Lots of fans seem upset because they don't understand why iOS and Android are getting Cortana, and why they already got an Outlook app etc.
I think Daniel Rubino or Richard Devine needs to write an article on windowscentral to explain why this is a genius strategy. People need to be educated on MS's vision. The whine and shortsightedness from all these people needs to stop. It is not a good vibe for the community and it is super annoying. Heck, even many tech websites don't understand MS's vision. Things need to be made clear.
Daniel or Richard, you both probably understand MS's vision so I bet you can explain it perfectly because you are better writers. Anyway, here is my take on it. I hope you can explain it better.
Windows phone is in a very difficult position. It came late and it's impossible for it to gain market share of significance. Not Cortana nor any other features will bring over people. At most a couple of nerds will. Normal people will stick to their iPhones and Android phones. Their mindshare out their is too much against Windows. iPhone is too hip and too much of a status symbol. Android has too much market share and dominates. A few tricks and cool features really won't bring people to Windows phone. We have to accept that Windows phone is stuck in a dead corner. Stores don't even want to sell it. The app problem will continue to exist for a long time.
Now comes Microsoft genius strategy. They are smarter than many of the companies who would simply die, like blackberry for example. They are not going to fight a lost battle. It is useless to invest only in Windows phone because people are not going to try them anyway, thus market share won't grow.
So they need to work via other routes. They know people have no Windows phones, but they do have PC's and laptops where they still need to do work on and be productive on. They see the danger of people switching to alternatives. They switch from Skype to Hangouts, from Office to Google docs or other free alternatives. Why? Because all that stuff is on their phones and it’s free. And it works well enough for them. Microsoft might lose all.
Sure, business still depends on Windows, and many people do with Office etc. But what is popular in people’s spare time, when they have fun at home, that stuff will resonate into the offices and into the business world. Look at iPads. They were inferior. But they were fun for people. They bought them to toy at home. And then people at the office say “can’t we have iPads here?”. And so they found their way into the office world. Even though they suck to be productive. So whatever people use in their daily lives, especially in their free time, that stuff gets a positive association in their brains. Windows is in their minds related to boring office work. So all this stuff like Android and Apple stuff will find a way to penetrate business. It will kill Windows. Not now, not in 5 years. This process can easily take 15-20 years. But it will happen. Microsoft needs to fix this.
How they fix this? It is impossible to fix this with Windows phones. They can’t win this battle. They have to bring their cool experiences to people where they are. People are on Windows PC’s, Windows laptops, iPhones, iPads, Android phones and Android tablets. You see, Microsoft is still lucky people are still on Windows PC’s and laptops. They have to utilize this fact. But they are also elsewhere. So they bring Windows 10. Windows 10 will work perfectly across all devices. But can all these people experience that? No they can’t. Because they have a Windows PC and a Galaxy. Or a Windows laptop and an iPhone. So this will render their experience inferior. They will miss out on the magic. But here is the fix. Microsoft brings these experiences to their Apple/Android phones and tablets. Now they experience how good Windows 10 is, and how good these services communicate with their phones. Now they will like Microsoft a lot more. And they will stick to MSOffice, use OneDrive, Outlook etc. Thus Windows 10 will be a success. Microsoft can survive and doesn’t die.
Now everybody thinks Windows phone is ignored and left behind. Let me explain why this is true and why this is the only way and why it doesn’t matter.
Yes Windows phone will die in a sense. But it doesn’t matter. It will be replaced by Windows 10. They are making new Outlooks, Skype and Office apps all for Windows 10. And they will be better than on Android and iOS. Do you people really expect Microsoft should make those apps for Windows phone now? That would be insanely stupid because in a few months they would have to throw all that work away because we will get Windows 10 anyway. They would have to do useless double work. So we are simply forced to wait until we get all these new apps at once with Windows 10. This is a small sacrifice we must make. Yes Android and iOS will already get them, but this is necessary because those apps need a couple of months to grow on those people. Once more and more people use these MS services, when they will upgrade to Windows 10 on their PC's and laptops, their experience will instantly be good. Because they already have these apps. That’s why it is important they already get them now. And we can’t get them now because like I said, they would have to make something for Windows phone and ditch it again with Windows 10. It would be a useless investment.
