Windows Central - Land of the Palm Readers

[cocopops]

I have held back on posting this thread before but feel the need to raise this as it doesnt seem like its improving.

It seems like many people on this forum have become master future-tellers especially in the mobile space, give me a chance to explain:

Before the Lumia 950's came out, there were a few leaks and renders and it became a doom and gloom session of how Microsoft has stuffed up the whole design despite theeditors saying wait until final version wait until final version wait until final version, but no, we went passing judgement on a phone that hadnt even launched yet and we hadnt even seen properly.

Next the phone launched and to many of us the design was pretty good. It looks like a great device and is packing some cool hardware. It runs the latest chipsets with innovative liquid cooling to keep those processors running like Forrest Gump. Yet not long after this announcement, the doom & gloom parade appeared with it isnt enough, why did they just blow by the phones, and its future telling that Mircosoft has de-prioritised its phones and so on. To my surprise even Daniel posted an article which was far from rosy, when the techies of the interwebs would be prowling forums to try and learn more, and many many people saw light in Microsoft mobile, this was probably the MOST in opportune time to have articles like that floating around a WINDOWS Mobile founded forum.

Following on from that we have the 950xl in which people got to experience, many of the reviews are positive, but still the doom & gloom parade post about how it doesnt feel right for x y and z reasons. One picture comparison in who knows exactly what conditions of camera pics and all of a sudden the camera is useless and people are disappointed. Once again future telling as we dont know the actual performance.

We then get a new build foe W10m insiders, and boom, again we are on train saying it has 100 things wrong with it, and then I watch "for the love of techs" reviews who hails this as one of the biggest W10M upgrades he has experienced and he is running a 930 as his daily with 5 other W10m devices.

I actually cringe everytime I see a new thread come up, because I have found a LOT of interest from many android and ios users for the 950's in my personal social circles. Now If I amplify that to the interwebs, there must be thousands who are searching for more information and debating whether their next phone should be a 950. They are bound to run into Windows Central, and will see a flood of negatives, is this the message we want to portray without even having full knowledge on the phones and how they perform? I think not. I often give what I believe to very fair advice to those who want to swop out to W10M, highlighting areas I think will be of concern to them, but I never paint a picture fo doom & gloom, that wont help anything.

We have become our own enemies and sometimes I think people on this forum dont want W10M to succeed just so they can say I told you so XXX months ago and bla bla.

Anyways, thats my POV at this stage and I hope the 950's silence everybody once in hand, although I think many people have their mind made up.

 

[PepperdotNet]

Thank you for saying something that needed to be said.

Because of the amount of unfounded negativity, I have on many occasions been tempted to simply stop visiting Windows Central. I say to myself, I'll just stop reading this stuff, and buy the phone I want (950XL) and just enjoy it. If it works for me that is all that matters.

Frankly I'm sick of all the doom & gloom that implies I must be mentally deficient because I actually enjoy Windows on a phone.

 

[Satyendra Nair]

Agree. A month back, when I was about to replace my 920 for a 640XL, the threads in here saying "MS is gonna crash out of their mobile ecosystem soon", and yada yada really did get me. I was a click away from getting the Moto G3. Thank heavens for my sister who slapped me, increased the budget and cancelled the order. Long story short, ended up buying the 640XL, and love it.

I understand constructive criticism, and would not deter from giving that out myself. But the fortunetelling gets so much positive response, that a third person would seriously think we are sitting on a dead ecosystem and playing a game of cards.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

I pretty much stopped visiting windows central on my pc and mainly check the app for articles and I rarely check the forums. This community and the reddit have made me ill with windows phone.

The fact people were being labeled as fanboys because they actually preferred the design of the 950s and disagreed with those who don't is right around the time i realize our community is a mess.

 

[mikepalma]

No compelling reason to switch from iOS or Android to 950s. Why , for less apps , no tap to pay and other not avail features?? MS is obviously and smartly focusing on services. Maybe surface phone next year will yield diff results

 

[theefman]

Not our job to sell the phone or its advantages, that's the job of the multi billion dollar company who owns it. Plus people are expressing their opinions, borne of frustration sometimes and prone to change but if given honestly there's nothing wrong in that. There's no law that says we all have to be clones and bleat the party line positive message just to portray some untrue image and if people cant make up their own minds without being told what to think, that's their problem.

As for me personally, I still think the new phones are bland (but inoffensive in person), to the point that case makers are being hailed as (yet another) savior, the new OS has positives but just like the desktop seems hell bent on throwing out any and all good ideas from the previous version resulting in an inconsistent experience lacking flair and features its predecessor had not to mention what it lacks versus the competition.

