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Smartphones and Cell Phones

Matthew Miller
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Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration

By | September 10, 2010, 6:12pm PDT

Summary: Microsoft reached a major milestone with Windows Phone 7 and a small celebration parade took place on campus. People all over the Twitterverse are spun up and need to just relax.

As said last week, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 team reached a major milestone with the platform. Today Microsoft employees had a bit of a celebration and all I keep reading about on Twitter is how classless and immature it was to have an iPhone carried by pallbearers. Really people? Lighten up and let Microsoft employees who have been working hard on this new platform have a bit of fun. It isn’t harming anyone and I am actually encourage to see them this excited about Windows Phone 7 since I don’t remember when the mobile team was this fired up about a product before. I was actually pretty impressed with their Thriller dance myself and it was good to see Darth Vader in the parade. It also wasn’t like the entire event was about death to the iPhone as you can see in more photos and thoughts from the parade on the Windows Phone blog.

As readers here know, I spent quite a bit of time with the Technical Preview and think Microsoft has a solid product coming out in the next few months. The Gartner data shows that Apple doesn’t have anything to worry about through 2014 from Microsoft so why are people getting too spun up about this Microsoft celebration? IMHO, I don’t think the Gartner data means a whole lot in regards to Windows Phone 7 since we haven’t seen it released yet and have no way of knowing how well it might do when it is up and running.

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Team, Microsoft Windows Phone 7, Microsoft Windows Phone, Microsoft Corp., Team Management, Microsoft Windows, Human Capital Management, Management, Operating Systems, Software, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller started using a Pilot 1000 in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since.

Disclosure

Matthew Miller

Matthew is a professional naval architect by day and a mobile gadget freak at all other times. He purchases his own devices and then sells them on eBay or Craigslist to buy more. Many other devices are sent for review on a 30-day loaner basis and then returned to the carrier or manufacturer. If any are provided as “long term loaner units” this will be clearly disclosed in his reviews.

Biography

Matthew Miller

Matthew Miller started using a mobile devices in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since. He is a co-host with GigaOM's Kevin Tofel on the MobileTechRoundup podcast and an author of three Wiley Companion series books. Matthew started using mobile devices with a US Robotics Pilot 1000 and has owned over 125 different devices running Palm, Linux, Symbian, Newton, BlackBerry, iOS, Android, webOS, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone operating systems. His current collection includes an HTC Radar 4G, Dell Venue Pro, Apple iPad 2, HTC Flyer, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Nokia N9, Apple iPhone 4S, MacBook Pro, and many more, along with tons of accessories and classic devices like the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100 and Sony CLIE UX50. Matthew can be found on various discussion forums under the user name of "palmsolo".
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Wow
DontBeEvil 13th Sep 2010
@martin23
While you are arguing that Mathew should not tell others whether to lighten up or not, you are in turn doing the same thing!

There are a couple of things you should realize
1. First this was a private party, NO media was invited to cover this event
2. One cannot avoid getting pictures taken in this day and age with all the smartphones floating around. Hell, people even take pictures in locker rooms. Point is that if you keep thinking about this, you wont be able to do anything in life

WP7 is a "dog of a product", i guess not? Use it or not use it, thats your choice, but you honestly cannot say that WP7 isnt something?? It s a fresh UI that is different from pages upon pages of uni spaced icons. Mighty Google also couldnt think of something different with Andriod, at least give some credit to MS for trying something new.

You are talking about MS poking fun at Apple at a private party...what about the millions of dollars of national television campaign that poor old Steve Jobs put out with the Mac Vs PC ads. Those ads were plain lies!!
View in thread
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
naraiz@... 10th Sep 2010
I absolutely agree. Go Softies! Have your fun!
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What is wrong with disssenting views?
gjafg 10th Sep 2010
Matthew Miller's July review of Windows Phone 7 was the most glowing, positive, gushing-with-praise review the industry has ever seen. That's why Microsoft likes to quote it.

But why call on the audience to "Lighten up" and not be negative about Microsoft's iPhone burial campaign? Why try to influence the comments, or make them positive?