Once Windows 10 is out, the device doesn’t matter anymore. You can scream all you want “they will kill windows phone” but it is an impossible scream. There is nothing to kill. Windows 10 can be on any screen size. So it is effortless and really easy for Microsoft to continue Windows 10 on smaller devices. It is just a small amount of extra work. Because all the work they do will pay off for any screen size. Make once and experience everywhere. They cannot kill Windows phones because the new Windows phones will be Windows 10 phones. If they would kill that there would also be no more Windows. And they cannot discontinue Windows, that would kill MS as a whole. So Windows simply continues. It doesn’t take much extra work power to make Windows available on smaller screens. And there you have it, a phone. Make a little bigger screen and there you have it, a phablet. Make it bigger and you got a tablet. It is so easy for them that it takes few investment to continue any form factor. Thus none of the form factors will die. They make it cheap to continue Windows phones.
And now the fun part. When Windows 10 is out with all the new apps, the Outlook and Skype apps etc. will be up to par with their Android/iOS counterparts and probably have even more features and integration. From this moment on we will get new features and updates first. Trust me. From this moment we get extra integration, a better experience. Microsoft will advertise with that. People love their Windows 10 PC’s and laptops but will realize their phones make the experience less optimized. From this moment, 2016 and forward people will start switching to Windows phones. To get the full experience and because the app gap is closing because of the bigger market share MS has with its W10 across all devices.
So WP fans, you have to look forward and realize where this is going and what the dangers are if MS wouldn’t do this. This is the only way. It is a long term plan to make sure MS survives in mobile space. Yes we do sacrifice now. It is a long wait until W10, but it is the only way.
Windows on Phones is here to stay. It just takes a while for us to profit from it.
I think Daniel Rubino or Richard Devine needs to write an article on windowscentral to explain why this is a genius strategy. People need to be educated on MS's vision. The whine and shortsightedness from all these people needs to stop. It is not a good vibe for the community and it is super annoying. Heck, even many tech websites don't understand MS's vision. Things need to be made clear.
Daniel or Richard, you both probably understand MS's vision so I bet you can explain it perfectly because you are better writers. Anyway, here is my take on it. I hope you can explain it better.
Windows phone is in a very difficult position. It came late and it's impossible for it to gain market share of significance. Not Cortana nor any other features will bring over people. At most a couple of nerds will. Normal people will stick to their iPhones and Android phones. Their mindshare out their is too much against Windows. iPhone is too hip and too much of a status symbol. Android has too much market share and dominates. A few tricks and cool features really won't bring people to Windows phone. We have to accept that Windows phone is stuck in a dead corner. Stores don't even want to sell it. The app problem will continue to exist for a long time.
Now comes Microsoft genius strategy. They are smarter than many of the companies who would simply die, like blackberry for example. They are not going to fight a lost battle. It is useless to invest only in Windows phone because people are not going to try them anyway, thus market share won't grow.
So they need to work via other routes. They know people have no Windows phones, but they do have PC's and laptops where they still need to do work on and be productive on. They see the danger of people switching to alternatives. They switch from Skype to Hangouts, from Office to Google docs or other free alternatives. Why? Because all that stuff is on their phones and it’s free. And it works well enough for them. Microsoft might lose all.
Sure, business still depends on Windows, and many people do with Office etc. But what is popular in people’s spare time, when they have fun at home, that stuff will resonate into the offices and into the business world. Look at iPads. They were inferior. But they were fun for people. They bought them to toy at home. And then people at the office say “can’t we have iPads here?”. And so they found their way into the office world. Even though they suck to be productive. So whatever people use in their daily lives, especially in their free time, that stuff gets a positive association in their brains. Windows is in their minds related to boring office work. So all this stuff like Android and Apple stuff will find a way to penetrate business. It will kill Windows. Not now, not in 5 years. This process can easily take 15-20 years. But it will happen. Microsoft needs to fix this.
