A Windows Phone 7 For Every Microsoftie 298
theodp writes "So, how can Microsoft guarantee its Windows Phone 7 devices will enjoy broader adoption than the ill-fated Kin? By giving every Microsoft employee a free one, that's how. A Microsoft spokesman confirmed the move, explaining that the idea is to thank employees for all their work, and make sure that they have experience with Windows Phone 7 devices. Microsoft has nearly 90,000 employees worldwide."
It'll be interesting... (Score:1, Interesting)
The number of iPhones at MS is crazy; probably around 20% of the people have them. (There are phone stores on campus; they aren't allowed to sell Androids or iPhones).
I suspect if you whip an iPhone out in front of Ballmer after, say, November or so, that he'll be a little more than a little upset at you.
This is a good move to get people to dogfood and internally develop for the thing. (And I was going to ditch my iPhone anway).
Who's going to pay for the service plan? (Score:3, Interesting)
Call the employee daily (Score:4, Interesting)
You can give your employees a phone, but you can't make them actually use it.
Call the employee on each day when the employee is scheduled to work. If the employee doesn't pick up, record it as an absence.
Windows Mobile is a pain in the ass! (Score:4, Interesting)
I've been using this so-called OS for a while and I am quite positive that when Microsoft made the move from the unstable, bluescreening, freezing, and crashing Windows 95/98/ME 16-bit kernel to the stable Windows NT 3.51/4.0/XP/2000 32-bit kernel they had to do something with the 16-bit operating system developers so they made them all work on Windows Mobile! This is the only logical explanation as to why Windows Mobile sucks so bad, freezes so often, crashes every week, and manages to screw up my phone ever few months on its own corrupting all data... for the last three Windows Mobile phones that I owned. All builds of Windows Mobile 6.5.5 are so horrible from one to another with major changes to the GUI and lack of stability that I have had to downgrade my phone back to 6.5.0 to get some stability and usefulness out of the phone.
Windows Mobile 7 is now made incompatible with 6.5 and earlier versions just sounds like Microsoft is trying to push OS/2 on people by calling it better than Windows 3.11 without the compatibility shims.
I'm just looking for a new Google Android based phone to come out on a CDMA (US - Sprint, Verizon) network that has GSM capabilities with a SIM card and a full-size keyboard, such as the HTC Touch Pro 2 that I currently have to use and endure the Windows Mobile crap. Once that is out I'm ditching Windows Mobile forever!
Re:Gir's Analysis: Doom, Doom, Doom (Score:3, Interesting)
Whilst I agree with everything you say, for some bizzare reason lack of cut and paste doesn't seem to be as much of a deal breaker as we make out. It's implementation within the HTC Desire is a complete and utter disaster (tapping and holding can do at least 3 different possible things) and there is no cut and paste within the dedicated Gmail application and SMS.
For hilarity, text "the number is 07921 123456 bye" to someone with an HTC Desire and challenge them to call the number without resorting to memorising it or writing it down somewhere. Excluding the fact that you cannot copy the number, even if you could there is no way to paste it into the dialer.
Now I, like you, think this is an absolute deal-breaker and a shocking oversight (especially considering everyone else has managed cut and paste for years - even Apple has in the last two) yet the device still got rave reviews despite these fundamental flaws.
Re:Gir's Analysis: Doom, Doom, Doom (Score:5, Interesting)
I have a hard time understanding why they are using the Windows brand for their phone OS. Does it share anything with their desktop OS? At this point (especially on a phone), the Windows brand has negative value. At least they didn't tack on a .net or live.
Re:Gir's Analysis: Doom, Doom, Doom (Score:5, Interesting)
You keep going on about Apple and features. I was involved with developing user training for the first gen iPhone and I can tell you, what features YOU want didn't make version one based on very careful market research and engineering tradeoffs.
It's not like Apple said, "nobody wants remote wipe so we aren't going to do it". Instead, they said, "we have X amount of schedule and Y amount of budget, so we have to decide what is more important to our target audience: a great iPod interface, or some dorky enterprise tools." And it's not like they just accidentally forgot to include copy/paste in the OS either--they practically invented copy/paste (they were the first to map them to their current keyboard shortcuts of command C and V, respectively).
In short, if you needed a business phone with enterprise features, you most likely already had a blackberry. If you wanted a consumer device that would suffice as a business phone (with limitations), then you might have bought an iPhone.
Re:It'll be interesting... (Score:3, Interesting)
It's because every bit of development takes resources, and it's well established that you can't just add more developers to get things done faster. I'm sure copy and paste wasn't a novel feature that the development team somehow forgot. More likely it just didn't make the cut for release.
I think it's very fundamental to why Microsoft hasn't been able to release compelling products - they worry about what every customer asks for and in the process deliver what no customer wants. It's _hard_ to avoid the kitchen sink mentality.
iPhone, Android, WP7 (Score:2, Interesting)
For starters, I am a little biased since I program primarily in C# and Silverlight so take it as you may.
I have always told people about my dislike for Apple products because they were so closed and tight and when the iPhone came out, I was like absoluetly not. I will never get one of those. (and to this day that has held true). However, about 6 months ago, I won a 32gig iTouch and I started to use it. To my surprise it was simple, elegent and worked. it was incredible. I have to admit that was impressed. I still wouldn't buy an Apple computer, but I have always been a PC guy and thats what I understand.
I have never used the Android phone so I can't say for sure one way or another if it is cool as well, however my friends say that they love it so that has to count for something.
Regarding the WP7, I am very excited about it, and not just as a fan boy. I have written apps for my windows mobile 6 phone but there did not seem to be a market for any of them, now with the new Marketpalce they are going to have on the phone, I am extatic to be able to put my games and apps up on the store to sell. What I ultimately would like to do, is make a multiplayer turn based game that is cross platform between the 3 systems so that my family (Who currently mostly have the iPhone) and my friends (Who currently mostly have the Android) can all play together. The big one that they love playing is 'Words with friends' and I must admit, I enjoy it as well with my iTouch.
I believe that Microsoft will get most of it right with this new phone OS because they are mimiking to an extent, Apple's App Store and Apples closed loop of what can be on the phone, i.e. XNA and Silverlight. While I would still like to be able to just write something and put it on my phone without going through the hastle of going through the app store, it might actually work out to be fine, because who knows, maybe one of the 3 games I am writing at this moment, will make me some money instead of it being just a hobby.
Re:Gir's Analysis: Doom, Doom, Doom (Score:5, Interesting)
Features, although great, cost you time and money (It's time and labor or T&L in my world). T&L represents development, QA, documentation, training, support, and long term maintenance from those teams as well.
Once you have a feature, you expect to have it forever. From Waynes World, Garth said it right. "We fear change. Change is Evil!". We can give you a different way to do it, or take away a feature. But who wants that?
BTW, the original comments ability to get some Invader Zim into a topic. Classic. Love JTHM.
Re:It'll be interesting... (Score:3, Interesting)
And even after thousands of people started mocking the iPhone for not having it, Apple continued to ignore the complaints. That's the part I find so hard to believe.
Apple has a better grip on consumer psychology than most companies. Promise and don't deliver, and you get lambasted. Far better to quietly work on improving the product without responding to every request from customers. Apple's sales figures show that the initial lack of copy and paste was not a game-ending omission on their part.
Re:But it's mnade out of PEOPLE !! (Score:2, Interesting)
Oi, feeding the troll and all that, but parent is a straight-up lie. Free soda, coffee, hot chocolate, and various other beverages still avaialble at every MS office I've ever been in (and my own as of yesterday).
Honestly, MS is a fair sight better to their employees than Google is (spoken from first-hand experience here).