It’s a *point release*, not a whole new operating system version. If you expected to see major changes, that’s not Microsoft’s fault. I suspect Microsoft is focusing most of their development on WM 7.

As for your specific points, according to WMExperts (http://wmexperts.com/articles/1st_wm6_device_released_in_the.html), the first device came out last April, not even 10 months ago. If you call that “nearly a year”, would you consider a 19% pay cut to be nearly your full salary?

To be fair, I suspect WM 6.1 development started before the first device with WM 6 shipped, but, again, it’s a point release. You don’t know how many people worked on it compared to WM 7.

And even this release has some useful features, although you’ve dismissed them:

* A task manager has been requested for *years* and we’re finally getting one.
* The browser does seem like it may be more usable, which is what many sites (including this one) have complained about.
* Threaded text messaging has been one of the most-requested programs in Motorola Q forums (and presumably other forums). The post about Windows Mobile being broken asked for better built-in programs, but when you get one, you complain about it.
* I’ve read that WM 6.1 Standard will add copy/paste, a major lack in the current OS.

Of course, I’ve developed software professionally for almost 20 years, so I know what it takes. If you haven’t programmed professionally, that could help explain why you’re underwhelmed.

It’s not world-changing, but it does have welcome improvements.

Pony – I think your salary %age question is all wrong. The portion of the year that has already passed would represent the 81%, not 19. And Hell Yes I would consider 81% nearly all of my salary, and I would certainly say it’s fair to call 9-10 months nearly a year.
I don’t think the main gist of this post is so much about dismissing the (mostly minor) enhancements – it’s more about feeling that lots of WM users would like to see more, and devices like the iPhone, and software like the recently demo-ed Skyfire browser, only serve to highlight some of the not-so-minor features that are still lacking in Windows Mobile. The task manager feature – from the brief description given – is not a full task manager as many 3rd parties have been able to produce.
So even if some of this is very welcome, it does seem underwhelming in the context of what others are doing.

I have to agree with Pony here. Obviously the Game changer is WM7 which if they are already as far as it appears(we’ve all seen the screenshots) most of the resources are on that. Expecting WM 6.1 to be any form of “game changer” and expecting it by itself to compete with what you think “others are doing” is a stretch. These are some pretty significant additions(unfortunately one competing with our ‘Extreme Text’ even) that will plug a lot of little holes in making the OS better until WM7 does come.

And sadly, I still haven’t seen what ‘others are doing’ that is that game changing. The majority of us dont wan’t everything we browse being rendered server side and thus comprimised security wise. So bring on significant small welcome changes to IE….

And products like the Touch interface and PointUI are why WM is OPEN. Any of the manufacturers can (and do with Touch) choose to develop or license and use something like this. But I dont particularly love what they bring (and Im sure other dont) so should I sacrifice flexibile usability for fancy simplicity. I like that its a choice and not the OS! It can and hopefully will be done better.

iPhone does do some ’sexy’ and integrated stuff. BUT we still dont have an API so it takes most of its true usability and takes away any need for some of these new WM additions… And Android won’t even be around for ‘nearly’ another year and its unlikely any of the original form factors will be a Home Run, so…. What exactly is WM competing with that it doesn’t already have beat RIGHT NOW.

This is a platform that has to deal with multiple form factors from multiple hardware manufacturers, multiple carriers, and Microsoft still has to protect the large and important 3rd party Developer community it has built.

Now if they would just lock down to one device with one set of drivers and no 3rd party applications and make something really pretty and “innovative” but not expandable or even usable in a lot of cases. If Microsoft would do that then they could innovate much faster.

Or release a partial API for a pretty OS that doesnt really do anything ‘yet’ while you are still working on it and yet convince everyone that doesnt know any better that it is the next big thing. In 2 or 3 years…

They are fighting an uphill battle until Windows Mobile 7.

Birdsoft – agreed that WM 7 will be a much more significant release, and hopefully a very strong one too.

