Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Kin Fails, Aggravates the Public

Zune Mayday
Via OpenBytes



Summary: Microsoft's new phones fail to impress anyone, even huge proponents of Microsoft; What gives them a lot of publicity is the allegation that Microsoft promotes underage sexting

MICROSOFT is departing from Windows, which is evidently too much of a mess, at least as a mobile platform. As we pointed out before, this also means that Windows Mobile applications will no longer work. What a gamble and what a colossal mistake. Several very important developers recently quit development for Windows phones as a result of this, with big names including Skype, Mozilla, and Adobe.



“Several very important developers recently quit development for Windows phones as a result of this, with big names including Skype, Mozilla, and Adobe.”Microsoft's mobile reality is rather embarrassing. The market share keeps declining and money goes down the drain at a very rapid pace. But today we take a side that's not hostile towards Microsoft, in order to show that even those who are faithful to Microsoft are rather depressed about Microsoft's endeavours in the mobile space. The media largely ignored Microsoft's latest announcement (the "Kin" phone) and treated it as a nonevent, with some noting that Microsoft claims it to be "social" and for young people, whatever that actually means in practical terms. Nobody seems impressed, but Microsoft excuses the lack of appeal by referring to "social" and "children". Mary Jo Foley is helping Microsoft's PR regardless of her opinions about Kin (no critical opinion is offered or emphasised). She has become extremely obedient to Microsoft in recent years (this wasn't the case when she was writing at Microsoft Watch).

Looking just at IDG, which has financial reasons to favour Microsoft [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], here is everything that we found and gathered from this news network over the past week (it's pretty much an exhaustive list).

First of all, even Microsoft's biggest of boosters (Gralla [1, 2] in this case) are unimpressed. The headline "Why You Don't Want a Microsoft Kin Phone" probably says it all.

The fake "Robert X. Cringely" from IDG has published: "Microsoft's Next of Kin: No Cure for Smartphone Fatigue"

As I type this, Microsoft is announcing two new slider cell phones, the Kin One and Kin Two -- successors to the beloved but aging-faster-than-Mickey-Rourke T-Mobile Sidekick.

These are apparently the culmination of the long-rumored, until-now-entirely-vaporous, Project Pink, code-named Turtle and Pure, sometimes also known as the Zune Phone. When your phones have more aliases than a CIA operative, that's probably not a good sign. But I digress.

[...]

The intro text on the Kin Website: "The impulsive. The spontaneous. The wonderful."

My translation: "The annoying. The self-absorbed. The unemployed."

The bad news? No app store. No Flash support. The good: No sign of Windows whatsoever -- these phones are based on the Zune browser interface, so they have that going for them.


JR Raphael writes:

Call me crazy, but something about Microsoft's Kin phone just doesn't add up.

Microsoft Kin PhoneThe Kin, unveiled by Microsoft on Monday, is billed as a mobile phone for the "social generation." It's meant to appeal to the younger, always-connected crowd -- teens and 20-somethings who spend their days surfing social networks -- and yet the Kin's social network support is decidedly unrobust.


Still looking at IDG, here is the remainder of the headlines about the subject:

i. Microsoft Kin: What's Cool, What's Lame

ii. Can Microsoft's Kin Catch the Mobile Social Networking Wave?

iii. Microsoft Kin: Phones Sport Zune, Target Social Set

One of IDG's Microsoft boosters, Harry McCracken, wrote that third one. He always drools over whatever comes out of Microsoft and Microsoft is giving him expensive gifts to reciprocate.

So Microsoft's phone (or phones) was basically a big "Meh!" but it did receive a lot of coverage, just not the type of coverage Microsoft wanted. The following headlines explain why:

Microsoft releases Kin advert

Microsoft Kin ad encourages you to send moob shots to girls

Consumer Reports is calling out Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) for its Kin ads because it’s “creepy” that one ad apparently shows some hip dudester sending pictures of his chest to some equally hip lady.


Microsoft in 'sexting' row over Kin advert

Microsoft Accused of Advocating Sexting

Microsoft Kin upshirt ad called 'creepy'

I'm sure there are few people left in the world who have not, at one time or another, sent a picture of their most favorable body parts to someone they loved. Or at least coveted. Or at least knew. I am, therefore, moved to photograph the frothing in my brain caused by the controversy surrounding a video for Microsoft's new Kin phones aimed at young social-networking hipsters.


