Before I go any further, this post is IMHO. (also heads up for a long post)
As a dev that works closely with other devs in the office, I can see how platforms get prioritized over each other and honestly when you bring a vision game into a day to day game things get weird.
I will explain. Every time something "cool" comes out, like say an iOS or Android update, we expect the same routine instructions to fall on our laps, and it almost always starts with "Release changes to..." basically redirecting the priority to the platform that is hot right now. And this isn't only our office but from others in the area as well. You want to ride the wave of each excitement, now I know this might come as common sense to you but I feel this might attribute to a few issues with MS.
Now I like the wavelength MS is on right now but I think MS problem is that it always wants to land the hail marry pass.
- the way i see the cycle -
Platform announcement (Good Idea) > slow progression > competition gains traction > disappear for sometime > small update > numbers plummet > announce record-breaking code breaking changes, change name, change address, move to Hawaii, send developers to the alps > devs complain but develop anyway > MS shift in change > ???
> New Platform announcement...
And we can see this through the history, silverlight comes and people love the speed, but devs are scratching their heads at how limited it is (And yes I was one of those.) The frustration is relayed to the store and now users are frustrated. WinRT comes along and tries to salvage that, etc etc.
My view on the matter
Personally I think the idea to make a business phone is slightly premature. I think if there is such a thing as a surface phone, then it needs to be painted in the right light to flourish. Now all that I wrote above is the hustle and bustle of daily software life. Yes there is room for improvement etc but we know software will never stop changing (well nothing in life really does right?)
Yes WM10 (or whatever, yes another thing MS needs to work on) is behind in things, Yes it might be too late to salvage anything consumer related in terms of mobile as many see. but, I think MS can bounce back.
The fix
MS speaks about making mobile just another node in your daily life, and that is a vision game. MS is good at creating their software visions come true so we need to give them time to stick true to that. They've come through in the cloud platform, their tools are phenomenal and they're only getting better. Here is the problem. MS relies on OEMS to produce but stick true to their vision, and as long as we humans will differ in opinions, this is a recipe for disaster. I believe they need to produce their own hardware, much like they're doing with the surface brand and show other companies what they need to be doing. As apple sets the bar and all third party have to either live up to that standard or no business.
In short we now are starting to have the software, but need the hardware. Why do you think the Lumia 920 will forever be my favorite lumia? because Hardware and software came together perfectly. Even though that alone wasn't enough it got us started.
First you have to give the people what they want, and when they're listening, give them what you want.
We see how well the surface brand is doing and you ask yourself, why?
Many things attribute here but if I had to bet anything it would be this simple:
People want something that they are proud to pull out in public. How many people are going to be excited to pull out a brick while their friends have sleek, shiny toys? (yes almost all devices now are copy cats but ask why?) and no, even though you and I are proud to carry around tech savvy devices, take into account that the target market are made out of people that go to places just so they can share pictures of themselves on snapchat and instagram for other people to experience them experiencing it. so we got it, make it slim, but powerful. If you NEED to compromise on a couple horsepower to make it slimmer, do it. Remember that the gained horsepower makes for a great ad campaign next time around (apple eh?) (also this is where you can see MS in their cycle. They spend time developing, when they cracked the code other Manufactures moved on, now they have to prepare for the hail mary)
So why is it premature?
If MS produces something this appealing, it should not pull the "business" trigger just yet. Things are starting to align here. Surface book and Surface pro are good devices. Xbox is a strong force and PC is showing pride, so if their vision of nodes wants to be of any truth, then all they're missing here is just the mobile. The surface phone needs to be released as MS interpretation of what a smartphone should look like. Putting it under anything related to business, and the young people will walk away. Heck I myself cringe when I hear it out loud. As a developer I am like nope, not again. I'm out.
But Ali, how do you break the dev-user cycle?
Developers are like artist, they want to see their work be used and viewed by the public, and how does that happen? By users using their apps, so as a no brainer devs
need users, because they
want notoriety. And users
want devs for apps/games etc because they
need to be with the crowd. So where is the link? the device itself. Give a dev an exciting device and they will be excited to try their knowledge to test the device, and give a user that same exciting device and they want to show it off. What is the byproduct of that?
A dev with users to develop for, and a user with apps being developed for.
Now I know there are so many other factors to take into account here but let's face it, step one is a desperate need for that hardware, no not third party, something straight from MS.
Sorry for the long post (potato anyone?
)