Whatever the product, a good review will tell me what's wrong with that product. If I want gushing praise, I can go to Microsoft's own website for that. Dissenting opinions is a good thing, and why we read the comments section.
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OK.. So what if the tables were turned?
Wolfie2K3 11th Sep 2010
@Market Analyst
What if Apple OSX developers had a similar party and buried a copy of Windows 7? I'll wager that would be perfectly OK with you.

Having read Matt Miller's postings on the WP7 preview - I can distinctly recall him mentioning several flaws - stuff that wasn't complete at the time. Is it so wrong for him to actually LIKE the product such as it was? I'll bet it doesn't sit well with you because it's a Microsoft product. If he was gushing over the iPhone or an Android product, you probably wouldn't give it a moment's notice let alone 3 paragraphs worth of a reply.
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In my opinion...
Economister 12th Sep 2010
@Wolfie2K3

it is so premature as to be ridiculous. Being excited about the fight is one thing. Basically declaring victory before you have even established that you CAN fight, just makes you look like you have no grasp on reality at all. This is a gun fight, and MS hasn't even produced a knife, let alone a gun. If I worked for MS, I would feel embarrassed.
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Wolfie2K3: I believe there may be an underlying fear
Mister Spock 12th Sep 2010
into why the Market Analysts and Economisters of this world continue to post against Microsoft.

The interesting thing to note is that while they continue to decry, day in and day out, about Microsoft and those that proclaim that Windows phone 7 will be a sucess as fools as the device is not yet released, they continue to proclaim it to be dead, even though the device has not yet been released.

In essence, they feel they are, far and beyond, smarter then the industry as a whole, and that the only opinion that matters is theirs: saying it will be a failure is acceptable, saying it will be a sucess is idiotic.

One has to wonder what exactly it is that they fear. Discover that, and you will get to the root of their problems.
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I have never...
Economister 12th Sep 2010
@Mister Spock

read such unsupported rubbish in my entire life. You don't even read/understand my posts. I have never said WP7 is dead. As a matter of fact I have stated that this is a fight MS cannot afford to lose and that they have the resources to stay in the fight for a long time. I just do not see how they are going to be successful given the current realities, such as having to charge for the OS, late to the party, a history of lack of vision and few if any monopoly levers to influence the market.

Why don't you produce some facts and logic anchored in the current realities, instead of a blind faith in MS's success, and then MAYBE we can have a discussion. So far you have said absolutely nothing of any substance whatsoever.
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
illegaloperation 12th Sep 2010
@Mister Spock
You do realize that Android is not free. OEMs have to pay for Android Market, Google Apps, Google Talk, etc.
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Was the dancing gorilla.....
Userama 11th Sep 2010
Steve Ballmer?
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Really now ...
BrentRBrian 11th Sep 2010
@Userama

Did you see it throwing a chair or something ?
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Gartners data is for WM6.x only
Johnny Vegas Updated - 10th Sep 2010
This chart is laughably wrong. Save it and look at it again when the 2014 numbers are in for a quick laugh. WindowsPhone is all set to come out with the best ui, best office integration, best email, best enterprise management, best media experience, best security, best quality apps, best app dev tools, best social integration, best photo experience, best gaming, best cloud services, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on and on for both consumer and enterprise focused users. Consumers will be ditching iphone/android/rim as soon as their contracts are up and sooner if they can afford it.
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If by best you mean ....
wackoae 10th Sep 2010
If by best you mean the best piece of cr@p this year, then you are 100% right.

Sorry, but everything MS has show so far is an UGLY user interface and a bunch of "me too" features and games.

#1- The market for smartphones is not teens and kids. Marketing a smartphone for games is STUPID. Most parents will not pay $30 a month (plus the cost of the games) to have their kids play the same games they have at home during school hours. O hell, most won't even pay the monthly premium to keep them from getting in trouble during the summer.
#2- Both the iPhone and Android has set the bar high for user interface and usability. The UGLY everything is square with 8-bit colors interface will not cut it in today's world. Seriously, who ever came up with that stupid UI design should be fired along with the idiotic manager who OK it.

