Is MS listening to our feedback?

[diego3336]

Hi. I would like to know what do you guys think about it?

Personally I felt like I wasted my time posting suggestions, voting and commenting on others suggestions in that "Windows Phone Feature Suggestion Box" for the last 10 or more months, as most of the 20 most-voted suggestions wasn't implemented.

Almost those suggestions was simple ones, like free choice of color for themes and background, custom messages and alerts tones, a decent (and PC-free) way to make a custom ringtone using music in the library, better volume control, week view on calendar, Always-On Wi-Fi (at least when the phone is plugged to the wall) and others as simple as these.

Some of these features could be questionable for some people, but useful for other, and considering how easy is for MS to implement it, and those who thinks it isn't useful can simply not use it, I found MS very arrogant to not at least post in their blog the reasons of why these suggestions were ignored.

I don't like to compare companies, as always sparks flame wars, but 10 months ago I bought a Motorola Xoom that came with HoneyComb an almost unusable version of Android, feature-less, instable, ugly and slow. But less than 2 months later, they released the Ice Cream Sandwich, with tons of new features and system improvements, mostly based on users feedback, and it was an almost different OS in terms of reliability and speed. And a few months ago, I received the JellyBean update, improving even more the overall speed and "polishness" and adding new features as well. It's easier to trust and stick to a product when you feel (and see) it's always improving.

On WP7 side, in 2 years, the only decent update we had was Mango, with added some features but mostly to put it on par with other OSes that had similar features for ages.

After the creation of the Suggestion Box, I was thinking that WP8 would be the real deal, but now I am kinda pissed I wasted my time on that board for nothing and that MS is giving a s*** for what their user base wants...

 

[SnailUK]

Depends how you look at it.

They've done some of the most popular ones like Bluetooth, file explorer, usb support, and lots of wok on other languages.

I'd say a huge percentage of request were for apps, and all the work on sharing the windows 8 kernel, and c++ support should make it easier to port apps to WP8.

Rather than focusing on small stuff, they've done several huge changes. May not seem that different, but its all about the long game.

Sent from my HD7 T9292 using Board Express

 

[diego3336]

That's part of the problem. They have done some changes much more difficult to implement than these they left behind, and it's not clear if it's by lack of time or interest as they refuse to talk about future updates.

If they talk they won't implement those features because they simply don't want, as a part of their "design philosophy" or something like it, it will be up to me to agree with them and stick to the platform, or buy an Android or i****. It's better than talk nothing, as it's impossible to know if they will do or don't. I've waited 2 years for nothing, so I can assume those things will never happen...

 

[socialcarpet]

I think Microsoft is very eager to see Windows Phone succeed and therefore it's very likely that they have people who pay close attention to forums like these and any suggestions they get. All major companies pay attention to what their customers and potential customers are saying about them online,no some more than others of course. But anyone trying to make inroads in a very competitive segment, particularly one related to technology, well it's a no brainer that they are going to keep their ear to the ground.

That said, it needs to be understood that they have their own timeline and vision for their product and we don't know anywhere near everything there is to know about these things and what must be considered. There's no way they are going to be able to run through every request like a laundry list and tick things off as they add them all in. It just can't be done, it doesn't mean they are ignoring you or they don't care. It simply means they need to make decisions for the platform based on more than just our suggestions.

Personally I'm OK with that. Much of what I like about Windows Phone is for what it isn't as much as for what it is.

When you try and be all things to all people and throw in everything but the kitchen sink, you wind up with a mess (see Android).

 

[scottcraft]

I've received several emails from Microsoft letting me know that some of the features I voted on have been implemented in WP8.

 

[CJ Thunder]

Just wait for Windows Phone 8's 8.5 or "Vargo" update, 500+ improvements and new features will be coming.