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Topic: Mobility

Another ZDNet Great Debate lost, still not giving up on Windows Phone

Summary: I win the popular vote, but can't seem to win the argument as I continue to support the Windows Phone platform in ZDNet Great Debates. I'm sticking with Windows Phone for the long haul though.

Matthew Miller

By for Smartphones and Cell Phones |

Back in December I participated in a ZDNet Great Debate on WP7 and Nokia, ending up with 76% of the audience vote and still losing the argument. This week I again argued for Nokia and ended up with 81% of the audience vote. However, I again was declared the loser so am now starting to wonder if my support for Windows Phone is rare in the tech space.

Even though I keep losing out on these debates supporting the Windows Phone platform, I think it will eventually catch on in a more significant manner. As I wrote a couple weeks ago Microsoft has showed growth since the launch of Windows Phone, even if it is only at about 2% at the moment. They haven't had very enthusiastic partners until Nokia came onto the scene this year and all indications are that Nokia's Windows Phones are selling quite well. My wife has a Nokia Lumia 710 and yesterday when I picked up an HTC One S I asked if she wanted to switch since the One S has a fantastic camera and that is an important feature for her. She told me if it doesn't have Windows Phone on it then she isn't interested at all. She finds Windows Phone easy to use, stable, and efficient and has used Android and Symbian in the past.

I have been using Windows Phone since July 2010 and even though it may not be popular with the tech crowd, I am going to keep using and supporting Windows Phone because it works well for ME. As I constantly state, it is a platform you really do need to try out to appreciate and you can't just look at it from the outside and judge it.

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Topics: Mobility, Microsoft, Nokia, Operating Systems, Software, Telcos, Windows

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75 comments
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  • WP Future

    I have so far used six (yes 6) android high end phones (at the time of launch at least) including Galaxy S / Galaxy S II / HTC Desire / Nexus One / HTC Sensation etc. (previously used WinMO /Symbian). Currently I am using HTC Sensation, iPhone 4 along side Lumia 800.

    TBH I have never been impressed by android, as it is not a stable platform, every droid I've owned had issues like hang ups, crashes, unexplainable slow downs, rebooting for no reason etc. etc (the list can go on), and top it all its UI feels like a 'cheap' copycat of iOS.

    Interestingly enough for the so called 'learned' analysts, my Lumia 800's single core SoC easily beat the living day lights out of dual core SoC of Sensation in all every day tasks (even iphone feels slower to me). The OS seems more efficient + stable, UI is genuinely refreshing and 'leads' to more. All things considered, I don't see myself ever wasting any more of my hard earned money on any droid, it will be WP and iOS from hereon in.
    Babur
    Reply Vote

    • +1.

      I own high end Galaxy Note, Lumia 900 and iPhone 4. Galaxy Note needs rebooting almost every alternate day. iPhone 4 screens look busy with icons or folders of icons and Lumia 900 is fast and fluid.
      Ram U
      Reply Vote

      • Same old BS ...... Sigh

        I would luv to know what you guys do to your phones....
        Galaxy (Captivate) - runs great. Started to get a reboot issue and it was a bad/ degrading battery. Changed it is a workhorse.
        Galaxy S2 - phone is awesome! Reboot and other issues don't happen with this phone.
        Galaxy S2 Skyrocket (on ICS) - last time I rebooted was the ICS upgrade.

        None of these are custom roms, Play or Amazon apps all with 32gb SD cards on AT&T. 3G 4G LTE all working good...... Maybe I just got lucky (or my family did)
        rhonin
        Reply Vote

      • Wear this

        I have introduced H.R. 1591, a federal law which would require anyone who uses the word "fluid" when describing Windows Phone to wear a chain around their neck with the word "Munchkin" in six-inch-high letters hung from it.

        There are too many people using exactly the same phraseology for it not to be an organized PR campaign with published talking points and suggested terms to use.
        Robert Hahn
        Reply Vote

      • Robert: great idea

        Let me add an amendment:
        Anyone using the words "magical", "revolutionary", or "innovative" when describing an Apple product has to wear a chain around their neck with the word "Munchkin" in six-inch-high letters hung from it.

        There are too many people using exactly the same phraseology for it not to be an organized PR campaign with published talking points and suggested terms to use.
        toddbottom3
        Reply Vote

      • I have not used a WP7 device outside of a carrier's store

        I have used a Samsung Galaxy and an HTC Thunderbolt as far as Android based devices and IMHO the HTC makes the Samsung look like the cheap uninspired crap it is. Having said that I do have some issues with the HTC needing to be rebooted as it does get bogged down. I have the same issues with my iPhone 4 but that could be due to some of the tweaks I have running (jailbroken).

        If VZW had a decent WP7 device AND if I was certain it would run a work-critical piece of software on it (as Android, iOS, and Blackberry can) I'd consider it for my next work phone.
        NonFanboy
        Reply Vote

      • Yeah Right!

