Give us 3 more years. WPM not dead yet

[Keith Wallace]

Funny you should say that. Apple may apparently have an iris scanner in the iphone 7. They will give it some cool name for marketing purpose and say it's the "first ever JarJar IRIS scanner in the world". People will go crazy and will think Apple started the trend. No one even knows about the lumia 950/xl. Friends had no idea my phone was being sold anywhere even though they loved it. That's the beauty of actually marketing your product. It doesn't matter who did it first, it matters how much of the world sees it.

Exactly. We've seen it all the time, how people care more about a logo than technology. Whether it be NFC, LTE, or even an HD display, Apple was last to market with them all. iOS still doesn't have a built-in wireless charging offering, as Microsoft puts out, like, the 15th device with it and Samsung gets on-board. It was 2 years late to OIS, compared to the 920. That the new, 9.7-inch iPad Pro goes all the way up to 256 GB of storage (25% of the max on a SP4) brought cheers and applause from people at Apple's last event. Apple's profits live, in large part, due to the ignorance of consumers.

On the one hand, that's a sad existence. Knowing that tech is being advanced further on other platforms, then left to rot, is disappointing. On the other hand, I'm glad Apple treats its fans like children who are ignorant of technology. It saves me a lot of time and effort that I'd spend trying to explain things to my older relatives, were they to be on Android. That Apple devices "just work," serves as both a compliment (easy for the masses to figure out and not prone to failure) and an insult ("just" working can be a negative point of emphasis for things like the iPad Pro, which can't run x86 software and doesn't include a pen, as well as the Macbooks that run $1,000+ without a touch display).

 

[HeyCori]

As others have stated, nowhere in that article does Nadella say, "give us three more years." That line is completely made up by the writers. Nadella was simply stating that the mobile landscape might change in three years, not that they have a three year plan.

But to the point of the article - yes Windows Phone is dead. Microsoft wants Windows (desktop, tablet, phone) to be the main focus, as opposed to trying to create a standalone phone market.

 

[anthonyng]

He didn't really say "give us 3 more years". He's simply referring to how popularity of devices can change over time because of how much more functional they can become and how much hardware savings are available when you don't purchase all separate devices.

Ok I didn't read it but thanks... the title of this topic made me roll my eyes. Would be nice if things were able to progress a little faster... rebooting the process doesn't help too much though!

I posted a living image as video the other day on one of my whatsapp groups and the guys were pretty impressed with the effect. One guy goes hey, my gf iphone does that and I'm like yea, microsoft had it first but took them 3 years to make it easy to share it sighhh...

Another guy saw my 950xl and then was talking about being interested in windows phones and how an iris scanner was coming though blah blah, I had to interrupt him and say that the iris scanner is now, and showed him. He had no idea.

It's definitely a process and it's taking it's time, just annoying that usually by the time microsoft sorts it out, everyone else caught up. However, going through the process since my Lumia 920 and putting blinders on, I feel ok cause windows phone is doing everything I really need fine and I like how windows 10 is progressing.

 

[casab1anca]

Exactly. We've seen it all the time, how people care more about a logo than technology. Whether it be NFC, LTE, or even an HD display, Apple was last to market with them all. iOS still doesn't have a built-in wireless charging offering, as Microsoft puts out, like, the 15th device with it and Samsung gets on-board. It was 2 years late to OIS, compared to the 920. That the new, 9.7-inch iPad Pro goes all the way up to 256 GB of storage (25% of the max on a SP4) brought cheers and applause from people at Apple's last event. Apple's profits live, in large part, due to the ignorance of consumers.

There are plenty of logos that people don't care about. Apple is doing something right if people are willing to pay a premium to buy their phones. Tech enthusiasts like us care about, well, technology -- NFC, HD displays, wireless charging etc. But 99% of consumers just care about utility value and Apple delivers:
1. Apple was the last to introduce NFC but they succeeded where others failed -- actually getting banks and merchants on board with NFC payments.
2. The iPhone 6S only has a 720p display but it looks great and you'd have to look very hard to tell that it was any worse than the 950's QHD display.
3. I used to use wireless charging all the time on my Lumia 920, but looking back, I think that was because my 920 had poor battery life. Most phones these days have good enough battery life that you don't need to charge them so often.
4. The fingerprint scanner on the iPhone actually works well. The iris scanner on the 950 is just a gimmick -- it's cool but it's not practical.

You don't do things differently because it's cool, you do it because it's actually useful. I used to tell people about all the cool features on Windows Phone until I realized that most people don't care.

 

[Mr Hyde]

From what I see Microsoft doesn't spend it's investment capital very well.
If I were a multi-million share stockholder I would be all over their tail for the extreme poor moves the company has affected in mobile.