We ought to remind everyone that there is a lot of sex and violence in Microsoft ads, which even had some of the company's ads outright banned. We gave several examples in this Web site over the recent years.

Watch how Microsoft responds proactively (no bans needed):

Microsoft deleting 'sexting' from ad

Microsoft kills upshirt scene in Kin ad

Microsoft Takes Back Its Naughty Ad For The Kin

Microsoft semi-apologizes for highly offensive man-boob in Kin ad

Microsoft backs on on KIN sexting accusations, apologizes for pec-gate

Microsoft Pulls KIN Ad With Sexting In It

Microsoft apologizes, edits Kin video after 'sexting' complaints

One might say that "Kin" is abbreviated "Kinder" and mistakenly advocates paedophilia or uses it to sell.

Watch how Microsoft's booster Preston Gralla comes up with "damage control" in IDG and so does another Microsoft booster, Todd Bishop. Basically, Bishop is a non-stop promotion of Microsoft and even Kin -- promotion which helps him run his Microsoft blog. We insist on explaining how Microsoft controls the press and we gave new examples just hours ago.

Here comes the interesting part. Microsoft tries to control what journalists are writing about Kin, without much success (because the product is far too bad):

As Microsoft explained to me, the Kin 1 is for feeding and the Kin 2 is for feasting. Both are, well, somewhat goofy looking.


Why does Microsoft need to explain to journalists personally? Are they Microsoft's PR agents? Also, watch how Microsoft is using a former department (Razorfish) for the Kin blitz. "Razorfish reveals role as Digital Agency of Record for New KIN Brand," says the headline of this press release. Didn't Microsoft let Razorfish go? Razorfish is still serving Microsoft on the face of it.

Over at the Seattle Times we also learn about a "word-of-mouth marketing campaign" which Microsoft had going for Windows Vista:

Marr, formerly of Microsoft, where he led the word-of-mouth marketing campaign for the launch of Windows Vista, may keep bottles of Bulleit Bourbon and Vox Vodka tucked inside a decorative world globe in his office, but the regimented and chauvinistic world of "Mad Men," in which ad firms made kings of corporations, has largely disappeared. Now you have the likes of Microsoft coming to scrappy firms like Wexley to help them gain street cred with a generation that's openly hostile to the come-ons of big companies and brands.


The reality behind Vista 7 was also twisted by a "word-of-mouth marketing campaign". Nothing ever changes. Microsoft is all about advertising and misdirection. Luckily, the company is limiting the audience it advertises to because of Silver Lie.

Going back to Kin, Paul Rubens is skeptical and the News Observer calls these "Zune phones", which should not be taken as a compliment given the big failure which Zune has turned out to be. Here is an article whose headline asks: "Microsoft Zune HD 64 dead in the water?"

Microsoft released a 64GB version of their Zune HD, dropping the prices of the 16GB and 32GB models in the process. But the announcement came without much fanfare from the tech community. Is the Zune HD already dead in the water? And if so, does it deserve it?


Based on this report, Windows Phone 7 will arrive late and also incomplete. This is a recipe for failure.

"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

Recent Techrights' Posts

Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
Links 25/07/2025: NOAA Cuts Endanger Lives, "Europe's Self Inflicted Cloud Crisis"
Links for the day
 