        My wife and I both use a note daily and we never reboot them... on top of that, the battery lasts about 2x as long as the iPhone 4s.
        slickjim
        Reply Vote

      • @rhonin

        Sorry, I do support Android as an open platform, but EVERY android device I've used has problems. Honestly, I am a tech, I work through Linux issues and I plod on with repairing Windows and I figure out why my wireless network bridge is not talking to the other one, etc, not just at work, but at home as well. I love the pain. But Android is just soooo PAINFUL that it is almost impossible to look the other way even when I want to. I still use it. I still enjoy what it has to offer, but 'stable' it is not....
        12312332123
        Reply Vote

    • I only reboot my Droid 3 occasionally

      I have a Droid 3 phone issued by my company (with the stock OS configuration of course). I also have a Nook Color of my own with Cyanogenmod 7. I rarely have to reboot either of these. I have to wonder why anyone would have to reboot their device so often. Perhaps frequent experimentation with new apps that taxed the device's capabilities would make it need reboots more often.

      Just to be clear, I'm not terribly impressed with Android either. However, I am also not impressed with iOS (it doesn't seem any more stable than Android on the devices I've seen it on). I haven't really seen Windows Phone 7 in operation, but the lack of USB mass storage mode, flash memory support, or USB host capability means I probably would not be interested in it in any case. Can you sideload apps in WP7? If not, that reduces my interest still further. If those things don't matter to you, then there's no reason not to consider a Windows Phone along with the others.
      CFWhitman
      Reply Vote

  • I'm with you

    I have a modestly specced HTC Radar, and it does have a couple of wrinkles (often favours mobile network when there's strong wireless links available, and I wish that people could call me on Skype more easily due to limitations of background processes). However, apart from that, it's beautiful - it is so well thought through and implemented. It's elegant, it's intuitive, it's smooth, it's reliable, it's tactile - significantly better than the dominant players.
    stephen@...
    Reply Vote

  • Best of luck

    Really. Truly. I mean it.
    A Win phone does not work for me till they can handle encrypted email and some other work functions.

    I will be interested on how this works for you over time.
    rhonin
    Reply Vote

    • @rhonin

      You'll be looking forward to Windows Phone 8 then, right?
      bitcrazed
      Reply Vote

      • You might promote if

        ..its the best interest of your business, we know your business.

        Folks are far smarter than you will ever know.
        daikon
        Reply Vote

    • They do have it through......

      Good for Enterprise, so yes you can do encrypted email on WP7!
      OhTheHumanity
      Reply Vote

  • Just saying.

    snip: "...and even though it may not be popular with the tech crowd, ..."
    snip: "... even if it is only at about 2% at the moment."

    I think your comment regrading the 2% market share is an indication that the windows phone is not popular with ANY crowd segment.
    YaBaby
    Reply Vote

    • Well, at least one

      The people who are actually using it. And their number is increasing, and will continue to.
      WebSiteManager
      Reply Vote

      • Truthfully,

        I would bet that a large portion of the current windows phone users are in fact techies. They are using the phone for a variety of reasons such evaluation, app development, and so on. Of course we wont see real market penetrations until the general consumer starts buying them in mass.
        YaBaby
        Reply Vote

      • Agreed

        Things have changed radically for the platform in the last couple of months. People that try it are - for the large part - sticking with it. And it's not just techies - I have three family members that are definitely not techies that have independently adopted WP7 based on one of us (not me) getting it about five months back. None of them wanted iPhones (too many already have those and we're not in an Apple ecosystem to default to this choice), two could no longer put up with the instability and confusing presentation of two different Android-based phones, and my wife cannot stand her new work BlackBerry anymore after getting used to the WP7 Lumia 800.

        I find it odd that people that haven't used WP7 with the latest cell hardware evaluate its capabilities based on its historical penetration stats. If that decision vector was used for everything, no innovative and different offering would ever break into an established market. For those that deride and prejudge the platform without using it, use WP with the latest devices, judge it on its merits and strengths, and you might surprise yourself that you're now part of that minority that you hold in contempt - and recognize how different, intuitive, and productive this platform is.

        Matt: Keep on speaking your viewpoint. Your persistence, courage, objectivity, and openess is refreshing.
        achilles heal
        Reply Vote

  • Wish I could use a Windows Phone

    Had an HTC Trophy for about a week, and liked it very much, but could not use my corporate Lotus Notes Traveler e-mail client on it (and please...keep the snide remarks about Lotus to yourselves), so had to go with a Motorola Droid Bionic. Much preferred the Trophy, but until we stop using Lotus...which IS coming late this year, or early next year...I'm stuck with the Android phone.

    It is a good mini-computer, but the call quality is lousy...and I happen to be one of those old fashioned types who thinks that a cell phone should actually be able to make & receive good quality telephone calls. Silly me.

    I'll probably go (back) to a Windows phone once we lose Lotus Notes.
    IT_Fella
    Reply Vote

    • Call quality is hardware/carrier dependent

      In my experience call quality is hardware and carrier dependent and has almost nothing to do with the phone's operating system. The call quality on my Droid 3 seems fine, actually better than my previous phones in general.
      CFWhitman
      Reply Vote
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