What's your optimistic version of W10M future ?

[gwinegarden]

.......People grow up and have rich, full lives outside of their smartphones.........

Some do, but it seems most don't.

 

[Kram Sacul]

Microsoft knows exactly what they're doing and everything is going according to plan. Long ago they realized that they couldn't compete with Apple and Google so they purposely dialed down their efforts with Windows Phone. Flagships were cancelled, marketing was shut down and various apps were discontinued. They even made Flipboard remove the flip animation in their app. All of the talented people at Nokia were laid off and Belfiore was forced to go on a "vacation". The team for Windows 10 Mobile was reduced to a handful of interns and an ex-Google janitor who only get to work on it on their lunch breaks. None of these people used Windows Phone before so things like user friendless and stability were not a priority.

To shut up all of the Windows Phone fans who have been dying for real flagships MS quickly slapped together the 950 and 950 XL which use rejected Nokia designs found in a trash bin and spare parts from past failed devices. Signature Lumia features like colors and attractiveness were intentionally left out so that only the most desperate fans would purchase them. Marketing was never considered.

All of this is to ensure the death of Windows 10 Mobile and the eventual transition to MS just supporting their apps and services on Android and iOS. These are some of the important steps MS is following to make it easier for Windows Phone users to leave/migrate to Android and iOS:

Androidification
The unique Metro design language was abandoned for a more generic one with little attention given to aesthetics. The stylish and fluid animations were removed and strongly disliked UI elements like hamburger menus, wireframe icons and circle profile pictures were introduced. A transparency slider was added to make tiles look more like traditional icons and the settings menu from an old version of Android was used.

Coming Soon
The development and roll out of W10M has been seemingly delayed, pushed back and overall botched. Annoying bugs are introduced with each new build to keep users from enjoying W10M and apps are updated with little to no improvements and with no change logs. Various vague tweets and statements are written to give the impression that the developers are "working on it" while appearing to be lazy and incompetent. Key phrases such as "wait until next year" and "coming soon" are repeated over and over.

Damage Control/Cheerleading
Various carefully worded editorials are commissioned to ease the frustration of the ever decreasing fanbase. The massive decline of Windows Phone is spun as a positive thing and that W10M and MS are on the "right path". Things like Universal Apps, Windows Hello and Contiuum are frequently brought up as "game changing" despite being useless gimmicks for the majority of users. Those who question or object are accused of being "haters" and "anti-MS". Some are sent a brand new 950 or 950XL as torture.

The Last Chance For W10M to Succeed/The End Of W10M/The Future With Android and iOS
The rumor of the mythical future "Surface Phone" was carefully implanted within the Windows Phone community to create false optimism and hope that "something better" is coming later. When this device is later "cancelled" the handful of users still using W10M will finally give up and have no choice other than to go to either Android or iOS. Having no experience with Google or Apple services on Windows Phone/W10M they will find safety and comfort with the various MS apps already awaiting them on either platform. Cortana will be there to greet them and teach to embrace Android/iOS while using MS apps and services. Over time they will slowly forget the hell and frustration they went through with MS' Windows Phone experiment.

 

[Charles Brown8]

Hmm I wonder how many members are looking up the definition of the word "optimistic" like I'm doing right now lol

 

[peter leung 10586]

WP should develop some new feature. for example automatically detect nearby devices and once it finds android phones or iphones the wp can hack into them remotely and erase everything inside and then prompt their users to upgrade to windows 10 for free. if the android phone/iphone user refuse the wp can emit laser to destroy them completely.

 

[apableo]

A Windows 10 Mobile with desktop and can run basic .exe that doesn't require complicated resources. Also having the ability to install other platforms (Android/iOS) applications seamlessly that acts like native apps.

Simply a portable pc.
Because its Windows, and Windows means productivity!

 

[Kram Sacul]

WP should develop some new feature. for example automatically detect nearby devices and once it finds android phones or iphones the wp can hack into them remotely and erase everything inside and then prompt their users to upgrade to windows 10 for free. if the android phone/iphone user refuse the wp can emit laser to destroy them completely.

I think they already have that for Windows 7 and 8 users.

 

[mattdodwell]

I am a new Windows Phone user. I moved from iOS (iPhone 5s) in November and do not regret it at all. I really hope Windows Phone isn't dead, but as long as Windows 10 Mobile OS continues on other good spec 3rd party hardware or the on off rumoured Surface Phone then I will be pleased.

I will not go back to iOS and Goodle bugs the heck out of me so Android will be a painful decision.

I have to say, it might be that if a Windows Mobile OS dies completely, I will drop my smart phone and use a bog standard handset for calls and text, and get a Surface as my mobile device for email etc. I am fed up with paying through the noise of iOS. At last call to get an iPhone 6s with 16gb's it would cost me ?54 per month for 2 years + ?10 upfront and the price goes up slight for the 64gb and 128gb.

I purchased my Lumia 950 at ?0 up front and ?27.50 per month for 2 years. This was a reduction from ?35 per month from my iPhone 5s. I have 32gb's and because of the SD Card options, i have an additional 128gb. I am stuck with an iPhone 6 for work (company supplied).

I have found W10m a breath of fresh air. Is it perfect? No! But I was hoping that as MS mature the Windows 10 platform we will see more and more. If MS stop making hardware and it is only third party manufactures that do, but we get a solid OS, then I am happy with this too, as long as the handsets aren't underpowered and generally crap.

Apart from the slight bendy plastic back cover (which doesn't really bother me), I am very happy with the Lumia 950, even down to the detail of button placement. I will be looking into accessories soon, a dock, headphones and speaks, maybe a wireless charging pad, but I will be honest, my purchase of accessories a Surface 3, Office 365 has been delayed by the recent 'click bait' of the Windows is Dead articles. I want fact not rumour and am disappointed MS have not come out to reiterate their plan and strategy to give both new and existing customers confidence.