The only feature that WP7 has that is not a "me too" feature is real support for MS Office docs. But the fact that it is web based, makes the feature mostly useless ..... because the place where you want to access documents and do some work the most is when you are flying. A web based application is no good when there is no web access.
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
illegaloperation 10th Sep 2010
@wackoae
Why do you even comment unless you are worry that WP7 will be successful.
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I would assume you lead what you humans call
Mister Spock Updated - 10th Sep 2010
"a sorry existence", as the writer mentions, it does not harm you in any way, yet you feel the need to try and "rain on their parade".

One would have to logiclly conclude that you see Windows Phone 7 as a threat towards your beliefs in some way, as I can see no other logical reason.
plain
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I guess that explains why iphone games dont sell
Johnny Vegas Updated - 10th Sep 2010
@wackoff Oh wait they sell millions of them and millions of teens do buy them, and millions of 20's and 30's buy games too, so youre very wrong, but you knew that.

If a static grid of static icons with no integration is a high bar for you then yes apple did that and android did a shoddy looking poor clone of it. You can just ignore all the iphone and android users who say after using WP7 for a couple weeks they would never go back to that...
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
someguy03 11th Sep 2010
@wackoae

How many downloads does the GAME Angry Birds have from the App Store? 6.5 Million? Wow, thats alot of kids and tweens...
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The early bird may get the worm...
Wolfie2K3 11th Sep 2010
@wackjob
...but it's the 2nd mouse who gets the cheese. Just because someone had a feature previously doesn't mean they've got a perfect implementation of it.

FWIW, the truth is - there's just so many things you can or would likely do with a phone. Typing or editing a doc on a plane - that kinda thing would likely be best done on a laptop or netbook. Something with the app and document loaded locally. By NO means would anyone want to do something totally retarded like write a "War and Peace" length document on a cell phone - unless they weren't playing with a full deck. Ok - They might be trying to set a world record but beyond that - why would anyone want to go there?

But on the other hand... If I wanted to be entertained on a plane, games and other content MIGHT be more the ticket. Why suffer through some lame flick on the big screen when I can get a movie or game that doesn't suck? Adults can be into games just as much as, if not more than kids and teens. Heck, I'm in my mid 40's and even I like the occasional skull bashing foray in some alternate fantasy reality. It's a good way to relieve stress. You might try it some time.

And finally - who died and left you in charge of approving or rejecting user interfaces? From what I've read on WP7, the reviews have been pretty good - except, of course from fanboi types such as yourself.
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I disagree
Cylon Centurion 11th Sep 2010
@wackoae

#2- Both the iPhone and Android has set the bar high for user interface and usability. The UGLY everything is square with 8-bit colors interface will not cut it in today's world. Seriously, who ever came up with that stupid UI design should be fired along with the idiotic manager who OK it.

The Metro UI interface is a highly eloquent UI that re-defines what a UI should be. It is hardly a "everything is square with 8-bit colors interface", but rather an interactive text based UI, that is clean, sharp, and most importantly, different, and allows access to what matters most - content.
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Awesome!
x21x 10th Sep 2010
Nice job guys... hope wp7 gets the job done. Hopefully as much effort that has gone into wp7 goes into wp8, that would be an unbeatable phone.
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Guys, they are predicting 3.9% market share in 2014 for Windows Phone or
DonnieBoy 10th Sep 2010
whatever they are calling it by then. The outlook is dismal.
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Yet Gartner data is not to be believed
Mister Spock 10th Sep 2010
by you own words, so why should this be viewed any different?

plain
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The only logical answer to that would be because it agrees with his POV...
Wolfie2K3 11th Sep 2010
@Mister Spock
He's obviously emotionally biased and he'll be the first to quote the source when it is in alignment with his views. He's also just as likely to lash out at the same people if and when they post a study that disagrees with his bias.
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For a good laugh go look at Gartners 2006 projections for 2007-2010
Johnny Vegas 10th Sep 2010
@DonnieBoy See what they thought of android at the time. Like with android then they are not considering WindowsPhone now.
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
jagowar 10th Sep 2010
I wish my job would do stuff like this..... say what you want but its good to see people having fun at work once in a while.
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pathetic
demeck Updated - 10th Sep 2010
It's not harming anyone yes, but its lack of professionalism and cheapness makes you feel ashamed and embarrassed that Microsoft, one of the most valuable tech companies in the world, could pull such a pathetic PR move.
It's like that Songsmith commercial, or that commotion in Microsoft store where people suddenly danced for reasons known only to themselves - it makes you feel sickly ashamed you are using the company's software everyday.
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I understand, I feel the same way about Apple marketing
NonZealot 10th Sep 2010
@demeck
Apple marketing is extremely unprofessional as well and their whole Mac vs PC ad campaign, which was basically full of lies, also made me feel very ashamed about ever buying an Apple product.