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol
New US Editor in The Register is 84% Microsoft/Windows Booster
It'll be worrying if it carries on like this
Links 25/07/2025: Slop Blunders and China Has Code of Conduct for Lawmakers in HK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Some Books and Babies and Capital
Links for the day
They Try to Lecture Us on Ethics
They even removed "master" from Microsoft GitHub
The Future of the Web is One Rendering Engine or 'Flavours' of Chrome
The future of the Web does not look bright at all
Best Sites Are Not Optimised for Any Browser, They Work Equally Well With All of Them
Red Hat (IBM) is making rubbish sites
YouTube is a Spamfarm, Slopfarm, and Clickfarm (a Lot of Numbers There Are Fake)
Those who don't fake look unpopular and unimportant
We Don't Do JavaScript and Pages Are Small
Thankfully Gemini Protocol has nothing like JavaScript
'Tech' is Not Technology
Some people use terms like 'Old Tech'
IBM's Debt Rose by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in the Past 6 Months Alone
The "hey hi" circus is coming to an end
Yes, Master
Gaslighting by actual racists
Microsoft Bribes and Buys Politicians to Tell Europe What to Do About Free Software (Which It's Attacking)
Microsoft: we speak for the thing that we are attacking! Follow the money...
Making Backups Quickly and Reliably
Backups are imperative, more so in an age of uncertainty, unpredictable weather, and worsening standards (quality of products going down while prices go up)
Techrights Investigation: Estimating the Point in Time LinuxIac Turned Into LLM Slop (Part of the Time)
Bobby Borisov got lazy
10th Month, Ten Weeks From Now, at Ten AM
In Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Nadella Memo Distracts From Microsoft's Cheapening Of the Workforce
Right now the "MSM" (mainstream media) is flooded/overwhelmed by garbage pieces that relay lies for Nadella
Vanishing Faces of GNU/Linux
Free software projects do not depend on any one person or company to still exist
Microsoft Says It Lost 400 Million Windows Users, Now It's Waiting for GNU/Linux to Stop Booting on 'Old' PCs
When it comes to Windows, Microsoft is fully aware of the issue and statements it made earlier this summer suggest it lost 400 million Windows users
Slopwatch: LinuxTechLab, linuxsecurity.com, LinuxIac, and More
Also: The Register's Microsoft agenda (new editor)
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Gemtext Aware Titan Editor and Gemini Protocol Comeback
Links for the day
Links 24/07/2025: Convicted Felon Quits UNESCO, "Vibe Coding Goes Wrong", and Signalgate Gets Worse
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/07/2025: Forgejo Woes and Smolnet Directory Week
Links for the day
Misinformation is Not Intelligence
It's low-grade plagiarism and it fails to show any signs of intelligence
Links 24/07/2025: Storage Tapes Still Kicking, Windows TCO 'on Steroids' (Microsoft-Induced Catastrophes)
Links for the day
Bobby Borisov (LinuxIac) Has Apparently Begun Experimenting With LLM Slop, So We Cannot Trust LinuxIac Anymore
So did LinuxIac become a slopfarm? Maybe not yet, but it's getting there
Informa TechTarget's ITProToday is Becoming a Slopfarm Generated by Microsoft Chatbots
Busted.
'Tech' Gimmicks Are for Advertising, Not for Usability
In the case of Microsoft, they latched onto slop
BetaNews Sacked Brian Fagioli and Deleted His Comments, But He Still Tries to Use the "BetaNews" Brand for Self-Affirmation
Fagioli takes the work of other people
[Meme] Hard to Be a Better Person?
Sooner or later they'll realise that for each pound I spend they need to spend about 1,000 times more
The LLM Con Artists Are Highly Destructive
Who will ever be held accountable for this scam?
Too Bribed by Microsoft to Move to Free Software?
Microsoft lies and Microsoft bribery (in politics)
New US Editor for The Register is a Microsoft Booster
"Avram Piltch has served as US editor for The Register since July 2025."
Microsoft Hiring European Politicians is Another Form of Bribery; There Should be a European Investigation
When Microsoft bribed people in Europe for OOXML (there's no denying this!) a European government delegate said that Microsoft operated like a cult
Reda Demanded That FSF Removes Its Founder, Now Reda Works Directly for Microsoft
A sellout and a traitor, first working for GAFAM, now Microsoft
PCLinuxOS is Raising Money to Support Development After Fire Incident at the Host
PCLinuxOS has not had announcements lately
Speed of the Site Should be Better Now
The "bot attacks" impact the speed of the sister site too
Getting More From AnalogNowhere
Recently we used many images from AnalogNowhere
Microsoft, Microsofters and 'Secure' Boot Shills Already Storming the LWN Report About Expiring Certificate, Shooting the Messenger
LWN has clearly stuck a nerve
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Disable "Secure" Boot Today (the Only Better Time to Do So Was Yesterday)
Don't trust anything Red Hat tells you about security
Links 23/07/2025: Windows Killed Company After 150+ Years, US Government Mimics Russia's Attacks on the Media
Links for the day
Freedom Generally Wins at the End, History Shows (But It's Constantly Attacked, Too)
At the moment people realise "Linux" (e.g. Android) isn't enough to guarantee any freedoms
Over 3 Months Later Brett Wilson LLP Still Unable to Recruit a Media Lawyer?
"Immediate start", but not found... still unfilled