How they fix this? It is impossible to fix this with Windows phones. They can’t win this battle. They have to bring their cool experiences to people where they are. People are on Windows PC’s, Windows laptops, iPhones, iPads, Android phones and Android tablets. You see, Microsoft is still lucky people are still on Windows PC’s and laptops. They have to utilize this fact. But they are also elsewhere. So they bring Windows 10. Windows 10 will work perfectly across all devices. But can all these people experience that? No they can’t. Because they have a Windows PC and a Galaxy. Or a Windows laptop and an iPhone. So this will render their experience inferior. They will miss out on the magic. But here is the fix. Microsoft brings these experiences to their Apple/Android phones and tablets. Now they experience how good Windows 10 is, and how good these services communicate with their phones. Now they will like Microsoft a lot more. And they will stick to MSOffice, use OneDrive, Outlook etc. Thus Windows 10 will be a success. Microsoft can survive and doesn’t die.
Now everybody thinks Windows phone is ignored and left behind. Let me explain why this is true and why this is the only way and why it doesn’t matter.
Yes Windows phone will die in a sense. But it doesn’t matter. It will be replaced by Windows 10. They are making new Outlooks, Skype and Office apps all for Windows 10. And they will be better than on Android and iOS. Do you people really expect Microsoft should make those apps for Windows phone now? That would be insanely stupid because in a few months they would have to throw all that work away because we will get Windows 10 anyway. They would have to do useless double work. So we are simply forced to wait until we get all these new apps at once with Windows 10. This is a small sacrifice we must make. Yes Android and iOS will already get them, but this is necessary because those apps need a couple of months to grow on those people. Once more and more people use these MS services, when they will upgrade to Windows 10 on their PC's and laptops, their experience will instantly be good. Because they already have these apps. That’s why it is important they already get them now. And we can’t get them now because like I said, they would have to make something for Windows phone and ditch it again with Windows 10. It would be a useless investment.
Once Windows 10 is out, the device doesn’t matter anymore. You can scream all you want “they will kill windows phone” but it is an impossible scream. There is nothing to kill. Windows 10 can be on any screen size. So it is effortless and really easy for Microsoft to continue Windows 10 on smaller devices. It is just a small amount of extra work. Because all the work they do will pay off for any screen size. Make once and experience everywhere. They cannot kill Windows phones because the new Windows phones will be Windows 10 phones. If they would kill that there would also be no more Windows. And they cannot discontinue Windows, that would kill MS as a whole. So Windows simply continues. It doesn’t take much extra work power to make Windows available on smaller screens. And there you have it, a phone. Make a little bigger screen and there you have it, a phablet. Make it bigger and you got a tablet. It is so easy for them that it takes few investment to continue any form factor. Thus none of the form factors will die. They make it cheap to continue Windows phones.
And now the fun part. When Windows 10 is out with all the new apps, the Outlook and Skype apps etc. will be up to par with their Android/iOS counterparts and probably have even more features and integration. From this moment on we will get new features and updates first. Trust me. From this moment we get extra integration, a better experience. Microsoft will advertise with that. People love their Windows 10 PC’s and laptops but will realize their phones make the experience less optimized. From this moment, 2016 and forward people will start switching to Windows phones. To get the full experience and because the app gap is closing because of the bigger market share MS has with its W10 across all devices.
So WP fans, you have to look forward and realize where this is going and what the dangers are if MS wouldn’t do this. This is the only way. It is a long term plan to make sure MS survives in mobile space. Yes we do sacrifice now. It is a long wait until W10, but it is the only way.
Windows on Phones is here to stay. It just takes a while for us to profit from it.
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