[Ed. note: Stan wrote this on his iPhone, so I have pretty much left it intact and unedited to allow him to make his point.]

I’m writing this on my iPhone b/c I’m on a 6pm subway ride and not in front of a PC. I could use a pocket pc phone oh- windows mobile phone - but I don’t b/c of what Apple gives me & Microsoft never has: a full, seamless enjoyable user experience. I’ve expounded on this before on Gear Diary but today I was trying to ponder, why? Why is Apple so much better at delivering on the true mobile experience?

I think it really comes down to the basic business models of the two companies and their cultures. Now I’m sure others have written much more detailed analyses on this subject so I’ll try to make it short. For example, while it’s true Apple took a very long time in developing the iPhone, it was time spent developing a user’s whole experience. That experience is how a person interacts with the phone’s hardware AND software. Apple is responsible for both and in total the whole package. We’ve read the stories about what Steve Jobs puts his folks through to get there: the long hours, the arguments, folks quitting their jobs just to get some sleep & then coming back to work. I’m sure there’s more. Apple is a company that truly cares about the user’s experience. That experience should add to a user’s life, make his life easier, more enjoyable and hopefully productive.

Now I wonder, I never hear stories about Microsoft developers stressing out to the lengths that Apple developers do. If such stories exist, let’s hear them. But I’d be surprised if such stories exist.

And what about Microsoft’s business model? Well, it’s a software company. It doesn’t make PCs or windows mobile cell phones. And there perhaps is the root of the problem with Microsoft products.

Case in point: I remember back in the late 1990’s buying an HP Jornada pocket pc. I was so excited when it arrived in the mail. But that excitement very quickly turned to frustration on trying to sync the Jornada to my brother’s gateway desktop pc. I tried several times but activesync kept timing out. After several minutes, I got on the phone with HP tech support. The usual round robin. Put the phone in the cradle-check this setting-check that setting-check that preference. The damn thing just wouldn’t sync. The tech support guy didn’t know what the problem was-is it my brother’s gateway pc? Is it something about the software or operating system on his pc? Or is it a hardware of software issue on the Jornada? Let’s point fingers but in the end I was left with a $500 package of promises that wasn’t living up to its advertising on day one. And what of the tech support guy from HP? He hung up on me when he realized I’d conceded that he was out of ideas but that I still couldn’t sync. You see, HP tech support’s hours only went to 6pm. His work day was over. Who cares about my $500 problem?

Well, I eventually did get the Jornada to sync with a desktop pc my brother had built from scratch (don’t ask why or how-it’s one of life’s mysteries). But it’s after that experience that I’ve always associated this palpable fear with Microsoft products: you’re on your own. Microsoft doesn’t make hardware, they make the software. If you have a problem with you pc or windows mobile cell phone, go play the multiple choice game of trying to figure out what the problem is-software? Hardware? Would you like to speak with two different tech support groups or browse the help page of Microsoft or some hardware company after spending hundreds or thousands of dollars?

Now, no company is perfect. I’m sure there are Apple stories out there of bad experiences. But I bet they’re not as common as Microsoft’s. You see, that palpable fear I associate with Microsoft products is the fear that no one company is truly accountable for the Microsoft experience. There’s always the fear that if something doesn’t work, I’ll spend hours with who knows who fingering pointing and probing to figure out why this Microsoft product doesn’t work as advertised. Apple, on the other hand, is responsible for both the hardware & software of their products. There’s no one else to go to when their product doesn’t work as advertised. They can’t finger point and blame someone else. So, they’d better build quality products or customers won’t be back.

Now, I’m sure some people may disagree with this article and that’s fine. But let me tell you, whether it’s using my iPhone or some other Apple product, I never have that palpable fear that if something doesn’t work I’ll be left out in the cold with tech support people taking me on some frustrating mystery ride. Instead, if I have a tech problem I can call one tech support team at Apple or even better, I can go to the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store.

But it’s also Apple’s striving for innovative, quality products that gives me that very different feeling when I use Apple products-a feeling that’s the opposite of fear -comfortable assurance.

Maybe if Microsoft focused on innovation and quality and stopped chasing internet companies like Yahoo in the name of marketshare they’d get that very marketshare that seems so elusive.

Update: Here’s a stark but sad example of how broken the microsoft “we’re a software company” business model is: As customers, their own senior executives are totally soured on Vista.Sent from my iPhone