on the UI and an OEM willing to add memory and the proper controls, the original PPC could have been very competitive in the market you mention.

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by whydidnt

I'd almost take this one step further and say it's almost like they tried to push AWAY consumers. It's pretty obvious MS never tried to attract a consumer focused OEM to deliver PPC's as a consumer device focused on game play and entertainment. However, with a few tweaks to the media player, a more user friendly skin on the UI and an OEM willing to add memory and the proper controls, the original PPC could have been very competitive in the market you mention.

Well, other than the home PC market in the late 70s/early 80s, MS has a horrible track record of predicting trends.

[TMAN]

I have been a user of Mobile devices since the Apple Newton and 200LX days. I can honestly say that the iPhone is one of the most stable devices I have ever used. The Apple Newton 2100, HP 200LX, and iPaq 3870 have been the cream of the crop in stability for me. Does the iPhone do everything my HTC Advantage does? No. But I don't have to reboot it when I get a call in.

If something interrupts the iPhone syncing process I am not forced to re-sync all data from the PC and risk losing any changes I may have made on the device.

I had the PPC-6700 on Sprint. I would have to reset that device at least once a day. It is now literally a door stop in my home office. I use the HTC Advantage as my company phone. It is large enough to use for taking notes. The funny thing is, I use the iPhone with Visto for corporate email because it provides a better email experience that Pocket Inbox on the Advantage. For the record, I used Seven on the PPC-6700 and HTC Advantage but stability became and issue.

As much as I loved Windows Mobile, it just does not cut it when it comes to speed, stability, battery life, and ease of use. I am making that statement as someone who has pretty much owned every device that has been made. The iPhone is a true multi-purpose communications device that works all of the time.

[Stinger]

Apple has rightly determined that the target market of the iPhone, and it hasn't changed with the 3G model, is the mainstream consumer market that doesn't even know what a smartphone is.

Hardly revolutionary. Nokia has been selling smartphones to the mainstream for years. The N95 is still outselling the iPhone.

[jonchilds]

I got my wife an iPhone last christmas, set it up for her before I wrapped it so she could use it right out of the box, and she hasn't had a single problem with it. I don't even know how to reset the iPhone because the need hasn't come up, and believe me it would if something went wrong with the phone. She absolutely loves it.

My AT&T Tilt however requires constant tweaking to continue working. The only thing I have installed is Live search and iGuidance. The GPS/iGuidance combo just seems to need to stop working every once in a while and needs to be reinstalled. I tried google maps too but it hung my system too often. If the 3G iPhone has some decent GPS software I am definitely switching. I will most likely switch anyway because it seems just too easy to use, and I can live with google maps. Although I will really miss verbal directions. The random slowdowns and reboots are just not worth it with a 3G iphone out there.

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by jonchilds

Although I will really miss verbal directions.

Don't forget that TomTom is releasing their map software for the iPhone.