Platform and Productivity and what it means for our devices

[kwright62]

I'm absolutely on board with the efficiency that comes with the Surface Pro 3 and the Icon at work (Windows) and at home. What I hope is that Nadella is not telegraphing his intentions to abandon what promises to be a big part of Microsoft: phones and tablet computers.

Anyone else getting this pattern from his press releases?

 

[RavenSword]

I'm absolutely on board with the efficiency that comes with the Surface Pro 3 and the Icon at work (Windows) and at home. What I hope is that Nadella is not telegraphing his intentions to abandon what promises to be a big part of Microsoft: phones and tablet computers.

Anyone else getting this pattern from his press releases?

I don't think he's going to kill off phones and tablets. However he is realizing that not everyone is using a WP and surface so he's making things available and good everywhere. I'd assume they'll still try to make them the best on windows hardware.

It's like how google services are available practically everywhere but there integrated best on android.

 

[Onager1286]

I was going to make my own post about this:

As I'm sure many of you are aware, Microsoft is trying to sell themselves as the company that enables people and organizations to do things - the productivity company. They're always very quick to point out their productivity suite Office. I think that's a great story for them to tell, but I certainly hope they're working on more than that to fulfill a role that, frankly, is very broad.

For example, something that would help me personally be productive would be a top-notch task manager, which reliably syncs to my Lumia - something along the lines of Any.DO or Wunderlist (this kind of app seems like a perfect addition to the Bing suite of apps). I'd could also be more productive if I could get my music ideas down with a beautiful, polished app like what's available on iOS, to be finished at home on desktop in Pro Tools. Or how about when I was trying to navigate around while on a trip to Japan, only to find that the HERE maps that Microsoft licenses for WP8 makes Japan look like a barren wasteland with literally just the most major roads shown. That would have saved me a lot of time - made me more "productive".

There are other examples, and I'm sure most of you could name some too. And that's the whole problem: productivity means a lot of things to a lot of people, and the only way I can see everyone's needs being met is to have the third-party support. Which obviously Microsoft does not have. Even the "official" apps that we do have are last to be updated, if at all, leaving out features that could help people using MS platforms to be productive.

To be clear, I do think Office is a big deal. I've messed around with Google Docs enough to see that it doesn't let me do nearly enough, even for my simple needs (resume-building mostly at the moment). And I use OneNote constantly. But beyond that…? I'm not clear on how I'm more productive using Microsoft's products and services than the competition.

 

[smoledman]

If MS thinks that flogging Office is their ticket to success in mobile, they have another thing coming. Ask yourself why iPhone are so successful - they're fun. Copy Apple - starting with a great phone and UI. Then you'll see success.