I’d disagree with a few of your points though. Firstly, I’d definitely say the iPhone is game-changing, in a number of ways – including the fact that it already is ahead of Windows Mobile in US smartphone market share in its very first quarter of even being in the race. Heck, you can see its impact just by virtue of the fact that nearly every new smartphone that is sleekly designed or features a large screen etc. is billed as an ‘iPhone Killer’ or ‘iPhone competitor’. This week we’re even seeing articles asking whether iPhone’s entry in the market is what is driving Motorola towards quitting the mobile phone arena. Time Magazine called it ‘Invention of the Year’ – stupidly I think – but nonetheless, it is very hard to see how we could say the iPhone is *not* game-changing.

It also already has a browser market share that is absolutely wiping the floor with all the other mobile platforms. It is well ahead of WM in that area, despite WM’s 10 year head start.

And as for what is WM competing with that it doesn’t have beat right now – two very clear things on the iPhone – *much* greater ease of use / better user experience, and a browser that is not just better than PIE – it’s light years ahead of PIE – it is an absolute no-contest, throw in the towel please, stop the bleeding, blowout.

It is true that the iPhone’s biggest weakness so far has been its closed platform approach, but that is about to change this month. Now you could argue that it will take a long time for there to be a rich array of apps available for the iPhone. And that’s true – but things will move very, very fast there I think. There are already a good number of developers producing some good apps for the iPhone without any support from Apple.

I agree with you that they are fighting an uphill battle until WM7 – I guess that’s why some of us are wishing they could find a way to move a fair bit faster. Otherwise, I think they run the risk of mimicing the Zune vs. iPod situation – in that, by the time they finally wheel out WM7 and rave about how it stacks up in terms of various iPhone Gen1-like capabilities, the Apple folks will have moved on down the line and produced new ground-breaking features that WM7 won’t be able to compete with …

I think part of the problem here was that there was an expectation (whether it is reasonable or not) that MS would somehow respond to the iPhone. For them to come out with a new ROM 6.1, and I acknowledge that it is an interim release, that really does not advance the OS significantly in a lot of areas feels like a slap in the face. For them to say, we are working on a new OS that will blow the iPhone away, but it won’t be here for 2 years or so is another slap in the face.

I think Patrick is right. MS needs to come out with a more significant bridge now. Otherwise, by the time we see WinMo 7, it may very well be too little too late.

Doug

Ok, I didnt give iPhone as much credit as it does deserve. And as I mentioned in a post on my blog (that was inspired by this post), PIE needs to work more like iPhone’s safari. And doing what is done here is a big first step… BUT….

We are talking about different screen sizes here, and devices that cost a quarter as much and… Well, like I said, if Microsoft went to one form factor on one carrier. PIE would be much closer to Safari already…

I’m definitely not on board with how significant an improvement iPhone really is. Most of its INNOVATION is integration, redesigning touchscreen for finger touch, and A LOT OF PRETTY a lot of which also hurts its future expandability. It felt like a glorified Axim X50v with a phone but with half of its possible capabilities taken away and some glossy buttons and funky transitions. On ONE carrier, initially overpriced, and locked down…

And Im also not sold on people’s push that the SDK will be what everyone thinks it will be. I have a feeling it will not be very powerful AND applications will be overly regulated by Apple. Significantly different than the JailBreak Dev Community now(or sadly there might still be a need for that community to stay around). I dont think it was ever Jobs intention to actually allow development on it. Web applications! I have a feeling in their ‘haste’ to throw together this stripped down OS, they left a lot of holes underneath that can be exposed by an SDK… WM won’t make that mistake… But iPhone then can actually be called a “Smartphone”. Right now its more of a VERY glorified Feature/Music phone.

And most all of the Innovation has been done, so 2nd Generation iPhones arent going to change much of anything. They’ve locked themselves into pretty much one form factor, and are only on one Carrier which a LOT of us can’t even use.

