Does it matter to YOU if Microsoft Mobile dies (or is dead)

[oviedofreak82]

Try explaining to the anti-Microsoft media out there that wants to spread their hatred and bigotry throughout the internet. Every tech article site on the web wanted to spell its death. So now, most people who read those articles are now even more turned off and won't consider W10 & loyal users are leaving en masse. It's hard to stay optimistic, so I'm glad this post is here. Glad to read optimism on the internet for a change!!!

 

[Chintan Gohel]

From all these posts, the first thing I can say is I am learning quite a few things

Before saying anything else, I rather not bring comparisons with Apple or Android. I find quite a number of people have differing opinions about them

Kevin Rush, good points. Exaggeration is quite the device used by media companies and some posters in this forum and elsewhere
Br1t: I'm not sure I understood your first point but I got your second point - more customer base lead to better chances of faster app updates and more apps coming to the platform.
PepperDotNet: your posts are always welcome and enlightening
DarthVedder: more users, better apps. And increased capabilities and features for flagship phones.
WillysJeepMan: I hadn't thought the way you have done but I can see your points. My main aim was to understand the underlying reasons why a few individuals would keep saying dead/dying when there is no direct connection. But you are quite right in saying MS needs to raise their bar rather than us consumers lowering our expectations and compromising.
fatclue_98: Well put and thank you

 

[Saijin_Naib]

I smelled webOS talk, so I'm here. :wink:
I can rant for days about why webOS phones were the greatest mobile phones ever devised.
I can also rant for days about why the death of FireFoxOS spells dark times for everyone across every mobile OS.

As for Windows Phone? I sincerely doubt we'll see it die any time soon. I honestly believe that the UWP apps will revolutionize things and attract more people to the platform, but I also believe Microsoft really need a firm kick in the *** to get their head back in the game. The state of W10M is absolutely shameful and the killing of awesome features that has occurred since WP7.8 is abhorrent.

Will I move off the platform any time soon? Absolutely not. The device and the OS allow me to work (mostly) fluidly in a way I (mostly) want.

Is it as nice as webOS was? Nope, nothing is.

Do I feel like I have ownership and control of my device and data like I did with FireFoxOS?
Nope.

Does it prevent me from doing the work I need to do?
Nope. So I'll stick with it.

 

[Deepak]

It'll surely matter to me. I have always openly hated Android and iOS. I always talk negative about both these OSs and the phones which have them installed. When everyone had gone crazy about Moto line up, I was like "what's so special about that ugly stuff!" My sister was a little annoyed with me when she had bought a high-end Samsung phone and I didn't acknowledge it. My bad, I know. But she didn't mind it for too long. Everyone around me has now accepted the fact that Android and iOS don't matter to me at all. Such an attitude of mine took a really amusing turn (not for me) when a friend of mine played a prank on me. He simply put a back cover on his phone which made it look exactly like iPhone 6. And to his surprise, I was like when he might have expected me to be like or . Everyone present at that moment were very surprised at my reaction. Lol. They even tease me in the name of Cortana since I had given a presentation on WP in my CS class.

So, if WM dies, I'll have no option left but to change my choices and attitude which I certainly don't want to do. I hope WM doesn't go BB way.

I am also hopeful that Microsoft's new strategies will succeed and WM will compete with Android head-to-head.

 

[avengerxp]

Actually, My Argument would be that Windows Mobile is the next big thing that is coming... With Windows 10 PCs around the world, The finished Windows 10 OS will become a major hit! No matter if the Lumia line dies out and Surface phones comes into play, Windows as a mobile OS will grow in numbers and so will be the apps.

Given that people find it easy to sync with their computers and sport a phone that could also double as a laptop (of course MS will make continuum the thing on their next phone lineup) I'm seeing how Windows mobile will become "The phone".. look at the number of 3rd party manufacturers making windows phones...

 

[speccy]

It matters to me, because the interface on the competing platforms is crap!