But you move on. If WP7 ends up being a great product, I would happily dump my iPhone and get it although I still believe MS will need 1 or 2 more iterations before that happens. Can't wait to see if they pull it off though!!!
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Lack of professionalism?
Mister Spock 10th Sep 2010
As in company picnics, and other such gatherings?

I agree, as I see no gain by any company that wastes time on unprofessional endevors that are not directlly productive to the botton line.
plain
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Oh come now...
Wolfie2K3 11th Sep 2010
@Mister Spock
Even Vulcans have their means for "down time" - like meditation. Quit being such a slave driver... Sheesh. Oh.. Wait... Don't tell me - you're the OTHER Mr Spock - the one from the other universe. Right?
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I ask forgivness, Wolfie2K3
Mister Spock 11th Sep 2010
I have a hard time grasping what you call "sarcam". The nuances are still hard to master.
plain
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
SlithyTove 11th Sep 2010
@demeck

Wow. I assume that you are also violently against other staples of work socialization like ice-cream gatherings, picnics, bowling or the like. Probably consider coffee breaks, lunches, and vacations unprofessional too?

The corporate world is dreary enough, you don't need to make it worse. Even from a purely efficiency driven standpoint shutting down employee expression or disallowing celebrations after long, hard slogs will not make a company more productive.

I sincerely hope that your career does not involve managing others.
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i love breaks, but i hate being forced to do crazy embarrassing stuff
demeck 11th Sep 2010
@SlithyTove
Hi, I'm for breaks and for giving employees a break - the longer the better. But this one has the hands of Microsoft management written all over it. This is not a break, this is a PR stunt, and the employees were instructed to do this, how else do you think they choreographed the dance pattern of Thriller? Come on, if Redmond really want to give their employees a break they would just give them a week of holiday, not to force them to do a stunt that clearly more than half of the participants do not want to do.
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You think that "MS Management" forced their employees
DontBeEvil 13th Sep 2010
@demeck
to dance like this. There will be a bevy of lawsuits if any employer ask its employees to perform embarrassing acts!!

My point is that this was the decision of the team that worked hard not the management
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You do realize that...
DontBeEvil 13th Sep 2010
@demeck
this was a private event within the confines of the Microsoft campus with NO media invitation?

This wasnt a PR event, this was a private party attended by only W7 phone employees.

And whatever you feel, you gotta love the thriller dance, do you realize the months of practice that went into getting geeks coordinating on beats like that wink
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
TKR1 11th Sep 2010
Good on the MS staff having some fun.
I'm looking forward to WP7 devices going on sale here. I will sell my iPhone and buy one as soon as it is financially viable.
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
Loverock Davidson 11th Sep 2010
They should get all the praise they deserve. Microsoft Windows Phone 7 is going to change the mobile landscape. The new UI is awesome. I can't wait to test one of these phones.
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
gregnewm7 11th Sep 2010
I believe that the windows phone 7 can successful in time if Microsoft does 3 things 1=Stick with the product even if sales at first are not good. 2=steadily improve the product 3= Advertise the Product because when a person goes to buy a mobile phone there are so many models to choose from it's mind boggling if a person remembers a
commercial about a windows 7 phone they may check it out
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laughable at best ...
wolf2012 12th Sep 2010
and unbelievably embarrassing ... the only consequence for me is that I am going to make sure is that I rid myself of the last trace of microsoft on any device I own, I simply cannot have such stupidity around ... plain stupid
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If you are so anti-MS
DontBeEvil 13th Sep 2010
@wolf2012
that you want to "get rid of the last trace of microsoft on any device", why do you even bother reading MS related posts and spend time replying to them?