Look at how different the regular iPod looks today compared to 1st generation. Oh yeah, I guess you get more space… So for the forseeable future updates to iPhone are going to be adding back in features that all phones of its price and “power” should have… A few applications to make strategic partners, and then maybe more space…

So unless iPhone can:
1. Compete in a $99 range with anything
2. Make form factors that actually work well for the rest of us
3. Legitimately market to businesses too
4. Sell on more than 1 carrier

‘Sexy’ is going to wear out… So hopefully they make the right moves while they still have it… But if Apple’s past practices hold true… Im not sure they left the flexibility they need to adapt…

Obviously a WM fan talking to an iPhone fan.. So… Neither opinion will change… And hopefully the iPhone SDK is good, Ill develop for it if I think the market is legitimate…

And the big thing is the mobile phone market isnt like the computer market. Most of us are turning over phones every 2 years or sooner. So whatever the next big thing is, market share can come and go in a snap. So it will be tough for iPhone to stay the “Rage” with all of the things I listed earlier… And banking on the American Market is scary stuff…

Birdsoft – wow – so much to talk about. Went and read your blog post, and subscribed to your RSS feed as well – thanks for mentioning that, as I had not seen it before.

I also want to point out that although I would say I’m a big fan of the iPhone, I don’t agree at all with couching this as ‘a WM fan talking to an iPhone fan’. I’ve been a huge Windows Mobile fan and user since the long-gone days of the Phillps Nino and Compaq Aeros. I still own an Axim and a TyTN. I started this site largely based on my fascination with WM devices and apps in particular. I run a Windows XP PC, occasionally dual-boot it with Linux, own a Zune not an iPod, and don’t feel as if the ‘Apple Fanboy’ tag could be applied to me at all.

So, I haven’t become a huge iPhone fan out of any big pre-disposition towards all things Apple either – I’ve become a huge fan because – for me – it beats the pants off any of my WM devices, and is a huge pleasure to use.

I also don’t feel as if any of us who occasionally ‘pick on’ Windows Mobile and drone on at length about how it needs to improve, are doing so because we’re ‘not Windows Mobile fans’. I hate when all these discussions come down to ‘You Like Palm and I like Windows Mobile’ sort of nonsense. You can be a big supporter of something – a mobile OS, a political party, a sports team etc. – and still have strong views about how they’re not living up to expectations.

I reckon the iPhone is innovative in plenty of ways, and again I would offer you the simple fact that *SO* many folks – on the hardware and software sides of the fence – have been desperate to imitate it in its short life, as just one simple way of showing how different and effective it has been.

What I do agree with you on is that things are *much* harder for Microsoft, because of not controlling anything beyond the OS, having to deal with so many carriers and handset models etc. I agree with several things Dieter Bohn over at WMExperts has written recently about how even on something like updates, Apple now has huge edge on MS. Because there is only one carrier, because that carrier by all accounts asks ‘how high’ when Steve says jump, because the hardware and the software are controlled by Apple, they can deliver major improvements to the device every couple months with relative ease. I see that as a big plus for the iPhone.

I don’t really agree with the iPhone being all about ’sexy’ either. I think one of the things Apple seems to excel at is marrying together beautiful form AND superb functionality.

I also wouldn’t bet on WM having less ‘holes’ underneath than the iPhone’s version of OSX – this is MS we’re talking about here. Not exactly a company synonymous with a rigorous and rock-solid approach to security. Especially when anything with the words ‘Internet Explorer’ in its name is involved – if you’re looking for *gaping* holes and tremendous opportunities for malware to flourish, look no further than IE.

I hope your pessimism about the SDK proves wrong, though I do agree that Jobs seemed oddly sort of forced into allowing it grudgingly – and that’s not a great starting point. I hope they will learn from past mistakes and open up a whole lot more.

Also agree there’s almost never a way to ’settle’ these discussions, but think it’s lots of fun having them …

Perhaps one thing I could have stated more in the post is that I am a big windows mobile fan. It has a lot of interfaces that aren’t quite adapted to a mobile environment, but it is slowly getting there. I love that it’s open (unlike the iPhone). I love all the 3rd party support. Like I said, it was really just the fact that MS is giving us all sorts of basic support that has been done, and is being done better by 3rd party software.

I’m also no big iPhone fan either. My friend has one, and the biggest thing I like to take from it is its level of integration, like you folks have pointed out.

