Reality

[fiveaces01]

Let me say first that all of this post is strictly my take on things in the world of Windows. MS has been behind since the advent of the ipad, we were just starting into the age of mobile communication and it would soon include mobile computing. The ipod morphed into the iPhone and the race was on. This was the first time (on a large scale) that 1 company would provide both the software and the hardware for a mobile device. Google quickly enlisted every device manager they could get (with Motorola seeming to lead the way) to run their fledgling Android OS. I can just see the folks at MS asking themselves where they would fit in this extremely lucrative new market. As a SOFTWARE GIANT they needed someone that could run their OS on these new mobile devices. Not gonna happen with the iPhone and Google seemed to have everything the iPhone didn't get in market share. Somehow MS got a couple manufacturers to build phones to run their mobile offering of Windows 7. I had an HTC Surround as my first WP. I remember seeing Nokia and Samsung also building Windows devices. This is when things changed,,,

Microsoft to Buy Nokia?s Devices Unit for $7.2 Billion
Dina Bass, Ville Heiskanen and David Fickling
September 3, 2013 ? 4:51 PM EDT September 3, 2013 ? 4:51 PM EDT

There is a picture accompanying this article pf Ballmer and Elop in a big victory hug. By this time I had a Nokia 920 and the Windows Phone looked very promising indeed. Now MS could do what I think made the iPhone so successful, they could provide both the hardware and software for their devices. All of a sudden the man behind this vision is gone and the next time we see Ballmer is when he buys the Clippers. Enter Satya Nadella whose background is strictly in software and was running the cloud division of MS and then the Nokia devices division is eliminated. Obviously MS's new leader did not want to make phones. You must be strongly opposed to something that is worth 7 billion dollars to basically just throw it away, But they had to make something that would run their software so the market got flooded with inexpensive phones while they scrambled to come up with a plan to stay relevant in the mobile world. Just selling Office subscriptions and business solutions were obvious strong points, but what Mr. Nadella should realize is that people like to be able to seamlessly connect to their home computing with whatever mobile device they carried away from home. No surprise here that in the time that Nadella has been at the forefront we have still not seen a top quality phone (the 950 and 950xl almost did) and even if the ones mentioned counted the amount of time until they were offered negated any possible advance. I still think the combination of the easy UI and personalization make the Windows 10 the best OS for phones out there, just wish the head of MS wasn't so closed to building devices.

 

[DustinRyan]

I certainly share your frustration. In hindsight, it seems like Microsoft, while great at looking for the next big thing, missed the smartphone train. They tried to jump onboard, but by then, it was too late. While I see Windows 10 Mobile as full of potential, it was too little, too late and consumers have seemingly chosen their sides.

Microsoft didn't do any favors for themselves with so many glitches in Windows 10 Mobile, as well as a slow, botched, limited release.

However, I will say it is very difficult for a large company to correct course so quickly. I think it is abundantly clear to Microsoft that they need big change--and I think change is coming--but with any large company, change is slow. It's painful to watch, but I think Microsoft has a better grip on the situation and how large of a scale these changes need to be on.

There's so many moving parts in this machine. And where do they begin to correct course? Phone design? OS? Partners? Budget? Marketing? It's tough.

I think we are all frustrated because we know how good Microsoft's vision for Windows can be. We just want the best for the platform. It's tough love. And I hope Microsoft is reading these forums. They ultimately have the know-how and vision, but it's good for them to see posts like yours to realize how serious mobile needs to be taken and that we need more than just subtle hardware revisions and Insider builds of an OS to appease users.

 

[Alain_A]

What about the missing apps?