This is a simple test to check. Go back and check the stock price before MS wrote off the Nokia purchase and check the stock price today and you will actually see what every shareholder (including the multi-million share stockholders) thinks of MS's moves.

I own MS stock and I have to say as a shareholder (not multi-million shares worth, but multi hundred shares worth) I am very happy. To save some time MS shares today are at $55.12 when I wrote this. During the nokia acquisition and just after the write off, if I remember correctly MS shares were in the mid $30's range

 

[mb-dape]

And in three years the apps running on Android and Ios will be UWP-apps made for Windows.

Still misssing your links to the Android ROMs you claimed to have developed over at XDA?

 

[Keith Wallace]

There are plenty of logos that people don't care about. Apple is doing something right if people are willing to pay a premium to buy their phones. Tech enthusiasts like us care about, well, technology -- NFC, HD displays, wireless charging etc. But 99% of consumers just care about utility value and Apple delivers:
1. Apple was the last to introduce NFC but they succeeded where others failed -- actually getting banks and merchants on board with NFC payments.
2. The iPhone 6S only has a 720p display but it looks great and you'd have to look very hard to tell that it was any worse than the 950's QHD display.
3. I used to use wireless charging all the time on my Lumia 920, but looking back, I think that was because my 920 had poor battery life. Most phones these days have good enough battery life that you don't need to charge them so often.
4. The fingerprint scanner on the iPhone actually works well. The iris scanner on the 950 is just a gimmick -- it's cool but it's not practical.

You don't do things differently because it's cool, you do it because it's actually useful. I used to tell people about all the cool features on Windows Phone until I realized that most people don't care.

1. The brand definitely helps with that. It's not like the competition just randomly threw out the tech without discussing it elsewhere first. I'm sure the controlled environment of iOS helped things along for businesses as well, like with Apple Pay.
2. 720p = 1280x720; iPhone 6S = 1334x750, so north of it. It's well short of the 2560x1440 of the 950, but it's also a smaller display. It's ultimately meaningless because few, if any, can see that level of detail and difference, but it doesn't mean Apple's short changing for years wasn't lame.
3. I used wireless charging because it was convenient, not because my phone needed charged. Dealing with finding the cable in the couch or behind it or whatever sucked. Being able to set the phone on the table without worry is nice. Now, my wireless charger stays at my work. I can charge my phone at-will, if I need. I don't need to pick the cable up off the floor or pin it under something to keep it on the table. It's convenience.
4. Fingerprint scanners are also a much older tech. They've had more time to mature. The issues with the iris scanner are that they're new and have a subset of people with whom they don't work (such as myself, as my high-astigmatism glasses distort too much).

What Apple does right is have a brand and support ignorance. Honestly, their phones do some negatives to hurt the advancement of the less technologically inclined. They never encourage learning beyond clicks, and that's not great. The walled garden they run is good for older people who don't really need to learn things. When teens and young adults are coddled and incapable to do basic things with a computer because they never actually experience technology in a meaningful way, it's not a good thing. That's obviously the overly dramatic interpretation of the matter, but I guess my working in IT makes me hate watching people be so illiterate with basic things like saving and finding files.

 

[garak0410]

The Lumia 950/XL has been marketed so poorly I'd be surprised if anyone, except WM fans knew of it.

Before anyone makes that statement that the 950 was for the fans, I'll take that as meaning it's not meant for regular consumers, which begs the question, what was the point? You don't make a product you don't plan to sell.

That's just crazy and just plain stupid.

And I was ready to pay full price one one if it had CDMA. But alas it didn't and went Note 5 and Android.

 

[Giddora]

Still misssing your links to the Android ROMs you claimed to have developed over at XDA?

I already answered you.

 

[DavidinCT]

3 MORE years ? Sigh, just the hint of this says to keep my spare Android device for a while longer.

Maybe a few here who started back in the WP 8.1 days don't see it but, as someone who got the very first WP 7 device and has been sticking with it all along, I have been waiting forever it seems.

Microsoft sold out all exclusive features that WP had, Office, Cortana, Wordflow keyboard, and a bunch more. Now, besides the layout of WP and the interface, there is NO ADVANAGE to going to a WP device.

No tap to pay, Very limited selections of apps, very limited options for addons (smart watches, etc). Sure universal apps should help with the apps part but, we are YEARS away for a MAJOR impact.

Now, instead of making an effort to move forward, trying to even at a low level compete, just give it up for 2-3 years and let the market go.

I love WP, I really do but, 3 more years of waiting, not sure MOST loyal people in my case cant hang around waiting again... and again...and again..

 

[mb-dape]

I already answered you.

Sorry, must have missed it, can you repost them?

 

[Giddora]

Sorry, must have missed it, can you repost them?

That can be hard since they seem to have removed all inactive roms. But there's a thread where I say something about "That is something that would make me stop cooking custom ROM's.". Which is also what I did.