That being said, what I’d love for MS to focus is what the 3rd party people cannot do — make the shell better, faster, more fluid. We’ve been stuck with big, blocky scrollbars for a long time now. Our start menu lags on startup for three seconds. We are, for some reason, limited to only a certain shades of colours for themes (I really don’t understand why). That’s my 17 cents on the issue.

Fair enough. I wasn’t implying that you weren’t also WM fans. Patrick does have an iPhone site though, so will be much quicker
to defend than most, and you did go into almost exclusively defending with the iPhone, where as I actually think the N95 probably would have made a better example back. And again, I get the iPhone, and see what the innovation is, but I just am not that taken with that innovation. But it sells so the copycats will come…(Theres a heck of a lot more Razr copycats ).

But what I am referring to as fanboy type posts wasn’t directed at you guys(thats why I mentioned that on my blog only), but rather a lot of the same but less “defendable” positions are often posted over on Engadget’s posts and other less WM friendly mobile sites. So I just am surprised by the lack of latitude given by a lot of the bloggers and media and it surprises me more when WM friendly guys do it.

And one form factor and 1 carrier is great if you like that form factor and can use that carrier. It just doesnt seem like the best model going forward, and I doubt AT&T will jump forever.

Really a lot of the actual updates for iPhone that come out are plugging deficiencies in the OS and integration that they didnt quite get in. WM does it too if the carriers will bite(WM6 on the Blackjack), they just do it less often as they dont have as many holes on an established OS and ultimately the carrier still decides(yeah, nice negotiating Apple), and a lot of the ones they do have 3rd parties can take care of. But somehow that is a huge selling point in the iPhone Camp though a lot of the updates are rather insignificant and some were even intended to battle jailbreak more than anything…So ultimately this lets Apple decide what they want your iPhone to do, instead of you.

WM has had an SDK since the beginning. It is I would argue 10x more solid then iPhone has proven to be(just look at what is exploited to do jailbreaks). And we dont even have the SDK yet to possibly really expose how hastily it was ported.

I guess one of the last line of my post sums it up the best.

“People tend to think that the Mobile Phone market moves faster than it does, and want to see cool-ness now.”

Interesting conversation…Makes me wonder where Apple will ultimately decide to go with the iPhone… Thanks guys..

I agree that a point release is not going to be something to address all the issues with WM. However a lot of these comments about updates I can’t understand, are things like having a working task manager not an OS deficiency? What about HTML email? Unsupported until WM6 came along. ADCP was updated in WM5 AKU3 and so on. Updates by their nature address problems / bugs and roll out new features. If you don’t get them but they address a problem or shortcoming you have with your device then it isn’t great customer relations really.
Apple does have a lot of advantages in this regard, that’s for certain, with one device and one carrier to deal with.
I have owned WM based PDAs for six years and the only ROM update I received was within two months of buying my first WM device, no new firmware, no new OS for the rest of that time. Admittedly that is partly down to buying non-phone devices (I just can’t make the tiny 2.8″ screens work for me).
The only way I can see of making sure you get MS updates is to own an HTC device, all the other manufacturers are too hit and miss. That is something that MS needs to address.
The other issue I have is the way that 3rd party programmes are seen as the fix-all for everything on the WM platform, I read a couple of months back on the web about someone who complained that WM Professional didn’t allow you to set up profiles. The instant reaction was well you can buy X or Y to fix that. But why should you be expected to buy something that every other mobile manufacturer includes as standard. MS even includes it in WM Standard! Can’t users expect a better set of the basic programmes?
On my N560 I have Pocket Informant, Resco Explorer, Opera 8.65, SPB Pocket Plus, SPB Backup, SPB Diary, TCPMP all replacing functions of the underlying OS. I enjoyed hacking the N560 around till I was happy with it but with only 64MB RAM (and only 35MB free after a hard reset) this takes a good chunk of memory, it takes time to do, it’s more cost on top of the basic unit, etc. If it it was a beginner who had just got a WM device would they persevere or just take it back?
As for WM being more secure, there is a lot prestige in jailbreaking the iPhone yet with a lot of talented hackers it is still taking time to do on some of the updates. And the number of cooked ROMs on XDA Dev suggests WM is hardly a shining beacon in this regard.