 

[diabolicalstreak]

From a usability standpoint, I still like WP 8.1, and for what it can do, it does those jobs fine. It's no webOS, but its pretty good. The problem is that I want it to do more and it doesn't. I don't want to have to plan other purchases around what my WP device can support, for say a bluetooth device, fitness band, etc.

I spent until almost 2006 making hardware choices around what would allow me to continue to use BeOS for the sake of the user experience, but it eventually got really old. I don't really want to tread that road again, and I believe if Microsoft had really wanted to compete in the mobile sector they could have been a lot more aggressive.

How long did they spend dumping money down a hole with the Xbox? Clearly that strategy was available to them if they had decided to pursue it. I no longer feel like waiting, although that's a choice made easier by the fact that Verizon seems to have no willingness to offer a quality WP device anymore.

 

[redserpent7]

I care simply because I don't want to throw away my $700 phone which I only bought a couple of months ago. It's plain and simple. You don't need to have personal stakes or to be an employee at MS to be terrified of how relaxed of an approach MS is taking with WM10. Money does not grow in trees last time I checked.

 

[Zeem Frostmaw]

It matters to me, because the interface on the competing platforms is crap!

Mostly this for me. Android is at least somewhat customisable but Google can get stuffed after the way they've played the mobile market against us. iPhones are just generic and meh but probably the better alternative.

 

[fdalbor]

I am lucky enough to be able to use both an Android phone and a Windows phone. Not rich; but comfortable. Why no Apple? Not sure to be honest. I think Apple is popular because they support their phones better than anyone.If you crack your screen its easy to find a place to repair it. Just about every carrier supports Apple even though they have only about 16% of the market. They have built a reputation of support for their products and to a great many people that is more important than anything else. There are so many Android phones its hard to get support for them. When most Android phones break (or Windows phones also), you are out of luck. Thats just the way it is. So why no Apple for me. Dont know, no apple since my Apple II about 150,000 years ago. We people are strange beings. Aint it grand.

 

[tgp]

I am lucky enough to be able to use both an Android phone and a Windows phone. Not rich; but comfortable. Why no Apple? Not sure to be honest. I think Apple is popular because they support their phones better than anyone.If you crack your screen its easy to find a place to repair it. Just about every carrier supports Apple even though they have only about 16% of the market. They have built a reputation of support for their products and to a great many people that is more important than anything else. There are so many Android phones its hard to get support for them. When most Android phones break (or Windows phones also), you are out of luck. Thats just the way it is. So why no Apple for me. Dont know, no apple since my Apple II about 150,000 years ago. We people are strange beings. Aint it grand.

I am in the same position. I primarily use Android, with WP as the sidekick. However, the main reason I do not use an iPhone is simply because they cost more. I have no issue with Apple, but using their products just simply takes more money. I don't feel Apple has any overall advantage over Android anyway. If I thought it did, I'd pay.

I do use Apple products for a couple things where I feel it is worth the cost. I bought a Macbook that needed repairs (the only kind I can afford!) and refurbished it. I also use an iPad Mini, because for the precise scenario for which I need it I feel it is worth the premium price. But for phones, I stick to the others.

Sidenote: I have Windows 10 on my Macbook with Bootcamp, and that right there is a premium experience!

 

[speccy]

I have no such problem in my part of the world getting pretty much any brand of phone repaired, Apple, Nokia, Samsung, and most other brands. I don't think it's Apple's support that generates the sales, it's their excellent marketing, which makes their products appeal to not only people that consider themselves to be professionals, but also to most other people too. People want them because it makes them feel special, part of an elite almost I would say. That's fine, I have no problem with that. I'm not such a sucker for marketing, so it's unlikely I'll ever own an iPhone, mainly because other products (Windows phones in this instance) work better for me, but obviously each to their and good luck to them whatever their choices.

 

[Jazmac]

George Washington is dead. Thomas Jefferson is dead. Martin Luther King is dead. Yet their influence is still with us. This is the proper usage of the term "dead."

