Sad and true...Tom Warren giving up on WP

[noobchief]

R.I.P. Tom Warren, you were a great Windows Phone reporter

 

[agentmikeyd99]

No flagship, no retention of customers and no new customers. Have fun with the Third World business model MS...

 

[David Van Ryn]

At least i have all the apps i need, and the most important thing for me is the WP UI which is never boring like iOS which i also think its of top quality. To date most people who keep complaining about windows phone have only one reason, and its the app gap. If you have a mercedes benz and you start focusing on it cons, you'll never see it as a perfect car for you, and of course nothing is. But this doesnt mean that it is not one of the best cars, at least for others. Some will love BMW and others Porsche etc. It is the same with mobile OS, its down to personal preferences.
I have used android and blackberry before WP. My sister and brother have iphones and ipads, so i got a chance to play with them. I think iOS is very good BUT boring after only a few hours. Android is also good but again the UI isnt pleasing enough for me. I enjoy my windows phone a lot, cant stop staring at the live tiles, simple and fluid, affordable. I know its not perfect but one thing that never bothered me its the app gap. I have all the apps i need, news apps, social, sports, weather, games etc. Thanks candy crash saga is here but i used sweet crush before its arrival.

Despite loving WP this much, i will never try to spread and exaggerating the bad side of Android and iOS just because i dont use or like them. I will just try to spread the good side as well as the cons someone will face if he joined WP. So people stop exaggerating the deficiencies within the windows phone OS

That's the spirit! thumbs up

 

[Blu3V3nom07]

​That?s okay, I?ve given up on Tom Warren. I?m getting that Lumia 940 next year on T-Mobile.

 

[Ebuka Allison]

​That?s okay, I?ve given up on Tom Warren. I?m getting that Lumia 940 next year on T-Mobile.

Next winter? Cool

 

[TechFreak1]

Unfortunately it is a numbers game be it the number of apps, amount of profit made in a fiscal year or market share %.

If anything, Tom Warren publicly stating he has given up on windows phone along with other prolific tech blogger/journalists should be a wake up call to Microsoft that their current route of being on the prominent platforms before their own is a fools errand and sends nothing but conflicting messages.

Furthermore, their OEM partners won't pick up the slack either as what is the point in investing in a platform when it's creator is focused on making profits from competing platforms before their own?

Right now, Windows 10 will be their 3rd do-over (including windows mobile) in the mobile space and if they botch that up - they will not have a chance for a 4th... sure they could keep throwing money at it but what would be the point?

People would have lost faith in Microsoft and it's ability to stay on a consistent path.

Between now & build 2015 there are bound to be more and more similar articles posted, brace yourselves as there may be an all-out onslaught incoming from the ios / android fanboys and girls with-in your social circle.

 

[rhamblet]

I have been a VERY loyal windows phone user since the HTC Titan. I will not give up on WP, but I think there are some things MS needs to fix.

Firstly, build a "surface phone". They don't have to call it that, but a thin, vapor-mg case with the latest snapdragon would be drool-worthy. This is a device to directly compete with the iPhone, something the current flagships do not (the 930 comes close, but no US availability!)

Secondly, and perhaps the most controversial, is the inclusion of android apps. Please keep reading. Not that we add the ability to run android apps on our phones like blackberry, but that MS, in all of their software wisdom, should create a basic utility to EASILY port apps on an individual basis to something resembling native windows phone code. An "Android App translator" of sorts. I do not want an android runtime running on top of my WP, and I dont want people to stop developing native WP apps. Just get 95% of the the conversion process done, and leave some tweaking to be done.

I think these are realistic demands.

 

[Jonnie LasVegas]

So Tom is out of the closet, finally. Probably no secret to what he has been using all along except for maybe us. He probably has been using an Iphone for years, got the Iphone 6 like a lot of people did and now he's no longer keeping it a secret. No biggy.Its a nice phone. Until MS puts something on the table we could be proud to own, he won't be the last to venture onto greener pastures.

Yes, he specifically says he's been using all three os's over the last few years. But you can't blame a guy for needing certain tools/apps for work and colleagues. Gotta go where the apps and functionality are. I know my gf and I had to get iPhones for work and I love it. Also still use my 1520 along with it.

 

[JamesDax]

No flagship, no retention of customers and no new customers. Have fun with the Third World business model MS...

The HTC One M8 is a flagship as is the Lumia 1520 and since market share is actually rising it's likely they are gaining more customers then they are losing. MS probably has a better idea of how to run their business then you.

 

[tomworthjr]

As Apple found out in the 90's, it's not the best machine that wins; it's the network effects.
That's why they're so damn good at locking people in now. They learned their lesson well.
Microsoft was just too late to the game, but they know the lock-in strategy as well as Apple does, and they know mobile is their future. The question is: will they settle for everyone using Microsoft cloud-based apps on iOS and Android, or will they try to lock us in with their own devices? They have always been a software company and have not made hardware inroads outside of gaming. Maybe that will be enough though, and maybe it will eventually pull people onto Windows Phone, though I can't see it from here.
I bravely leapt off of the Apple bandwagon in March and scooped up an Icon. Fell in love with EVERYTHING about it: camera that took amazing pictures with enough resolution to blow up prints onto large canvases; the UI; the built-in Qi wireless charging (still have my Qi charger that I bought to charge it); the long-lasting battery, the amazing and large display, the incredibly effective use of sizing and readability with the system font, I could go on and on. But within the 30-day period, I had to go back to my iPhone 4S, to regain the Apple ecosystem that the rest of my family shared. It was too catastrophic of a loss to justify with merely a "better phone," which is all the Icon was.
My new 6 Plus is nice with the super fast camera that never takes a bad picture (though I won't be blowing any of them up to canvas size, due to loss of resolution with a puny 8 megapixel camera) and giant screen, and the shared playlists of all the music my family has purchased on iTunes through the years, but I still pine away for my long lost Icon every time I read about what amazing camera functionality will be enabled by Denim (if indeed it ever arrives on Verizon for the Icon, don't get me started...), or happen to stumble across the old Qi charger in the drawer.

