What are you going to do about it, Microsoft?

[angusdegraosta]

Here is the format for this thread:

_______ in _______ does not have a plugged-in model of Windows Phone on display.
(OR: has not had a plugged-in model of Windows Phone on display for ________.)

This is my first entry:

Best Buy in Bay Shore NY has not had a plugged-in model of Windows Phone on display for approximately six months.

Add yours. A large thread with one simple message might get some useful attention.

 

[montsa007]

^The only attention I see pulling is rival manufacturers, having a smile on their face because MS is not on that store.

 

[angusdegraosta]

Yes, but I really think lack of store presence is a big big problem being ignored by Microsoft. Most people don't read this stuff or even negative spin articles by tech bloggers with iHard-ons. I know this is also a wild concept, but there are millions of people in the world who would like a smart phone and don't even know what Instagram is. When they walk into a store, they should see a Windows Phone. So my concept here is to limit random discussion and just give a one sentence entry listing a location that does not have a juiced up model of WP on display. Mine, again but more simply, is...

Best Buy in Bay Shore NY does not have a plugged-in model of Windows Phone on display.

(Maybe juiced up is a better word. "On" also works.)

 

[angusdegraosta]

Let me add more. This is a GREAT phone platform. I was reading Ballmer's statements recently from the financial meeting. Tim Cook recently made some statement about innovation and took a jab at Nokia - so truly awful to hear, and so not true. But whatever. Microsoft needs to address problems are storefront level first and foremost. Have LIVE models on display EVERYWHERE. When that happens, things will change. Then the TV ads will mean something - but quit with the yellow phone as your poster child. Are you people out of your mind??? And stop dissing the competition. It's like a Napoleon complex - transparently stupid and out of of touch with reality. (We won't even talk about those Surface ads... another product that has plenty of opportunity to be marketed differently in the months ahead.)

Sell what you got in a genuine way. It is great stuff, but people have to see it to believe it. Give it your all at the distribution level - get the phones displayed in the stores. That's the real work. Give people the opportunity to poke at the tiles in every store you can, including Best Buy. Once again, it has been NEAR SIX MONTHS in Bay Shore, NY since I have seen a Windows Phone on display in that store.

People walk in to a store to buy a phone - in most cases, ANY phone. They don't care about commercials or tech blogs. Have your product on display where it counts.

 

[Ian Too]

Yes, but I really think lack of store presence is a big big problem being ignored by Microsoft. Most people don't read this stuff or even negative spin articles by tech bloggers with iHard-ons. I know this is also a wild concept, but there are millions of people in the world who would like a smart phone and don't even know what Instagram is. When they walk into a store, they should see a Windows Phone. So my concept here is to limit random discussion and just give a one sentence entry listing a location that does not have a juiced up model of WP on display. Mine, again but more simply, is...

Best Buy in Bay Shore NY does not have a plugged-in model of Windows Phone on display.

(Maybe juiced up is a better word. "On" also works.)

Hey it's really great to see you so fired up for WP, Angus But isn't Bestbuy the chain that Microsoft are going to be putting mini-Microsoft stores in? So it seems they do appreciate the problem.

 

[Coreldan]

jab at Nokia - so truly awful to hear, and so not true.

It was very much true. Nokia's downfall started with taking no risks cos they were at the top and Symbian was made out of date and obsolete by competing operating systems. What Tim Cook said is not so much jab at current Nokia, which was/is probably at the top of innovation (which is what I think you mean too), but the fact is that the jab is justified and accurate and it's what caused their demise, but you need to realize that we're talking about 2007-2008, not 2013. In fact when we consider development cycles, the actual mistakes were likely done around the 2005-2006 range, as the 2007-2008 was actually when the out of date hardware was still getting released while the field had already been revolutionized by Apple.

 

[angusdegraosta]

But isn't Bestbuy the chain that Microsoft are going to be putting mini-Microsoft stores in? So it seems they do appreciate the problem.

Thanks. Yes, they have many Surfaces on display - hopefully some phones too in the next few weeks!

 

[angusdegraosta]

It was very much true... What Tim Cook said is not so much jab at current Nokia, which was/is probably at the top of innovation (which is what I think you mean too), but the fact is that the jab is justified and accurate and it's what caused their demise, but you need to realize that we're talking about 2007-2008, not 2013...

Thanks for adding the input and context.

 

[angusdegraosta]

On a side note, here's a photo of a praying mantis I took tonight with the 920... apparently this kid has no fear of bugs!

 

[Reflexx]

Nokia didn't take many software risks, but they did do a lot of hardware things. They had phones specialized for just pictures, just music, or just games.

 

[anony_mouse]

Nokia didn't take many software risks, but they did do a lot of hardware things. They had phones specialized for just pictures, just music, or just games.

I think this was exactly their problem. Even circa 2008, people did more with their phones than just one thing. My experience was that Nokia's range was large, complex and confusing, and required me to choose between a "cameraphone" or a "musicphone", etc. I wanted to do both of these things and more, and Nokia's competitors were happy to sell less specialist devices.

I can't help feeling sad about Nokia's fate. I worked with them a lot in 2004-6, including visiting Finland on several occasions. They had some really great people and technology, but some warning signs were already visible. Long before Elop and his disastrous WP-only strategy, of course.

 

[Bizarro_Prime]

People walk in to a store to buy a phone - in most cases, ANY phone. They don't care about commercials or tech blogs. Have your product on display where it counts.

This is true but no matter how much is being displayed, there will always be store staff who will offer their recommendations.

 

[AndyCalling]

WP is doing well in the UK and our shops NEVER have a powered on demo version on display. Mind you, they don't have powered on demo versions of any other phone on display either and prefer a powered off demo phone with a stick on display picture. Even these empty cases are chained to the stands. Perhaps it's different in London, but this is how we do it in general. Let's be realistic, how many people choose their phone OS in store? They might choose the model there based on looks, but the OS? Not likely. They'll either have researched and decided or they are only interested in how the handset itself looks. So long as a dead demo case is on the shelf, that'll be enough. As proven in the UK.

 

[N_LaRUE]

This is true but no matter how much is being displayed, there will always be store staff who will offer their recommendations.

This is true. There are in general several different types of consumers. The ones who walk into the store and just want a smartphone will end up buying whatever the sales person recommends. Others are ones who go to pick up what their friends have. The rest are people who just want the 'best'. Last are those who want a specific one. Whatever the percentages are is beyond me. My general feeling though is that most people will buy what their friends have so they can 'share' experiences.

 

[EasilyTheBest]

My local store in Wales UK Carphone Warehouse has the Nokia Lumia 620, 520 and the 625 they are all in the pay as you go section and then there's the same lot in the pay monthly section.
On each display the demo phone is a Nokia Lumia 620 all of them black.
Its pathetic.

 

[N_LaRUE]

As for the plugged in model, sort of depends where you shop. Some stores have them, some not. Here in the UK you get both situations. Depends on location, store type and investment. Is it MS issue or the stores? Is it a security thing? Lots of reasons why stores don't have plug in models. Not sure how many people buy phones based on a few seconds of play.