To declare a computing platform "dead" which still has many active users, and is still in active development and support, is premature at best, and wishful thinking at worst.

 

[Mad Cabbie]

I think the lack of Lumia's is a good thing. There were WAY too many of them, strangling any gaps for OEM's to fill. Maybe it was part of the plan to just release a couple of devices. Windows 10 mobile, like desktop, is to be continually updated as announced. MS have said this will be the 'final' OS release. From here on out it will be continuous development and updates. Maybe, just maybe, they are looking at the Google model whereby they have the nexus, and OEM's take care of the rest. This sudden flurry of OEM's jumping on board is good news, for me at least. Maybe that is now the plan with W10M, a flagship, midrange and budget device, and go from there. We will see. As for being dead, not by a long chalk.

 

[Charles Brown8]

I think the lack of Lumia's is a good thing. There were WAY too many of them, strangling any gaps for OEM's to fill. Maybe it was part of the plan to just release a couple of devices. Windows 10 mobile, like desktop, is to be continually updated as announced. MS have said this will be the 'final' OS release. From here on out it will be continuous development and updates. Maybe, just maybe, they are looking at the Google model whereby they have the nexus, and OEM's take care of the rest. This sudden flurry of OEM's jumping on board is good news, for me at least. Maybe that is now the plan with W10M, a flagship, midrange and budget device, and go from there. We will see. As for being dead, not by a long chalk.

Be nice to see a strong midrange and flagship then let OEMs fill the other performance gaps and variations.. It's been beat in the ground but also do what it takes to make them available on all USA carriers or at least the two major carriers.. Some of us are left out in the cold with att.. Gsm may be great and all that but if it has no service coverage you are out of luck as far as the current flagships.

 

[donkiluminate]

It only matters to me because I like the flow of the platform and I think the market could stand to have additional competition to keep it from stagnating.

 

[mkKozak]

It doesn't matter to me at all because Windows 10 Mobile is far from dead.
If you have to buy new Android / iOS phone every year because it sucks so hard, pumping this way marketshare of Google and Android , while you can buy phone with Windows and it just works and you don't want to change it, then marketshare drops because it is based ONLY on sales. What I see are completely different numbers.

 

[Mad Cabbie]

It doesn't matter to me at all because Windows 10 Mobile is far from dead.
If you have to buy new Android / iOS phone every year because it sucks so hard, pumping this way marketshare of Google and Android , while you can buy phone with Windows and it just works and you don't want to change it, then marketshare drops because it is based ONLY on sales. What I see are completely different numbers.

I agree with your yearly sentiment. After all, the fashion world doesn't stand still! How long before apple and Samsung have a spring / summer and autumn / winter collection!!

I really like the non pose ability of a windows device. As I have banged on about, Samsung and apple's devices are no more than fashion items for shallow fashionistas, who have to have their ego's massaged. I see it when I pick my kids up from school. Loads of teenagers coming out the gate, all sporting the latest iPhone whilst greeting their parents who are strapped with a 2 year contract @ ?50 (ish) a month because they can't have their little ones getting bullied because the ads say that you have to have an iPhone. My son has a 950, he doesn't care. He doesn't have to take a laptop to school anymore. The kids think his phone is cool, but its crap because it isnt all shiny and have a case with a hole on the back, informing less desirables that you are worth mugging! Go figure!

With regards to windows mobile just working, I also agree. My 1320 runs great on it. It plays traffic rider without flitching, which for an old girl is quite surprising. I have more issues on my 930!!

Personally, I think win10m is going to be around for a while yet. I think there is confusion when it is said 'windows phone' is dead. Effectively, it is. 'windows mobile' is doing ok, especially with OEM's appearing out of the woodwork!! Yay

 

[lumia_kiwi]

My personal phone is a lumia 1520 and I have a Samsung android work phone. Personally and professionally my windows phone does everything so much better. Sure android has more apps but my WM phone has better synergy with my work desk top and better features that fits my needs. I am concerned about WM future and what is in store as it is a great platform.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

Great discussion going on