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

If your phone OS of choice is among the market leaders, you don't care. However, if your phone OS of choice happens to be very low in market share, and declining -- as is Windows Phone -- then you should very much care because of the risk of said phone not existing in the near future. You would rather see people flocking to, rather than fleeing from your phone OS. Make sense?

I'd love to see more people using it. I hardly base my choice on what others use, though. I base my decisions on what works best for me. It could be an iPhone, Android, WebOS, or Blackberry. Whether or not Ed Bott or Tom Warren use it means nothing to me.

 

[gMaesterUK]

Secondly, and perhaps the most controversial, is the inclusion of android apps. Please keep reading. Not that we add the ability to run android apps on our phones like blackberry, but that MS, in all of their software wisdom, should create a basic utility to EASILY port apps on an individual basis to something resembling native windows phone code. An "Android App translator" of sorts. I do not want an android runtime running on top of my WP, and I dont want people to stop developing native WP apps. Just get 95% of the the conversion process done, and leave some tweaking to be done.

A quick search on Bing or dare I say, Google, will show quite a few resources for porting both iOS and Android apps to Windows, sadly no auto-port feature. MSDN does have quite a few helpful guides, and even on developer.com.

I understand why MS have focused more on the low-end, you make people sticky, and they'll likely to upgrade to a higher-end model. Sadly, you do need to keep your high-end stuff evolving. I'm personally hopeful for the joys of Win10, especially with the enterprise market, as they'll drive the developers (maybe not so the gaming side) to make apps for Windows (universal).

G.

 

[kklemn]

there's been so little news on windows (phone) and its devices lately, that i think something big is preparing... i just hope they don't screw it up again!

 

[matt john2]

Do you think windows phone is gonna die soon?

 

[agentmikeyd99]

The HTC One M8 is a flagship as is the Lumia 1520 and since market share is actually rising it's likely they are gaining more customers then they are losing. MS probably has a better idea of how to run their business then you.

Hilarious

 

[fatclue_98]

Hilarious

How's it hilarious? His points are all valid and true, unless you're Nadella using a fictitious screen name.

 

[agentmikeyd99]

How's it hilarious? His points are all valid and true, unless you're Nadella using a fictitious screen name.

Apple and Samsung wouldn't waste a breath laughing at that. Which is actually a shame for anyone that actually likes Windows phone...

 

[anon(5973126)]

The title should be "Tom Warren giving up on (Whats left of) WP".. Microsoft is busy at work constantly downgrading apps and services.. and its amazing that they expect to retain even the final 3%

Do you think windows phone is gonna die soon?

Yes.. the only thing keeping it alive is the hope that Windows 10 may be better.. January 21st will be the day it is decided..

 

[anon(8532178)]

I will continue to use WP unless MS discontinues it. iOS and Android are not what I want in a smartphone and for my personal user experience. WP is the sweet spot.

That's how I am until MS discontinues WP.

I don't think consumers consciously decide to have only two choices. In fact, that goes against human nature, I think. We like choice.

IMHO, it's a simple matter of options A and B being better fits for more people.

I think most folks want as much functionality as possible, and no ethical reservations with regards to a duopoly can get in the way of that want.

Unfortunately not C -_-

Exactly. It's just like imagining a world where our only choice would be between AT&T and Verizon. You need your T-Mobiles and Sprints to keep the big guys honest (sort of). Blackberry is too far gone to be a solid 3rd guy in the game, so all that is left is WP.

I can understand people getting angry that MS is offering their apps on iOS and Android, but it really is smart. It's much easier to give an iPhone owner a taste of Microsoft than get them to jump ship to WP. But you get them using One Drive and Cortana and you start pulling them away.

Unless MS gives Cortana away to those two (IOS Android) as an "Alternative Personal Assistant"

I have been a VERY loyal windows phone user since the HTC Titan. I will not give up on WP, but I think there are some things MS needs to fix.

Firstly, build a "surface phone". They don't have to call it that, but a thin, vapor-mg case with the latest snapdragon would be drool-worthy. This is a device to directly compete with the iPhone, something the current flagships do not (the 930 comes close, but no US availability!)

Secondly, and perhaps the most controversial, is the inclusion of android apps. Please keep reading. Not that we add the ability to run android apps on our phones like blackberry, but that MS, in all of their software wisdom, should create a basic utility to EASILY port apps on an individual basis to something resembling native windows phone code. An "Android App translator" of sorts. I do not want an android runtime running on top of my WP, and I dont want people to stop developing native WP apps. Just get 95% of the the conversion process done, and leave some tweaking to be done.

I think these are realistic demands.

Hmmm so um where's


Blackberry


then?

 

[Reflexx]

BTW, I find it funny when people have an almost irrational hate for Tom Warren just because he's with The Verge and it's perfectly willing to look at WP's shortcomings while also talking about its good points.

These people really look foolish when they label anyone a "hater". Look in the mirror.