08.23.10
Microsoft’s Zune and Vista Phone 7 Will End Up Just Like KIN
Summary: By all indications it appears as though Microsoft/Windows mobile devices will nosedive into an abyss
Over the past two weeks we have come across not a single headline matching “kin” and just two matching “zune”, which is waiting to officially die after the so-called “Zune phone” (KIN or Pink) got cancelled [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. KIN was a legendary failure that reached oblivion within just weeks and the Zune’s operating system has no purpose anymore. It’s a zombie product right now. “Microsoft Gets Little From Zune Media Player,” says this headline from The Street and “Zune Media Player Doesn’t Move Needle on Microsoft’s Stock,” claims another article. The Zune is not advertised, either. For those who wonder why some Microsoft products suddenly make the news sometimes, it’s all PR. Microsoft agents are merely using journalists, pumping gifts and applying pressure in order to shape the news and give the illusion that people should really care. Silverlight is an example of this because it's dying despite the fact that Microsoft PR agents had the press pretend it would succeed. It’s all hypnosis.
“They are trying to appeal to game developers because suddenly it’s Microsoft that suffers a gaming drought.”In spite of the unprecedented failure of KIN (“Microsoft’s Kin Smartphones Could Eclipse Windows Phone 7,” said this old headline from Microsoft Nick before it launched), the ‘Microsoft press’ continues to post its hopeful articles about products that don’t matter anymore. These PR appendages that masquerade as “journalists” ought to be ignored really, but there are just too many of them and those who don’t comply with PR won’t be groomed and thus perish.
Microsoft’s latest PR offensive for phones is centered around “games” — not that Vista Phone 7 [sic] actually has any games, it’s just an ambition that Microsoft has, accompanied by vapourware. These are tons of articles this month about Microsoft looking for game developers for a phones platform which totally lacks applications (Microsoft discarded backward compatibility). It has everything it takes for a recipe to say “disaster” on it. Microsoft is even appointing a “Mobile Gaming GM” for something that hardly exists. Loads of articles about it, like this one for example, contain more fantasy than substance. Are journalists genuinely naive enough to publish this stuff?
“Why Microsoft’s Mobile Gaming Strategy Is a Mistake,” says one sceptic. They are trying to appeal to game developers because suddenly it’s Microsoft that suffers a gaming drought. What a wonderful reversal. Windows is suddenly the (mobile) platform without any games. Linux/Android and Apple are where all the action is at. Windows Mobile (or whatever Microsoft chooses to call it these days) is doomed. And that’s a good thing. █
“In the future, Microsoft wants Windows to run everything, from PCs to phones to cars to appliances. This is a terrifying prospect. If it happens, I’d be far more afraid that machinery everywhere would grind to a halt, planes would fall out of the sky, and civilization would crumble as a result of crummy embedded Windows design than any Y2K problem.”
–Paul Somerson, PC Computing
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