I've owned many phones over the years and have used just about every major smartphone platform with the exception of Nokia's Symbian. The one truth I've learned is that the perfect platform doesn't exist right now. My first smartphone was a Blackberry 8703e. It was the first time I was able to easily text and compose e-mails from my phone which was amazing at the time. It did a flawed job at rendering webpages but it was far ahead of anything else and hey, you could actually brows real webpages. It had gps maps and an integrated messaging system (BBM). The Blackberry raised my expectation of what a smartphone should or could be. Then, out of the blue, Apple announces the first iPhone. It seemed to have everything I wanted and more. Safari was the feature that sold me though. A smartphone that was finally able to render webpages with near desktop quality and it was an amazing thing. Between the built in gps enabled google maps, built in iPod, visual voicemail and great email system I was sold. It had its drawbacks though. At a time when smartphones were all starting to use 3g chipsets, Apple chose a slow 2g option. The problem was that this amazing browser had me using my phones internet connection all the time and it quickly became apparent that 2g wasn't going to cut it. So when google announced the Google G1 a year and a half later I bit. It boasted most of the iPhones features and some the iPhone didn't have. What it did have though was 3g and an pullout physical keyboard. It wasn't a bad phone at all but it came after the iPhone and just wasn't as refined. The touch screen wasn't nearly as responsive, texting with the virtual keyboard was far behind the iPhone and the physical keyboard was much worse than the Blackberry. I tried a few other phones (the original Motorola Droid, the Palm Pre) but each time I found myself gravitating back to Apple. For better or worse they had more of what I wanted in a smartphone than anyone else. I loved there were no Verizon tramp stamps or splash screens. I loved that there were no bloatware apps by the phone maker or mobile network operator. I loved how easy it was to backup my entire phone and restore it to exactly how it was if I upgraded. The apps Apple included worked and they worked well. I was happy with my iPhones and I stuck with apple from the 3g then the 4s all the way to the iPhone 5. After the 5 though I felt the post Steve Jobs Apple started to stagnate and the whole experience got boring. The new iPhones had little to no new ideas or innovations and for the first time in a long time I was not content with my mobile experience. I'm not a fan of google due to the complete lack of privacy and the illusion of free software when really your private information is being sold to pay for what you use.
Then I discovered Windows Phone 8. Nokia had just announced the Lumia Icon and I was intrigued. The design was beautiful and Windows 8 looked exciting and refreshing after looking at Apples never changing, uncustomizable boring home screen for so long. After all this time I thought I had found another platform that could hold my interest like iPhone did. Of course the phone was delayed repeatedly but it was finally released and when it was, it was great. I loved the OS completely. Of course there was the app gap but for the most part I found everything I needed or wanted and at the least I found easy workarounds. I realize Microsofts position in the smartphone industry so I've been very forgiving in regards to the App situation, but as time goes on I find myself getting frustrated with MS and the decisions they make. I finally have a platform I love again and I'm watching it wither. I understand when when third party apps aren't up to par but when I see Microsoft themselves develop better apps for my old iPhone it sends a message and its not a good one. I feel like Microsoft's vision for Windows Phone isn't solid or clear as it was even a year ago. The promised flagship phones finally arrive but only on AT&T. I feel like if MS were serious about competing in the phone arena they could do so much better. They could market windows phones direct through their stores (as well as AT&T). They could release universal chipsets that would work on every carrier (as Apple has done for years). They could design and make their own apps to supplement what isn't available (again, as apple did) and for the big apps they could offer to pay the development costs of porting them to WP. They should have added real MS office integration in a long time ago considering thats one of their trump cards. Instead I see my iPad with that experience and only my preview version of windows 10 mobile with a lesser quality version. They should already have complete integration between windows desktop and mobile. They should have more integration with the XBox considering thats another valuable brand in their arsenal. (I'd like to see the ability to easily stream games to my phone as well as stream my desktop pc.
So what is the future of the Windows Phone platform? I haven't given up yet but I'll need to see some serious commitment from MS before I drop flagship prices on a new phone. I've got my fingers crossed.
Then I discovered Windows Phone 8. Nokia had just announced the Lumia Icon and I was intrigued. The design was beautiful and Windows 8 looked exciting and refreshing after looking at Apples never changing, uncustomizable boring home screen for so long. After all this time I thought I had found another platform that could hold my interest like iPhone did. Of course the phone was delayed repeatedly but it was finally released and when it was, it was great. I loved the OS completely. Of course there was the app gap but for the most part I found everything I needed or wanted and at the least I found easy workarounds. I realize Microsofts position in the smartphone industry so I've been very forgiving in regards to the App situation, but as time goes on I find myself getting frustrated with MS and the decisions they make. I finally have a platform I love again and I'm watching it wither. I understand when when third party apps aren't up to par but when I see Microsoft themselves develop better apps for my old iPhone it sends a message and its not a good one. I feel like Microsoft's vision for Windows Phone isn't solid or clear as it was even a year ago. The promised flagship phones finally arrive but only on AT&T. I feel like if MS were serious about competing in the phone arena they could do so much better. They could market windows phones direct through their stores (as well as AT&T). They could release universal chipsets that would work on every carrier (as Apple has done for years). They could design and make their own apps to supplement what isn't available (again, as apple did) and for the big apps they could offer to pay the development costs of porting them to WP. They should have added real MS office integration in a long time ago considering thats one of their trump cards. Instead I see my iPad with that experience and only my preview version of windows 10 mobile with a lesser quality version. They should already have complete integration between windows desktop and mobile. They should have more integration with the XBox considering thats another valuable brand in their arsenal. (I'd like to see the ability to easily stream games to my phone as well as stream my desktop pc.
So what is the future of the Windows Phone platform? I haven't given up yet but I'll need to see some serious commitment from MS before I drop flagship prices on a new phone. I've got my fingers crossed.
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