Thanks for the feedback, donc!

Yeah — I definitely do feel that a lot of the features are kind of set back for 3rd party devs to take care of, and I’m actually a little alright with that. I’d rather Microsoft focus on things that 3rd party folks can’t do, seeing as they aren’t building the OS itself.

You did make an excellent point when you talked about the barrier of entry in WM. I mean, compared to the iPhone where everything is in a flashy video tutorial and built into the phone, I’d consider a fully functional WM device to be pimped out with 3rd party gear up the wazoo (however you spell that). But it’s tough for a new user to get into all the different possibilities in terms of software.

It’s almost like an elitist thing to be a WM power user — “so, how many things have YOU replaced on your device?” Not to say that we’re jerks about it or that we’re all like that, but you tend to develop the perspective that what you’ve been given was meant to be replaced with something better (and bought).

“it takes time to do, it’s more cost on top of the basic unit, etc. If it it was a beginner who had just got a WM device would they persevere or just take it back?”

I think the point I’ve taken from all of this discussion, has been about user experience, so quoting Dan’s point is a good start point for me. From a new user point of view WinMo Sucks. The UI is similair enough to lull a PC user into a false sense of security, and then it all goes awry. M$oft are a huge developer, with unlimited resources, {so it seems}, if as everyone has mentioned, WM7 and WM8 are going to be ground braking, and that is where M$oft is focused, are they risking market share by ignoring the needs of current users, who don’t think their point updates are addressing their needs!

“are they risking market share by ignoring the needs of current users, who don’t think their point updates are addressing their needs!”

Probably some, but I still think the Mobile Phone market turn over is so great that that can be recovered very quickly. And Microsoft is Global, on all carriers, and the only real game for Enterprise(the obvious main target for WM for so long), so WM7 will be the real first attempt at moving more consumer friendly…

And a lot of those things mentioned as being replaced a lot(and yes I write programs to replace some of them) are still applications that are very good by Mobile Phone Standards. You can argue some are as good as the iPhone equivalents even:

“Pocket Informant, Resco Explorer, Opera 8.65, SPB Pocket Plus, SPB Backup, SPB Diary, TCPMP”

Pocket Outlook, File Explorer, IE, WMP, and the Regular Home screens are there and most are still powerful enough for the majority of users. But customizing them is what makes WM the real deal… (And Im not saying that they all couldnt use some refining and integration, they can but…)

Here’s a question I was wondering. I give iPhone credit for capturing the market share that they did, though the installed customer base is still considerably more by the other contenders.

Being that the Mobile Phone market is such a high turnover market was the iPhone’s giant advertising campaign really worth the cost in order to capture that percent of the market? They essentially bought a big percentage of that because they seem to be the only one that can figure out how to do a good Mobile Phone commercial(I wont go into how bad their PC vs. Mac commercials are in contrast).
What if Microsoft actually decides to advertise their Devices? And maybe thats a question when WM7 comes, but….???

I guess with the deal they have AT&T suckered into, it probably is covering their advertising investment, so maybe its a good model IF they can keep that type of control over the carrier. I guess I answered my own question.. Thoughts?

Just to touch on something here that I think many people skimmed over and dismissed rather quickly (and what I find to be a bit of a false statement) – Quoting Birdsoft – but not directly attacking him specifically as it happens a lot:

“We are talking about different screen sizes here, and devices that cost a quarter as much”

Screensize – no arguement for the most part. Although I wish the device makers would improve this as well. QVGA most times just doesn’t cut it.

Cost – this is where I see a bit of an issue. We aren’t looking at this from an apples to apples (no pun intended) perspective which is confusing and leads to this mis-understanding.

Many WinMo devices are sold at a much lower price due to the carrier covering some of the cost for the consumer with a signed contract (subsidized). So saying that a WinMo device is a quarter of the cost is not really true. Granted you “may” be able to buy one at $99. But most don’t cost that. For Example – In order to qualify for that price you have to sign up for a $50 (AT&T) data plan (+ voice) for 2 years and be either a new customer or due for a new device. Realistically for me to go out and buy a new AT&T Tilt if I was due for an upgrade I’d be looking at a $30/mo increase in my bill (x2 years) + the cost of the Tilt – $299. Which realistically amounts to about $620 MORE over the life of the contract than the cost of the iPhone (including data plan).