Please leave this wasteful activity to the lower lifeforms who havent yet evolved out of the MS ecosystem
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
robomatic Updated - 12th Sep 2010
Wow, so many people are taking this way too seriously... the employees in the video are just having fun.. after a lot of hard work, it's cool to play some music, dance a little, and in this case be a little provocative.. chill out..
As for those who are predicting the failure of WP7, I think it has to do with insecurity.. You've got your Androids and iPhones, no one's gonna steal them from you.. if you like what you have, then keep using it, but if you want something new, then WP7 is just that! give it a try and decide if it works for you or not. Jeez
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Excellent post
NonZealot 12th Sep 2010
@robomatic
As for those who are predicting the failure of WP7, I think it has to do with insecurity..

I totally agree. While I don't think WP7.0 is going to be a big success, I truly have high hopes for WP7.5. I think MS is onto something here with the task based UI, especially considering that Apple's UI is truly, truly, truly horrible when it comes to getting things done efficiently. Why, oh why do I need to hit a hardware button, and then swipe the bottom of the screen before I can see if I have a text message, email message, or voice message waiting for me? My Windows Mobile HTC Touch Diamond and my BlackBerry both have lights that let me know, without even touching the device, that I have a message waiting for me. My Windows Mobile phone would even tell me what that message was without having to open a single App.

While I like my iPhone, I truly do see a fantastic future for WP7 and I hope MS sticks with it. Here's hoping that WP7.5 is good enough to either woo me over next year or convince Apple that their UI sucks.
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
vijtheveg@... 13th Sep 2010
I am a lowly employee in the Windows Phone 7 team, and have no idea which phone will rule the world in 2014.

What I do know is this - I really like working in my team. It has some very smart people who are a joy to be around, and a few not-so-very-smart people. But, almost everyone I meet is passionate about delivering value to the customer, and everyone, without exception, VP downwards, is realistic about what our competitive position is today.

So, when we had a ship party, I was happy to be out with my friends, let loose and have fun - nobody had to force me. On the contrary, wild horses couldn't keep me away. Yes, perhaps the party was laughable and not classy as the parties that some folks on this thread seem to have thrown. Yes, it was childish wishful thinking to imagine that we would bury the competition (this was only one of 10 or so floats). But I had a fantastic time at the party - it was a blast, and it was fun to unwind with folks that have shared your hard work and anxieties over the past 2 years.

It is unfortunate that there are some who would judge the classiness of our work by the classiness of our party happy Nevertheless, personally, I draw comfort knowning that what we have built has the potential to be up there with the best.
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RE: Lighten up people, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 team deserves a celebration
martin23 13th Sep 2010
Its always funny when someone tells you to lighten up. Why do the people who do this always feel then need to explain the background to the whole thing so that we know why we should be "lighter". Perhaps Matthew should lighten up by not feeling the need to tell everyone else to lighten up.

You have to wonder if this was only an internal MS event why nobody thought anyone would use their smartphone to film the event??

If it were a student stunt its fine but this is meant to be a major corporation. Just which one of their major corporate customers apart from perhaps Wallmart is going to think trashing the competition (even as a joke) if clever especially given the dog of the product MS has been sending out for the last few years.

Mobile 7 is the MS last chance in this sector. Get it wrong and there will be no next opportunity.

No doubt Apple will make some marketing capital over the next year or so about the premature prediction of the iPhones demise.

Given poor old Steve Jobs health you might also have thought that someone at MS would have though a little more cleverly about jokes regarding Apple deaths.
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Wow
DontBeEvil 13th Sep 2010
@martin23
While you are arguing that Mathew should not tell others whether to lighten up or not, you are in turn doing the same thing!

There are a couple of things you should realize
1. First this was a private party, NO media was invited to cover this event
2. One cannot avoid getting pictures taken in this day and age with all the smartphones floating around. Hell, people even take pictures in locker rooms. Point is that if you keep thinking about this, you wont be able to do anything in life

WP7 is a "dog of a product", i guess not? Use it or not use it, thats your choice, but you honestly cannot say that WP7 isnt something?? It s a fresh UI that is different from pages upon pages of uni spaced icons. Mighty Google also couldnt think of something different with Andriod, at least give some credit to MS for trying something new.

You are talking about MS poking fun at Apple at a private party...what about the millions of dollars of national television campaign that poor old Steve Jobs put out with the Mac Vs PC ads. Those ads were plain lies!!

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