A colleague at work pointed out a blog post about Windows Phone 7. The writer of the post bought a new phone with Windows Phone 7 installed on it. He took it back within 4 hours and had to pay a restocking fee.
I would have simply left a comment on the blog post itself, but it’s hosted on InfoWorld, and I would have to register for an account. In a day and age when a 10 year old could easily code a site to allow me to log in with an existing account (like FaceBook, Twitter, or Wordpress), InfoWorld, a site that apparently markets itself to IT professionals, requires me to create yet another account on their site. I’m tired of having to keep track of logins and passwords. I can’t tell you have many sites and blogs and forums I’ve had to create an account on just to leave a comment or view information and NEVER GO BACK AGAIN. I’m tired of it.
So I’ll just use my existing blog to share my thoughts. You can find the original post here. My colleague and I both saw the post as totally unprofessional. Ooh, a supposed professional IT journalist sees an advertisement about how cool Windows Phone 7 is, runs out, buys one, and finds it totally unworkable in real life. How the heck is that news?
I’ve paid my dues with Windows Mobile, which is now called Windows Phone. Yeah, renaming it is sure to change things. I know, they supposed rebuilt the code from scratch. That, of course, means none of the programs I’ve bought for Windows Mobile over the years will work on the new platform. I have to buy them all over again IF THE DEVELOPER EVEN DECIDES TO PURSUE THE PLATFORM. Of course, the programs I’m used to on the iPhone aren’t likely to port over quickly or easily. Most developers of programs I use are waiting to see if the darn thing actually sells before spending time developing for it. Talk about a catch-22.
I’ve had 8 devices with Windows Mobile on them, from Pocket PC’s to touchscreen phones to Smart Phones. I’ve used every version of Windows Mobile from 2002 to 6.1. Each had the same problems. In some cases, new problems were introduced. Windows Mobile 6 and 6.1 had a deliberate smtp bug BUILT INTO THE CODE which caused you to have to delete and recreate your email account after sending 2 or 3 email messages.
I finally jumped ship to the iPhone after the Samsung Epix. It was my last straw. For the most part, I like the iPhone. It’s not perfect, but it does what I want it to do well enough. I still have the iPhone 3G, which is slow and functionally obsolete even though it’s still under warranty. Yeah, I know. You have to accept that with Apple products. I’m looking forward to getting an iPhone 4 soon. I’ll probably get one just in time for the iPhone 5 to come out.
I thought the blog post was childish and whiny, even though it was correct. The commercials made Windows Phone 7 sound really cool. But in real life, it doesn’t work. The commercials say something about “take the office with you”, but you can’t. It won’t work with an encrypted Exchange server (a Microsoft product, come on, Microsoft, really?) and Pocket Office doesn’t work any better than it did on Windows Mobile 2005 when it was first rolled out. Pocket Word and Pocket Excel existed previously, but required files to be in a special mobile format. It stripped formatting out of any documents synced to the device, like resumes.
Windows Phone 7 won’t support static IP addresses for those paranoid freaks (like the blogger on InfoWorld) who can’t use DHCP because hackers are targeting THEIR HOME NETWORK for special hacking. The iPhone will!
I already have long since decided that I won’t be getting a Windows Phone 7 phone. This InfoWorld blog post was mostly a waste of my time to read (and comment on), but it validated my decision.
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