But … I’m not due for an upgrade. So let’s say I walk into the AT&T store with my pre-existing iPhone plan and I want to buy a Tilt striaght up. I can do that, tell them I already have a data plan and pay for the device only. List price – $549.

I’m no math wizard, but to me a plain old WinMo device at market value without any AT&T subsidies is roughly $150 more than the market value of the iPhone. I know that seems unrealistic, but since I’m not due for an upgrade I would be charged that price.

To be fair – lets look at the MSRP:
iPhone – $399
Tilt – $549
Treo 750 – $499
BlackJack II – $349
Moto Q Global – $499
Pantech Duo – $449

I don’t see a single device in that list with a price point 1/4th that of the iPhone without subsidies. Bear in mind that each one of those devices in order to be eligible for a discounted price also requires the $50 data plan.

Anyway … sort of a rambling response. But an important concept I think. While out the door price with a new contract is lower when you qualify – real cost is significantly higher over the life. If you don’t qualify (like me) out the door cost on every device save one is higher, and not a single one is 1/4th the cost of the iPhone.

Ok, I could be possibly wrong. But.. You need to purchase an iPhone Data Plan to purchase the iPhone so $399 is the subsidized price and its real MSRP is closer to $600 or more(but iPhone wont even allow you to buy it that way).

And you are using AT&T data plans for all of your figuring which I believe are considerably higher than most other carriers also handling Windows Mobile Devices. AND comparing your not elligible for upgrade price is not a fair comparision for prices for most people. If you hadnt locked yourslef into a contract with your iPhone that would not be the price.

So yes, AT&T has made special concessions to steer users towards an iPhone, IF they will actually let you out of your current contract for the $399 price and not vice versa… If this is actually true, another reason Apple has AT&T in their pocket.

Thanks for the response, Patrick. Let me address a few of your points in your response to Birdsoft and me.

“Pony – I think your salary %age question is all wrong. The portion of the year that has already passed would represent the 81%, not 19. And Hell Yes I would consider 81% nearly all of my salary, and I would certainly say it’s fair to call 9-10 months nearly a year.”

I was a math major in college, and the math is right. I said that it would be a 19% pay *cut* (thereby leaving 81% of the salary). And if you think that 81% is most of your salary, would you feel the same way if your boss told you that your salary was getting cut 19%? Would you say, “That’s OK, I’m still getting nearly all of it?” Somehow, I think not.

“I don’t think the main gist of this post is so much about dismissing the (mostly minor) enhancements – it’s more about feeling that lots of WM users would like to see more[....]”

Of course we’d all like to see more. I understand that. I don’t get why people have to be so negative about things, though. The platform *is* getting better, although maybe not as fast as we’d like.

“Firstly, I’d definitely say the iPhone is game-changing, in a number of ways – including the fact that it already is ahead of Windows Mobile in US smartphone market share in its very first quarter of even being in the race.”

Where did you get those numbers? Have you read about the “missing iPhones”? Or that the HTC Touch alone sold 2 million units (granted, that may be worldwide). I suspect that there were a lot of Palm Treos, Motorola Qs, T-Mobile Dashes, Samsung BlackJacks and various other HTC and other OEM phones sold last year, too.

“Heck, you can see its impact just by virtue of the fact that nearly every new smartphone that is sleekly designed or features a large screen etc. is billed as an ‘iPhone Killer’ or ‘iPhone competitor’.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s *good*, though, just popular. The mullet was popular at one time, too. And of course people are billing new phones as “iPhone killers”, just like they were billing them as “BlackBerry killers” (remember the Motorola Q being called the RAZRBerry?) or “iPod killers” (in the MP3 field) before. People try to aim at what’s popular.

“It also already has a browser market share that is absolutely wiping the floor with all the other mobile platforms. It is well ahead of WM in that area, despite WM’s 10 year head start.”