The company I work for will probably be changing format and I will end up going self employed if this is the case, I would highly consider a Surface Phone (if the rumours become reality), with a Surface as my working tool, not this Mac Air I currently have.

 

[v535]

Maybe they were signalling the time period to take over a huge share in the market has come to an end. I don't think MS will give up but I like WP more than android and i'm not concerned with app-gap.

 

[montera]

I'm still waiting Win 10 for my 1520 and 930 but I'm optimistic the time will come. Some day in the future there will be the day. What are the numbers in the calendar, when they deliver the OS, will remain as unknown. There may be some more delays but as I said, I'm optimistic.

 

[Krystianpants]

May sound silly. But if you get the kardashians, Kanye west and all those big stars to switch to windows 10 on their own because ms makes such a killer phone then you would see the new Apple born pretty quickly lol.

 

[Ten Four]

My optimistic vision is that Microsoft will create some killer productivity communication package that will make the Surface Phone become just an extension of Office 365. In other words, you will just sync your phone and desktop and everything will work seamlessly across the two. Start a Skype meeting on the phone as you walk down the hall to the conference room where you just start casting it onto the big wall monitor while everyone else files in with their phones they can use as mics so instead of being hunched around the stupid speakerphone in the middle of the table you can actually hear everyone. Plus your phone will be part of the office phone system with the sign in, so once in the building everyone can reach you at your extension on your Surface phone. And, the sign in to all this stuff in the office will be by looking at your phone. Plus, the phone will unlock the secure doors and elevator, sign you into the VPN, log your time into ADP, manage your expense account, etc. Yes, phones can do this stuff already, but it is all optional kludgey apps, different sign-ins, different security, different interfaces, blah, blah.

My more realistic vision is that Nadella declares WP over in July.

 

[Joe920]

I'm suddenly slightly optimistic because I met someone yesterday who is clearly not a techie, and she had a Windows Phone. I was awake and sober, so I think this really happened. She said that she liked it because it was "just like her PC" and she could get to all her files on OneDrive. I didn't have the heart to tell her that you can get OneDrive on Android and iOS as well. Still, this one datapoint shows that at least for some people it might make a difference that the phone and PC OS look similar. One down, couple hundred million more to go!

 

[labsii]

Microsoft will use 'Apple Watch' strategy. And in general Apple strategy.

There were zillions Android watches that sell almost nothing. Then Apple came to the brilliant idea. Release 10.000$ watch that every VIP will like to have. You know, so that they can claim they are VIP. And then when all people see those wearing that they will go to buy watch in their price range.

So you can expect that this year the price of Microsoft's top phone will be at least 50% more than iPhone. Of course, it will be able to do more, probably some cool tricks. All of a sudden you won't look cool and rich if you have iPhone, because hey its cheap. And then people will see those cool phones at their bosses and go and buy something they can.

That's also mostly how Surface is constantly growing while iPad is constantly declining - by being a lot more expensive and being able to do more.

 

[Jason Rosenthal]

I think Microsoft will keep pounding away at Windows Mobile out of necessity. If they should fail, they will likely be left with a bunch of dated people holding on to their Windows PCs well past the expiry date. At that point perhaps IBM, a like-minded services company, will buy them out.

 

[etphoto]

I listened to Windows weekly today and both Mary Jo and Paul said they believe OEMs will release WP 10 phones this year, HP being one of them.

Sent from my Surface 3

 

[GCrane1982]

I think the root cause of Microsoft's current problems with mobile is the fact that the never really identified and acknowledged that mobile was the future. They had a great product in Windows Phone 7/8/8.1 which was beginning to see traction in regards to market share however they tried to accelerate this by launching Windows 8 for the PC thinking that people would love it and in turn buy into Windows Phone. The reality is that Windows 8 on the desktop was a failure which no one really wanted and probably put people off of purchasing a Windows Phone.

In my opinion they should have let Windows 7 ride for a few more years, put more of a focus on further developing Windows Phone to win people over on the phone alone. This means making great devices and an OS that could stand up to iPhone and Andorid in terms of features and functions and them marketing the s*&t out it. They could have still had the universal store and universal apps which run on Windows 7. However once they had a reasonable market share on the phones say, 10-15%, they could have then released Windows 8/10 for the desktop which would have gotten a better reception as more people would be aware of the phone OS and the similaritie between desktop and mobile. At the moment people are liking Windows 10 however they know that most of the MS apps and reasons for getting a Windows Phone can also be found on iOS and Android.

In summary they should have used mobile as the key platform to drive the desktop OS not the otherway round.

Moving forward I think Microsoft still have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks/month to ensure that mobile survives. Firstly they need to get the Universal FB, Intsagram, Messenger and Twitter into the mobile store, who knows where these are going to be available. They need a proper wallet experience, with tap to pay similar to Apple Pay and they need to get the banks on board. They then need to get a move on with the iOS bridge to enable more developers like banks and government agenices to easily port over their apps. Without all of this Windows 10 mobile will fail, it may not be this year but it will fail.

 

[fredie12]

I'm hoping windows mobile will grow it's the only smart phone system I've used! mainly because I never bought the hype of the iPhone and after hearing other people's thoughts on android didn't inspire me to try it. so when I heard about the new windows 7 phones I looked into them and bought a HTC Mozart and loved the Metro style and windows (shame about the phone) but things just got better from there with the 920 and now 930 and soon to be 950xl. and windows mobile just gets better (with the occasional hiccup), So some of the life or death apps aren't there yet but hey! it's not the "End of the World" like some seem to say. so here's hoping for a killer surface phone to get windows mobile on the road to stardom!!! :wink: