

Microsoft is about to drive a wedge into the mobile market - davux
http://venturebeat.com/2012/03/14/dylans-desk-microsoft-is-about-to-drive-a-wedge-into-the-mobile-market/

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robconery
"design and quality only appeal to a subset of consumers"… so this means what
exactly? Microsoft isn't focusing on design and quality? Who doesn't care
about these things? How can that possibly be a separating factor?

People have been repeatedly stating that "Apple risks losing its dominance
based on its closed system" - and _that has never materialized_. Yet people
still say it. VentureBeat keeps writing it. And if anything - Apple has proven
the exact opposite.

Its iPhone division makes more money than all of Microsoft. That very division
is based on the premise that people _do_ care about design and quality. How
can the author possibly ignore this?

I, for one, am hoping Apple gets a challenge in this space. Competition is
good for the consumer and right now it's a one-horse race and Apple is
completely crushing the competition by _not even trying_ to compete. Think on
that - they just push new products, and everyone else scrambles to try and
differentiate themselves… and they fail!

Someday Apple will have competition in this arena. And of all the candidates
out there I can see it being Microsoft. The company is quite strong and if
Ballmer finally gets the boot - yes I can see a new wave of optimism and
effort here. Maybe.

To suggest that it's in the offing right now? With what - a consumer preview
of Windows 8 that no one really likes? I don't know how you can put your name
to that article.

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zarify
As far as the vast array of software goes, isn't it all going to have to be
rebuilt for the new platforms (ARM etc) anyway? And if you want people to
develop for Metro they're going to have to develop for that rather than just
offering the same old software.

I really don't see the advantage MS is supposed to have here.

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taylodl
Apple is getting my money because they have a compelling product NOW. That's
the name of the game in business. This is old-fashioned Microsoft FUD, from a
fanboy to boot.

