Mobius Day One
Posted on 09 December 2008, at 12:05 pm, by Judie Lipsett
I’m presently in Seattle attending Mobius with a group of 20-something other bloggers. I am not sure how much of the discussion will be NDA or open for posting, but I will update as possible…
One of the first things passed out this morning were Mobius branded Flip Video mino HDs. David seems to really like his, and I am looking forward to trying mine.
HD…yummy.
Quick observations from the morning’s presentations as they occur:
-There are 25 of us here, and I count 10 Macs, and of them at least four are MacBook Airs. Nice.
I don’t see any EeePcs this time, but they may be down the row from me and not visible.
-Interesting overview on Microsoft branding – and a question: How many people (other than us geeks) honestly pay attention to the OS that is driving their Mobile Phone? In other words, is it more about the hardware or is it more about the software? Your thoughts?
-We’re getting an overview on Windows 7 now. We’ve been promised eval copies when it comes out. Maybe I will load it on my Air…unless it feels too much like a Vista update…which right now it does.
Windows 7 looks like it will have easier home networking; something I feel that my Mac has nailed, but my PCs never did.
Several of us are worried that there isn’t much bring shown in the mobile device integration arena. Maybe we just haven’t seen it, yet?
I am trying to figure out where the pizazz and wow starts with Windows 7; nothing I have seen yet is what I consider a must have feature, and nothing is making me think that I should ditch OSX/XP…yet.
-I am slightly envious of the abandon Matt Miller has showed by plastering stickers all over his MacBook. I just don’t think I could do it to my Air, but it looks fun!
-the rest of the afternoon was spent in NDA discussions about the Windows Mobile roadmap.
Attendees are:
- Joel Evans, Geek.com
- Rafe Blandford, All About Symbian
- Paul O’Brien, MoDaCo.com
- Arne Hess, The Unwired
- Ryan Block, Gdgt
- Judie Lipsett, Gear Diary
- Rich Brome, PhoneScoop
- Jason Dunn, Thoughts Media
- Michael Oryl, Mobile Burn
- Lisa Gade, MobileTechReview
- Ed Hardy, Brighthand
- Sascha Segan, Gear Log
- Michael Gartenberg, Mobile Devices Today
- G-A Gay, Akihabara News
- Dieter Bohn, WM Experts
- Chris Ziegler, Engadget
- Vincent Nguyen, SlashGear
- Mike Temporale, MobileJaw
- Clinton Fitch, ClintonFitch.com
- Pressian Karakostov, PhoneArena
- Leigh Geary, Cool Smartphone
- Shane Chiang, PPCSG.com
- Jerome Tranie, Sojeng
- Paul Matt, ThreeGMobile.net
- Kzou, HTC Fan
- Matt Miller, ZDNet Cellphones and Smartphones
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December 9th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Windows 7 is a elimination of Vista’s cruft that noone liked. It’s XP2 with a way prettier interface.
December 9th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Is it just me or could that “Windows 7 Goals” have been applied to just about every prior release including Vista?
I’m curious what (if anything) is in store for Windows Mobile.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Wayne, I totally agree with you on 7.
WM: I am curious about how it will all be pulled off. And that’s all I can say about that.
December 9th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Judie, regarding your question on mobile phones, I suspect for most people that it is a bit of both hardware and software. I think most people have a feel for the hardware design that fits them best – some want a thumb board on the front of the unit, a’ la Blackberry Curve, Pearl, etc, some want a slide out keyboard, etc.
But I think Matt Miller, James Kendrick and Kevin Tofel nailed it in their latest podcast when they talked about the latest Nokia smartphone – most people may not be aware of which OS is driving their smartphone, but they do know what makes for a good user experience, and Apple is the current benchmark. One of them (I think Matt) made the comment that the iPhone OS feels like it was made from the ground up for the touch environment; Symbian, Blackberry Storm, Windows Mobile, and even Android all have their moments when the interface lets the user down, where the OS fails to take good advantage of the touch interface.
For me, I bailed from Windows Mobile once the applications I needed started showing up on the iPhone (clarification – I do not have an iPhone – I have an iPod Touch, along with a conventional cell phone – cost and work issue) – I still can’t believe just how well the interface works, and how intuitive some of the interface works on the Touch. Yes, there is still issues that need to be addressed (no Cut and Paste?), but for most of what I do, it is easier on my Touch than it was on Windows Mobile 5.
In my opinion, Microsoft has made the same mistake with Windows Mobile that they made with Internet Explorer – they failed to upgrade either to keep up with consumer expectations, and competitors have come along to take over – Firefox in the browser world, iPhone on the smartphones.
Considering that Balmer claimed a while back that the iPhone wouldn’t go anywhere, they have no one to blame but themselves for dragging their feet in the mobile environment.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:31 am
Judie, don’t be mean about Windows Mobile. Particularly since I know Ed’s not going to tell me anything usefuly when he gets back: he needs somebody who can write about WM rumors without breaking an NDA.
Personally I think it’s a mistake to assume that there’s any one way of looking at what drives phone purchases. Some people key on brand name, some on design, some on platform.
The important thing is, what does your target demo look at? I think that the higher-end customers–i.e. the profitable ones, who are willing to drop a few hundred on a phone rather than getting the free models–are more likely to look at design and ergonomics than they are other factors. After all, you can generally find basic software or capabilities to fit your needs on a lot of platforms (including some “dumb” phones), and there’s a lot of commonality between hardware features among higher-end devices. But one thing that isn’t universal is the user experience, how it FEELS. And this is a device you’re going to be handling every day, so if it’s less than 100% friendly, the user is going to see that and feel it every day.
December 10th, 2008 at 10:06 am
@mcsouth and Adama – Thank you for your comments! Those were the types of replies I was hoping to see.
Adama – I am not going to be mean about Windows Mobile! I just looked at my comment above, and I think you might have thought that when I was talking about 7 (desktop), I meant some future version of Windows Mobile. Maybe I should have put my second sentence on a new line to separate them.
Anyway, just because I am not currently using one of their devices (which may change, btw), does not mean that I don’t still have huge appreciation for the WM platform and hope that they will not only stay competitive, but that they will stay relevant.
The beauty of a gathering such as this is that we can express our feelings directly to Microsoft, and give them feedback about what they are doing right or wrong. I certainly can’t see any other company entertaining the same open dialogue…
December 10th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Update: I put a space in between my desktop and WM sentences.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Oh I understood the sentence structure. I just know how tempting it can be when you’re under an NDA to drop hints.
December 12th, 2008 at 1:09 am
Ha, no fear; I never, ever break NDAs.
December 12th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I never imagined you would, madame.