{"id":44348,"date":"2009-11-18T18:56:27","date_gmt":"2009-11-18T23:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theappleblog.com\/?p=35953"},"modified":"2009-11-18T18:56:27","modified_gmt":"2009-11-18T23:56:27","slug":"ozzie-misses-the-point-says-apps-don%e2%80%99t-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/44348","title":{"rendered":"Ozzie Misses the Point, says Apps Don\u2019t Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Speaking yesterday at the Professional Developer\u2019s Conference, Microsoft\u2019s Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie explained what\u2019s really<\/em> important when it comes to the smartphone business, and it\u2019s apparently nothing at all to do with the number of apps available on any one platform.<\/p>\n

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All the apps that count will be ported to every one of them. It\u2019s a completely different situation from the PC market, where software\u2019s built to run on a Windows or a Mac. Mobile apps require very little development, so it\u2019s much easier to bring them onto every platform.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Yeah. That\u2019s why there are more than 100,000 apps in the iTunes Store and, what, five in the Windows Marketplace? And that\u2019s why quality apps like Facebook or Tweetie 2.0 have been ported, feature-complete, from the iPhone to Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Palm OS? Oh, wait\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

The point here is that Microsoft\u2019s senior execs apparently continue to misunderstand what\u2019s going on in todays smartphone market. Microsoft seems to view the iPhone not as a serious competitor but more as a toy, something to disregard because grown-ups (grey-suited corporate drones) aren\u2019t interested in all that flashy functionality and rich media. They\u2019re not interested in the astonishing<\/em> range of software available for the iPhone. They just want Mobile Powerpoint and Excel, plus a few other ageing Office apps. That\u2019s all that really<\/em> matters, right?<\/p>\n

Wrong. We need look no further than JD Power\u2019s recently published<\/a> results of a satisfaction survey they conducted of business smartphone customers around the world. Apple came in at number one, RIM finished second.<\/p>\n

WIRED’s Gadget Lab published an article<\/a> yesterday examining some of the mistakes Microsoft has made with Windows Mobile.\u00a0NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin told WIRED:<\/p>\n

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Microsoft\u2019s mobile OS history is rooted in personal digital assistants, which were marketed toward enterprise audiences. Today, the smartphone has shifted into the mainstream as a consumer device, and yet Windows Mobile is still largely focused on enterprise features.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps Microsoft has a significant change planned for the release of Windows Mobile 7, WIRED\u2019s Brian Chen asked Redmond HQ. They declined to discuss Windows 7 directly, but did have this to say about their mobile OS business;<\/p>\n

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The company\u2019s mobility strategy has not changed; it is and has always been to provide a software platform for the industry. The company works closely with many mobile operators and device makers around the world because people want different experiences on a variety of phones.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Well, it\u2019s certainly a different experience alright. A lousy<\/em> one. That\u2019s one reason Microsoft\u2019s global smartphone market share has dropped<\/a> from 11 percent in 2008 to 7.9 percent today. In the meantime, Apple and RIM have seen their market shares swell to 17.1 and 20.8 percent, respectively.<\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s Mobile strategy is out of touch. Ever-increasing numbers of enterprise customers who once used Windows phones are today carrying Blackberrys or iPhones and have entirely different expectations of their cellular devices. Mobile Outlook just won\u2019t cut it any more.<\/p>\n

Hopping Mad<\/h3>\n

Driving the point home is a timely article<\/a> published this week by the Wall Street Journal, about the disparity between old, primitive tech used in the office, and the far more capable and empowering technology found at home. According to the WSJ\u2019s Nick Wingfield, execs at Kraft Foods noticed the difference.<\/p>\n

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Executives began to worry that the company’s technology policies were preventing employees from staying in step with trends. Kraft was a consumer company, they figured, so workers needed to be more familiar with the technologies that consumers were using, whether the iPhone or YouTube.<\/p>\n

So, the IT department stopped blocking access to consumer Web sites, and the company started a stipend program for smart phones: Workers get an allowance every 18 months to buy a phone of their choosing. (Over 60% picked iPhones.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

With all the above in mind, I can\u2019t see how Microsoft\u2019s Mobile strategy could be considered sound business. If I were a Microsoft shareholder, I\u2019d be hopping mad at the company\u2019s apparent inability to understand — and adapt to — the demands of today\u2019s smartphone consumers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s paradoxical, really. Microsoft has always highlighted how customer choice is of paramount importance, indeed, a key component in its success with Windows. In the quote above, Microsoft\u2019s own spokesperson stresses how Microsoft works with mobile operators and OEM\u2019s to provide choice. But at the PDC yesterday, Ozzie seemed to be saying that an impressive selection of apps (ie. choice) is un<\/em>important. He mentions \u201capps that count\u201d but doesn\u2019t say what those apps are; in any case, that’s a short-sighted assertion. Apps that matter to me, may not matter so much to you. That\u2019s precisely<\/em> why an iPhone owner\u2019s home screen is so fascinating to other iPhone owners.<\/p>\n

The iPhone’s greatest strength is the tens of thousands of software titles available in the App Store, usually at a knock-down price. There is, literally, something for everyone, no matter how<\/em> discerning ones’ taste in Games, Productivity tools, or fart apps.<\/p>\n

I give Windows Mobile another year, max. If it can\u2019t build its app marketplace into a substantial repository of quality titles at (very) low prices, it won\u2019t matter<\/em> how closely Microsoft works with its technology partners. Because, at that point, Windows Mobile will be reduced to a Wikipedia entry as an \u201calso ran\u201d in the history of the smartphone.<\/p>\n

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