So lets not try to turn this into WinStepfordCentral where everyone is "encouraged" to think alike, all opinions should be valid whether they are positive or negative because everyone will have their own unique view. If you want clones, watch Star Wars!

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

No compelling reason to switch from iOS or Android to 950s. Why , for less apps , no tap to pay and other not avail features?? MS is obviously and smartly focusing on services. Maybe surface phone next year will yield diff results

No compelling reason for you. I've seen wuute a fee android fanboys intrigued by windows and the new Lumias.

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

Not our job to sell the phone or its advantages, that's the job of the multi billion dollar company who owns it. Plus people are expressing their opinions, borne of frustration sometimes and prone to change but if given honestly there's nothing wrong in that. There's no law that says we all have to be clones and bleat the party line positive message just to portray some untrue image and if people cant make up their own minds without being told what to think, that's their problem.

As for me personally, I still think the new phones are bland (but inoffensive in person), to the point that case makers are being hailed as (yet another) savior, the new OS has positives but just like the desktop seems hell bent on throwing out any and all good ideas from the previous version resulting in an inconsistent experience lacking flair and features its predecessor had not to mention what it lacks versus the competition.

So lets not try to turn this into WinStepfordCentral where everyone is "encouraged" to think alike, all opinions should be valid whether they are positive or negative because everyone will have their own unique view. If you want clones, watch Star Wars!

IM all for positive, neutral, and negative discussion. This used to be one of my most active sites I visited and took part in. This community was a community. There's a difference between that and the present toxicity and outright trolling some people do.


You know what happened when android stopped
Being good for me and I moved to windows phone on 2012? I left those communities. I didn't continue bashing a product I no longer used and lost faith in. I didn't try to attack users who were fans and label them idiots. I wasn't there bashing google or android.

I tried the iPhone 6 for a month in July and hung out on imore and macrumors. I left it behind and I didn't continue bring negativity to those community.

Half of these negative comments are not bringing on discussion. They are whining and whining. Most of us are adults here and some of these people are acting like kids. At the end of the day, these are phones. People can cone and go as they like. You are free to give your impression and opinions. But there comes a time when you have to move on and stop beating a dead horse. Which is why myself and many others don't visit here. Because the community is nothing more than adults having tantrums.

 

[Babs75]

I have always been an Android user and I've made the decision to move to a Windows phone when my contract expires next month. I like what I'm seeing and I need a good camera. The 950XL will be perfect for my needs. As far as apps, I've checked the Windows store and the majority of the ones I use are there. It seems to me when Android first came out, we were having the same discussion about apps. As I recall, Apple had all of the apps and Android had only a few and look at where we are today - Android has caught up. I'm also thinking that I will purchase a Band 2 as a Christmas gift to myself.

 

[GSOgymrat]

Everyone can speculate but I wish people would delay final judgment until the products are available and customers have an opportunity to use the release version. I also wish people would keep in mind different people have different needs and preferences. For example, Windows does not have mobile payments but I know from experience with iPhone and Android that I never use this feature because for me it is less convenient than a credit card. Other people may think mobile payment is essential. I think the best we can do is convey our experiences, good and bad, and let people make up their own minds.

 

[mikepalma]

No compelling reason for you. I've seen wuute a fee android fanboys intrigued by windows and the new Lumias.

Lets check the sales #'s soon and see who was right...

 

[JPDVM2014]

Lets check the sales #'s soon and see who was right...

That isn't a good metric. We already know these phones won't sell as much as the iPhone or Android flagships. It doesn't mean that, for some people, there aren't compelling reasons to switch. I've thought about picking up an iPhone 6S+, but I can't give up live tiles. I don't use many apps, and I'm not going to use tap to pay. Sure, it would be nice to have every app ever available, but it isn't hindering my phone usage. It would just mean that I would have thousands more apps to download, open once, and never use ever again. About the only feature I want from the iPhone is the high speed video capture. But I can wait for it. And Android, forget about it. It could be the best OS ever, but I won't use Google's services unless I have no choice. (eg Youtube)

Anyway, on the topic of this post. I agree. I'm all for constructive criticism, but "the sky is falling" posts are kind of annoying.

 

[fdalbor]

Dont really know what is going to happen and I think that is where the negative comes from most people. They don't know either. The waiting is another thing that pushes peoples opinion to the negative side. I took the middle road myself and now have a Windows phone and a Android phone. I use the Windows phone about 75% to 25% but my tablets are all ANdroid and my computers all Windows so I will probably stay in this middle ground. I have the money set aside for one of the 950's but I don't feel the need and the price seems a bit on the steep side for a unproven product. I can wait as long as I need too or take the plunge right now. Or I can stay with what I have and be content for the time being. I am with Cricket and Consumer Cellular (which both use AT&Ts towers) so the fact they only are being sold by At&T (carrier wise) does not bother me in the least. But I can also understand why the people who don't use AT&T's system might be.