I think 10 years is a bit of an exaggeration, as there weren’t Windows Mobile phones until 2002 or so. However, the market share is so high probably because the browser is *so* good. That’s one thing Apple did *very* well, and nobody should deny that.

But how is it for PIM data? How is it for E-mail, for instant messaging, for video recording, etc.? If you think Windows Mobile beats the iPhone for those tasks, then why is the iPhone so great?

“And as for what is WM competing with that it doesn’t have beat right now – two very clear things on the iPhone – *much* greater ease of use / better user experience, and a browser that is not just better than PIE – it’s light years ahead of PIE – it is an absolute no-contest, throw in the towel please, stop the bleeding, blowout.”

The better user experience is arguable. Read Adam Lein’s usability critique of the iPhone at pocketnow, for example. (http://discuss.pocketnow.com/showthread.php?threadid=22804)

The browser is admittedly great, but I think most people are forgetting something. Until the iPhone came along, what phone had a *better* browser than Windows Mobile? Pocket IE/IE Mobile supports JavaScript, CSS, frames and a lot of standard HTML without requiring WAP or Web clipping or any other kludges.

Yes, Microsoft probably rested on their laurels too long, but I don’t think it will take long to fix the browser now. And I suspect WM 7 will be here before the two years that Doug mentioned, too.

I do agree about the camps, though. I’m pretty agnostic regarding what other people use. If an iPhone does everything you need, great. If you love Palm or Symbian, that’s cool, too. But when somebody starts trashing what *I* use, that crosses my line. But discussing it can be fun.

Pony – I agree with you that the iPhone browser is so good, and also that it currently is quite weak in terms of its PIM offering, and its lack of a native IM app and video recording. On the rest of your points, well …

On all the math major etc. stuff, you ask if I’d consider 81% nearly all of my salary – yes. Also, we can twist questions around the %age thing lots of ways – if you were telling your boss a project was 81% complete, would it be nearly complete? I think most people would say yes, and I think most people would think saying 9-10 months is nearly a year is fine. Not sure why you would even pick on that point, seems silly to me.

You mentioned you don’t like people being ‘negative’ about this topic – negative is pretty much in the eyes of the beholder. You can be a fan and supporter of something or someone, and still point out their flaws and the places they could improve – and that’s not necessarily being negative.

You asked where I got the US Smartphone Market Share numbers – they were widely reported at the end of last year in tons of places. Here is one link to Information Week’s coverage of them:
http://tinyurl.com/2nej98
And a small excerpt from it:
“The iPhone has jumped to the number two spot, grabbing 27% of the market, handily beating out Windows Mobile, Linux, Symbian, and Palm devices.”

You mention that having a large number of imitators doesn’t mean something is good. True, but I made that point in talking about the iPhone being game-changing, and I’d stand by that. It has been game-changing, and others have been scrambling to imitate it / match it / beat it since it came on the market.

As for the user experience and Adam’s post – yeah, read that, tried to stop myself from laughing when he spoke about not being able to figure out what the one button on the front face of the iPhone is for, and how he missed having scroll bars chewing up valuable screen space – didn’t succeed – found the article not interesting. Here’s the thoughts of a guy who’s actually highly acclaimed for his views on design and the presentation of data (by the way he likes it, doesn’t miss scroll bars, and seems to know what the button does):
http://tinyurl.com/2aq5tb

The main point for me is that there’s a big difference between being negative and being realistic. If you and birdsoft really don’t think the iPhone has been game changing, really don’t think Windows Mobile needs to step up its game, big time, to compete with it – then I think you’re not being negative, you’re just being unrealistic. Easy analogy for me is sports. If you watched the Super Bowl yesterday, and you’re a Patriots fan, is it negative to say their offensive line didn’t get the job done? Or is that realistic and constructive criticism? It seems to me that by some of your reactions, you would argue that someone could only be a Patriots fan if they just stick to saying ‘yeah, but we played a heck of a football game’ … They sure did, but reckon they’ll be back in that same game next year with that attitude?

