Tuesday, 2024-03-23

Microsoft and mobile phones

I think MS is making a strategic mistake in focusing on "corporate" phones. They bet that if you use a MS phone to sync to Exchange at work you'll do that at home too. The strong focus that Microsoft has on mobile developers is part of this too -- it's going to be easy to create vertical applications and enterprise-specific solutions.

So corporate users of phones will influence other buyers, and MS smartphones will slowly but surely infiltrate the mobile space.

But I'm not sure that the average phone customer has quite the good picture of Microsoft's products that MS seems to think.

Having a monopoly on desktops doesn't mean that your users like you. In fact, Microsoft is shielded from normal market pressures in the desktop space.

In the phone space, there is still competition. Nokia has a very strong brand and a product line that spans from simple black-and-white phones to communicators. This is true for Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and Samsung too.

Microsoft phones have a minimum spec -- there has to be enough oomph in the phone to run Pocket Explorer etc. Soon enough Moore's Law will ensure that every phone will be able to do just that (but the power supplies may not follow the same development). The question is: do people want a PC in their phone?

I don't think so.

how not to panhandle

Generally, I appreciate that people who want my money in the subway do something for it. Selling the Stockholm version of "The Big Issue" is the best, I usually buy that.

Music is a distant second in my wish for something to reward.

Outright begging is at the bottom.

However, I've had to build a cellar. Playing the accordion and singing on the subway will never ever be rewarded by me.