Microsoft lines staff pockets with Windows 7 phone Microsoft plans to dish out Windows 7 phones to all its staff in a move clearly designed to get people talking about the company's wannabe rival to Apple's iPhone. Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet yesterday tweeted the MS announcement at the software vendor's annual backslapping fest - otherwise known as the Microsoft Global Exchange. …
"...the firm that up to now hasn't really made any notable inroads into the mobile phone biz."
I'm not sure that's entirely true. WIndows Mobile 5 / 6 had a not insignificant market share; it's just that they underestimated the importance of the UI and lost out to the iPhone and later Android.
I kind of hope Windows Phone 7 actually makes inroads, but it's hard to see it happening. The company has really lost the plot since Billy G left.
There is much in what you say. But
>it's just that they underestimated the importance of the UI
needs expanding a bit
it's just that they underestimated the importance of the UI or of the phone not needing rebooting at least once a day and cold starting at least once a week.
There, that's better.
I'm no Microsoft fan, but my 4 yr old WinMo phone only freezes occasionally (weeks go by without needing to reboot). My wifes iPhone 3GS freezes more often.
Having said that, I'm in the process of selecting my next handset - it won't be WinMo as that's to dated, and it definately won't be WinPhone 7.0 as I really don't feel like getting a v1.0 product with half the features missing, very few available apps and locked down tighter than the iPhone.
"...a new Windows Phone 7 will be made available to every Microsoft employee as we launch in each market around the world," he confirmed.
The process will vary based on your market, your carrier, and your launch date so stay tuned for more information closer to launch."
Hmmm....guess it would be a nice gesture of MS and will get people talking, but apart from that first tweet, I see nothing that says they will be free, simply "available". Big difference between free and offered at a discount rate before they go on general sale, etc.
I'm just a cynic.
I reckon you're spot on. I noticed that phrase as well - whether the MS cannon fodder have seen that statement and made some massive assumptions, I can't tell yet. Be interesting to see this backfire massively.
Perhaps they just meant "available to buy early" which also wouldn't surprise me.
... the cheap device and then write off that cost as developmental or late-phase R&D. You can pretty much guess the actual worth of the phone itself based on US laws on gift values to employees. Not laws that will sink the corporation, but laws that apply to the individual that are enforced by the IRS. In all likelihood the true value of the device will be less than $50. But then, thst'a likely true for all modern smart phones.
And you still have to buy into a service. Or use it as a paperweight if such things still exist, or even should exist. If I were still within the U.S. corporate world, this would not please me. Similar to an electricity producer asking if your house is heated in whole or part by a rival gas company. Once MS produces a smart phone and it goes on the market, a lot of the competition's phone will not be a welcome site at the Microsoft home offices.
Sounds more like a subtle corporate hint to me rather than a gift.
Give or made available? I see the "when" is based on the details of the employee's particular carrier.
As Microsoft will not be making the phone, and I can't imagine Microsoft buying the phones unlocked, it sounds like a reimbursement program.
Again, since Microsoft doesn't make the phone, their cost for the program is the amount of reimbursement, less the licensing amount paid by the phone's manufacturer. Let's say a 200 reimbursement less 15 income for the os license and all 87000 use the program, that's 16.1 million USD net cash out. As a promotional tactic, wouldn't the money be better spent on advertising?
As a thank you gesture, though, it's a nice one. The complications with smartphones are they are expensive and carrier two-year lock-ins and exclusivity deals mean some employees may opt-out for sensible reasons which have nothing to do with the phone os quality, especially if the reimbursement offer is time-limited. Fortunately, the tech press, renowned for its balance and sensitivity, will not report future offer uptake counts along the entertaining lines of how many Microsoft employees don't use WP7, even when it's free. And...
Ruh-roh.
It'll be at full cost, by salary garnishment, accompanied by a missive along these lines:
"Be the first to own many of these super-magical paradigm destroying devices! Pre-order as many as you feel is commensurate with your company loyalty for your [soon to be ex] friends, family and neighbo[u]rs. As we confidently expect your loyalty to be high, we have pre-allocated ten (10) units specifically to you. However, you are under no strict legal obligation to purchase your full allocation, and our lawyers have instructed us to tell you that the number that you order will not stay on any permanent record that you are able to obtain, nor provably influence your future salary reviews. Enjoy!"
Couldn't agree more.
I think a lot of phones have come with Windows mobile, and there are an awful lot of them still out there - so I think that to state that Microsoft have made no inroads is just a perception.
What has does them no favours though is that it's just too unstable, and very fiddly to use on a touchscreen phone which is why a lot of manufacturers and suppliers have overlaid the Windows UI with their own interfaces to try to make it more user friendly.
If Windows Phone 7 is worth anything, it should engender brand loyalty and make employees brand evangelists. If, however, it is full of bugs... well, could have quite the opposite effect. Ultimately, it comes down to a quality product.
-Ethan
http://ow.ly/2f6xl
One doctrine supposedly understood by Microsoft is "eating your own dog food", which means using your own new or in-progress products so that their problems are immediately obvious to you, and not something which existence you simply dispute later.
What would be massively riveting would be if Microsoft said they'd be giving (yes, giving) the phones to at least 10% of their employees 3 or so months before general release. Any sufficiently large number of fat fingers and tinny ears will reveal the bugs, and also prevent cover-ups.
That would be an amazing statement of faith: our product is wonderful, really, and our employees can be trusted to report the truth as it is. (Such a loyal and well-rewarded bunch would do no less, yes?)
I fail to understand that if the author feels this deeply about Microsoft, shouldn't she refrain from writing about it? You know Journalistic integrity and all that old crap of the past.
Previous articles by the author has had the same leanings. One thing for sure, she is a fan of Firefox and Apple.
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