Editorial: Banking on consumer stupidity is a losing proposition

[kenzibit]

Thought I share this nice post at wmpoweruser.com
http://wmpoweruser.com/editorial-ban...g-proposition/

What's your take on this....coz I agree WITH EVERYTHING!

 

[HeyCori]

I haven't read that particular article but the writing at WMPoweruser is so bad that I've learned to just ignore all of their editorials.

 

[AngryNil]

Meh, never been a big fan of Surur. Not to be an arse, but he doesn't seem to be incredibly knowledgeable nor a very good writer.

As a user, I want to agree with him, but I seriously don't think the mass market is that smart. Owners of older iPhones don't get Siri. When the iPhone gets updated, the UI hardly changes. These are realities that are simply accepted. The gradual torture of the 7.x Marketplace drying up in future will not be as immediately obvious as the omission of a feature; as for things such as Skype integration, I think they could be perceived as simply next-gen. The core UI is probably going to remain pretty similar so in general, people won't get the instant feeling that they are a generation behind.

I don't think Windows Phone will sell 10 million units in Q4, but his reasoning is flawed. Windows Phone won't sell amazingly simply because it's the underdog from Microsoft. It has little mindshare, Microsoft doesn't have a great public image, it's still the odd one out in terms of apps and is likely to continue to lose out at point-of-sale.

 

[palandri]

That link doesn't work for me.

 

[pderosa]

They do make some sense. I was thinking about this from the perspective of upgrade cycles with carriers. So I got the Lumia 900 on the day it launched. I will now be excluded from upgrading to Windows Phone 8 for at least a year and possibly longer. I would say that early adopters are usually the biggest fans with the nicest things to say about a platform and the most willing to forgive certain shortcomings. So now as a Nokia and Microsoft fan, I will be left out. And not only left out of having the new hardware, but also left out of being a potential buyer of the latest and greatest software that get developed. I'm not saying that I now hate Nokia and Microsoft or that I never will buy their product again, but I do think that they should have thought their strategy through a little better.

 

[Winterfang]

That link doesn't work for me.

same here. Just a blank space.

 

[AngryNil]

Editorial: Banking on consumer stupidity is a losing proposition | WMPoweruser

I'm not saying that I now hate Nokia and Microsoft or that I never will buy their product again, but I do think that they should have thought their strategy through a little better.

The problem is, they really don't have to. The enthusiast Windows Phone users (people like you and I who know that Windows Phone 8 won't be coming to our devices, let alone that Windows Phone 8 has been unveiled) are a small percentage of an already small percentage of the market. In the grand scheme of things, we don't matter. And it's not like Microsoft will have to do this again in the future, when they could have a more substantive user base - NT seems like a pretty solid bet for future-proofing.

 

[Winterfang]

I agree with everything they said. I mean before we knew we had to wait for Apollo but buying a Windows Phone right now is not smarter than getting an Symbian device. If I new that I would had bought an N9 to hold me until WP8 devices came out, at least I'll be enjoying a pretty phone with a nice camera.

 

[ninjaap]

"Just because buyers are from poorer countries does not mean they will spend their money on unsupported cast offs from the west. In fact, because resources are less people do more research before spending money on what is often an unsubsidized phone."

Although, Ive been living in the US for more than 30 years, I was born and raised in the Philippines. From my recent visits to a "poorer country", I see the opposite happening. Most subscribers are on prepaid and most likely do not have data plans or have limited data plans. They don't care what version of Android they are on as long as they have games and access to FB/Twitter. Most will just use the browser. Many will even buy Chinese KIRFS with dual sims as long as its cheap. So they could care less about app support, let alone future updates. Most of them never even update their phones. Yes, there are those with postpaid accounts and have data plans, but they are in the minority, unlike here in the US. I'm not saying they are stupid, like Surur is trying to suggest MS is suggesting , I think most of them just don't care.

 

[mprice86]

Two things, firstly, an editorial is typically a well researched and thorough piece of writing, not 8 short paragraphs.