Well, I think Patrick hit the nail on the head. There is a huge difference between being negative (this sucks) and being critical(this needs to be improved). Pretty much every device I have used has been Windows Mobile. I am on my third one. Never has a Blackberry, had a passing interest in Palm, and really have not been terribly interested in using the iPhone. But as you know, Pony, I wrote an article not long ago in which I pointed out what I felt were many flaws in Windows Mobile. Does this mean I am not a fan? Heck no. It means I think the experience could be even better. And I do believe that is true. MS has done a great job in many ways, but they could have done a much better job.

One of the problems with this 6.1 release, in my opinion, is that MS really raised expectations with Windows Mobile 6.0. A lot of people felt they did not deliver on some of their promises (I went straight from 2003SE to WM 6 so I cannot speak directly to this issue). However, if you felt 6.0 fell short, and you were looking at 6.1 to have the things which you felt should have been in 6.1…well, of course you would be disappointed. So, I think a lot fof that underwhelming feeling comes from what people thought they were getting in WM 6 versus what they actually got (regardless of whether these expectations were realistic or reasonable or not).

On thing I do find very interesting is the differences in the business model between Windows Mobile and iPhone/Apple. With Windows from version 3.1 through Vista, MS has always had a very open system with lead to the viral and dominant nature of Windows. Apple had a locked shut system with their own proprietary hardware and software. This came very close to killing the company.

Both companies followed their respective business strategies. Apple locked into hardware and software and carrier and has enjoyed a great deal of success. MS left WinMo very open to multiple devices, carriers and developers, and has not enjoyed the same kind of market penetration or name recognition. Almost the exact opposite result of the results of their respective desktop programs.

Add to that the fact that, no matter what you might think of them, Apple has some genius marketers and commercial writers. I mean I know the I’m a Mac and I’m a PC gag is not based on facts 99% of the time, and it can be annoying, but it is effective. And that is their worst one. Their adds for MBA, iPod and iPhone are simple and easy to follow. They make you want to learn more. MS has almost no advertising…and whnen they do, you wish they hadn’t. Hello Zune commercials. That makes an incredible difference in my opinion.

Doug

Yes, this is what I was getting at more Doug with my advertising post. The Business Models are interesting. It seems that they both are following their desktop models(and until we see what Apple does with policing their SDK we can still assume this). Apple has spent a ton on Advertising(and done a good job of it), but closed down the system with their own hardware, and go for the higher end consumer market only. Microsoft has no real advertising, a very open and flexibile OS with more 3rd party support, the Businnes Market, more global support, and the whole price range(it appears I have successfully re-established this), but the OS has stagnated to a degree…

The results right now just look a whole lot different. Well not a lot because WM still has the lead in overwhelming installed user base and is much larger in the Global market. But iPhones success does point right now to the idea that their model may be better suited for the mobile market. Or at least that they used it earlier
in the game. I will be interested to see if they can keep up the growth at that price point, as there are a whole lot of people that wont pay $400 for their phone.

Though again it really is early in the Mobile and Smartphone Game. They still haven’t reached true popularity in the Mass Consumer market. Which is why I do see about 1-2 years down the road as the true “important” time for the market. Perfect timing for Microsoft’s first real attempt at a more Consumer Targetted device. Lets hope they hire Apples Advertising guys around then as well.

And AGAIN, I give Apple credit for what they are doing. Sure in the context of making others refine, consumerize, and integrate their OS a little more and of how to treat the carrier in order to mazimize your profit, iPhone is “game changing”. There I said it. I just dont think its as revolutionary as the people that have fallen for it. Played with it for 5 minutes, thought some of it was nice, some was unnecessary, some things were missing, and some things were being forced on you in order to conform, and almost all of it a clever developer could get WM to do …

And Ive seen bad phones that have copycats, so… That is definitely not a great argument for it..

So yes I do think, as I have maintained throughout, that Microsoft needs to and will(again look at the WM7 screenshots and descriptions) refine their OS to compete with all Consumer Phones, not just the iPhone. I am just not in as big a hurry as I understand how the Mobile Market works for everyone except Apple(and I could see them getting hosed by AT&T reigning back the control). And I still believe WM6.1 is a pretty darn good OS…