 

[txkimmers]

I am 100% ready to buy a 950 but at this point I still don't actually know if I am going to even be able to do so (I am not on ATT) and that more than anything is frustrating to me. It's hard not to feel like WM fans are Charlie Browns running at a football being held by Microsoft's Lucy.

 

[fatclue_98]

So lets not try to turn this into WinStepfordCentral where everyone is "encouraged" to think alike, all opinions should be valid whether they are positive or negative because everyone will have their own unique view. If you want clones, watch Star Wars!

That's another misconception that's become pervasive on these boards. All opinions matter and it's essential for a healthy discussion. The problem is not Windows Central, it's individuals who go out of their way to become abusive toward other members (whether pro or against Windows), constantly trolling to get their point across and generally disruptive. Those members get weeded out after repeated forum rules violations. We try to keep things civil and there are certain things that will get you booted quickly, whether you're pro-Windows or not.

 

[taymur]

I hope I am not late to the party.

A couple of important notes to keep in mind.

1- we are not Microsoft employees, and we say what we think, so that people know the truth about what's happening. We don't have to market them.
2- people tend to like what they have specially when they dont have a choice, its human nature, but the signs are quite clear.... Mozo is not getting popular for no reason, windows fans still hate the original looks.
3- and if you think we are here because we want w10m to succeed you are wrong... we are here because our past experience with windows phone was great, sadly changing and losing its core elements and values that we were used to, I consider my self a windows fan, and I have been jumping on the latest tech Microsoft makes,

I was on every version of windows from the moment I started to support my self financially. Which was 2011-2012. Bought about 10 lumias and a surface 2.... but I have to say this was the first year I halted..... couldn't buy the 950.... I don't see it, so I will pass most probably..... pre ordered a band though.

Finally.... Microsoft themselves don't see things working, and they are changing they way they are approaching the mobility market..... so what would expect from the fans?

 

[triageatdawn]

Fully agree with the OP.
I was really surprised when I saw that article on the Main Page where Daniel expressed his disappointment in the 950 family saying how they're not pure Microsoft devices because they still have this Nokia DNA (which according to him is a flaw) and how he's looking forwards to the Surface phone. When I scrolled down to the comments section to check the replies, there were lots of people disagreeing with him and pointing out the fact that the article is not what Microsoft needs right now because it's killing the hype and leaving the Lumia line in the dust. This is what he came back with: Not my problem. When in fact it IS Daniel's problem too. The Lumia phones made this website a few years ago.
I've never seen him like that. That article screams negativity and disappointment, I felt some traces of frustration too - it was really off putting. I don't know if it got taken down later on and to be honest, I don't wanna look around for it. If you start losing hope and highlight your frustration in front of your own community which is unstable enough as it is, people are not going to stick around.
I see nothing wrong with those devices, they look much better than those renders we've seen earlier and it's true - we got some Android and iPhone users who are considering switching to Windows Mobile in the future. It's not bad at all. The future of Windows Mobile relies on the 950/XL. Success and progress come first. Once WM gets there we can talk about the Surface phone, Lumia 1050 and so on.

 

[hb1x]

Internet users are vocal. If MS gonna give them back to back reasons to whine, the users definitely will.

 

[paul simong]

Thanks for that micah saw that post.

 

[PepperdotNet]

I am so sick of the whiny babies that have invaded what used to be a decent and useful forum.

All useful information is buried somewhere underneath all of the recent "trending" threads in the forums such as these:
"Despite mass adoption rate of Windows 10, developers still tepid about creating apps..."
"Lumias are the new Surface RT, don't waste your money."
"Dropping the ball on the 950XL (950)"
Not to mention all of the "Microsoft is doomed, if they don't give Verizon everything they want" threads.

If I wanted "news" like this, I'd go to other clickbait sites which profit by pushing the "Apple good, Microsoft bad" agenda. This used to be a community for and by people who enjoy using and helping others get the most out of their Windows products. It has devolved into a 24/7 bash-fest. Any and every problem that anybody ever had is Microsoft's fault in their eyes and no amount of advice or help is going to convince them.

It seems like almost every thread is full of people saying they are fed up and are going to go to Android or iOS. By all means, if you feel that way, go for it and leave the rest of us alone!

I am at the point now that I will no longer participate in Windows Central forums. I'll just patiently wait until I can order my 950XL, then I'll enjoy using it. The rest of you, do whatever you like. Unless the atmosphere here changes significantly, I'm done.