Secondly, in line with the my first point, I had to stop reading here:

"[Referring to WP7], besides the Windows Phone 8 launcher skin, it will not get any of the other Windows Phone 8 upgrades, such as IE10, the DataSmart, SkyDrive music player etc. Given the reliance on the Wallet app for in-app purchases, it is not even clear that this developer feature will be supported by Windows Phone 7 handsets either."

Now, I don't deny that this statement potentially could be true. But as of right now no announcement has been made on it. Nothing has been said; so to me it's wrong to incite anger or panic or wrath of the nerds based on an unverified statement. Especially one presented as fact on a reasonably reputable technology website.

 

[HeyCori]

Two things, firstly, an editorial is typically a well researched and thorough piece of writing, not 8 short paragraphs.

Secondly, in line with the my first point, I had to stop reading here:

"[Referring to WP7], besides the Windows Phone 8 launcher skin, it will not get any of the other Windows Phone 8 upgrades, such as IE10, the DataSmart, SkyDrive music player etc. Given the reliance on the Wallet app for in-app purchases, it is not even clear that this developer feature will be supported by Windows Phone 7 handsets either."

Now, I don't deny that this statement potentially could be true. But as of right now no announcement has been made on it. Nothing has been said; so to me it's wrong to incite anger or panic or wrath of the nerds based on an unverified statement. Especially one presented as fact on a reasonably reputable technology website.

WMP has always had problems with the "fact" part.

 

[socialcarpet]

The editorial is misguided crap.

Again, an enthusiast is assuming the average consumer has any knowledge or cares about the minute details.

I'm an enthusiast and even I don't care. There are 100,000 apps for me to choose from and I've pretty much already got what I need anyway. I can read Kindle books, I have Office, I can browse the web and I have a few games, Netflix and several options to stream radio and music.

What else do I need?

Is there going to be a WP8 only app introduced before the end of my contract that is so incredibly amazing that my life won't be complete with out it? No. If I cared THAT much about having every app, I wouldn't have chosen Windows Phone in the first place. I could go out and get an iPhone or an Android and have more and better apps than WP8 is going to have even 2 years after it's been launched.

Most people go to the store and they choose a phone based on the phone itself. They aren't researching OS updates. The VAST majority of people DO NOT perform a major OS update on their phone anyway. If they can get a few games they want, go on Facebook and surf the internet and listen to their music, they are happy. They don't obsess over the details of some OS upgrade and what API's it has. Most people have LIVES and don't care about this crap to that detail.

So, no, it's not going to hurt sales much because Microsoft isn't Apple and nobody outside of phone nerds even noticed the announcement Microsoft made about WP8. They are much more likely to have seen a Lumia commercial and when they go to the AT&T store, the guy in the store isn't likely to say "don't buy a Lumia because you can't upgrade to WP8" unless he's a jerk who just wants to push the latest Android junk. And people are unlikely to ask about OS updates BECAUSE NORMAL PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT.

The new start screen will be nice. The only other things I'd like to have would be separate volume controls and orientation lock. If they can manage to give me those things with 7.8 I will be beside myself with joy.

Everything else I want is a hardware limitation that requires me to get a new phone anyway, like higher resolution and more memory.

So I'm perfectly content to use my phone for another 18 months, I'm confident the 100,000 apps that are out there have me covered, I'm never going to use them all. No earth shattering WP8 app is going to be introduced in the next 18 months that is going to make me cry because I can't have it.

In 18 months, there will likely be an awesome pureview Lumia with 1280x720 resolution and a multicore processor, and I'll probably get that.

Between now and then, I have nothing to worry about. At all.

 

[LightBulbIT]

Actually it's comment and view trolling for dollars. That article has probably 10x the comments and views of anything else he has written lately (other than things related to this issue). The formula? Say something inflammatory about Microsoft (or Apple, or Google for that matter) based on heresay, conjecture and opinion and count your comments, views and ad view dollars...been doing it since there WAS an internet. This will continue until Microsoft makes a full announcement or ships a product. This is the danger of telling the press about your product way before it's ready, but if you don't everyone will tire of waiting (here especially) and possibly move one. It's the late horse game and it's a no-win situation.

 

[freestaterocker]

Yeah... I stopped reading wmp a LOOOONNG time ago.

 

[jimski]

Socialcarpet: ditto

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