First off, please allow me to get two pet peeves off my chest before I comment on this article:
1) I truly appreciate boneycat1 bringing this here to discuss. Mainly, because I find it fascinating how in this day and age of instant information, a ton of people are more scared then ever to hear opposing opinions. Ideologue's are born from only listening to opinions that are in agreement to them. I did not start off a Windows Phone fan, I didn't think much of it. It was after I researched all OS's I got excited about WP 7. For us to sit here on WP Central and not listen to other opinions is to give Microsoft a blank check with our minds and wallets. I do not want to do that, not with anything. I welcome being challenged.
2) I believe WP Central as a community will grow as WP 8 comes out. As such, I really hope and Pray we allow opinions (and trolls. Oh yes, the Spies from other OS's will show up. You know: the ideologues whose self worth is based on the success of their phone) without taking personal shots. Some of our forums have been negative lately. That bothers me. Disagree away. Tell someone point blank they are wrong. But, can we skip the shots against their intellegence and their intentions?
Rant over... Thank you for your patience..
As for this article, there is little doubt it is "anti-Microsoft", and written to incite controversy. First off, the web site (BSN) has an "Apple" tab, and..... the rest seem to be crammed into other catagories. Pretty much tips the cap which way this author and this web site is leaning. Considering the loyalty and success of the iPhone and iPad, I get it. But, still puts this article on notice.
The second thing this article completely ignores is the direction Microsoft has gone since Windows Mobile was killed. Their entire software design team has been pushing to this Windows 8 launch across all hardware. In some ways, MS has been thrown a bone in that Tablets up to now have been poor sellers with two exceptions: the iPad and Kindle Fire. The landscape, especially for professionals, is wide open. Laptops will never be replaced, but there is a market for Tablets to replace Notebooks, which are the small, portable tool of choice right now. Also, Tablets are the choice for portable entertainment. Huge market, just ripe for sales to jump for the right products.
But what Mr. Ahonen misses entirely is that WP will not bring users to Tablets and Windows 8, Windows 8 and Tablet sales will bring users to WP. The Ecosystem is what is being pushed here. I truly believe that WP 7 was MS's test run. They entered a new mobile phase, a new UI, updates, building a support system, and get people onboard. Now, the Ecosystem is in place and the updates have been tried and experienced and hardware partners and carriers are lined up. Now, MS is going all in.
It is a huge gamble, and one that has the chance to fail. What risk doesn't? There are a few solid points Mr. Ahonen brings up, but he does it from a "Microsoft is a horrid, evil intentioned company" point of view. And none of them are new, like many of our previous posters have said.
Lastly, for ANYONE who thinks MS wants to buy Nokia: Windows 8 is a monsterous undertaking. If MS was going to buy Nokia at it's cheapest while MS has the most resources, IT HAS TO BE NOW OR BEFORE W 8 IS LAUNCHED. Otherwise, the logic is MS wants WP 8 to fail so Nokia is cheaper. That may be the least logical thing I have ever heard.
Okay. Shutting up. Done typing. Sorry to eat up an entire page.
View is nice from this soapbox......