Monday, July 8, 2002
Why didn't mobile platforms trip Microsoft up?
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "ARTICLE" @ 05:00 PM
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107-941994.html
So many people for so long thought, and still think, Microsoft won't enjoy any appreciable success in the mobile device market. After all, their numbers are still somewhere in the 20%-30% world wide market share, well short of Microsoft utter domination fame. Handheld PCs never really took off and have seemingly been relegated to industrial and corporate use. The Palm-sized PC was only slightly more successful. Even the Pocket PC didn't really get cranked up until early spring of 2001 when iPAQ's were in full supply, but by then, it had happened. Developers and users saw what a mobile device was capable of. The buzz of "Stinger" was in the air and a Phone Edition of the Pocket PC was in the works. Merlin, aka Pocket PC 2002, development was well underway.
And then there are the three things Ballmer credits with the overwhelming success of many Microsoft Products. Developers, developers and developers. Then Microsoft started giving away development kits for Pocket PCs. Apps were born every few hours it seemed and we snapped them up. Free, $5, $25, even $50. We didn't care. It freed us from our desks in ways not thought possible.
Now others in the PDA/Mobile Device industry, those that were panning Microsoft's mobile attempts are recognizing the fruits of MS's labors. Read the article from ZDNet. "I remember someone writing that Windows would never succeed against the Macintosh because DOS had been architected in such a way that it would take a massive effort to allow it to support graphics properly. We all know what happened there. I think in the mobile space, we are seeing just that same kind of effect, once again."
So many people for so long thought, and still think, Microsoft won't enjoy any appreciable success in the mobile device market. After all, their numbers are still somewhere in the 20%-30% world wide market share, well short of Microsoft utter domination fame. Handheld PCs never really took off and have seemingly been relegated to industrial and corporate use. The Palm-sized PC was only slightly more successful. Even the Pocket PC didn't really get cranked up until early spring of 2001 when iPAQ's were in full supply, but by then, it had happened. Developers and users saw what a mobile device was capable of. The buzz of "Stinger" was in the air and a Phone Edition of the Pocket PC was in the works. Merlin, aka Pocket PC 2002, development was well underway.
And then there are the three things Ballmer credits with the overwhelming success of many Microsoft Products. Developers, developers and developers. Then Microsoft started giving away development kits for Pocket PCs. Apps were born every few hours it seemed and we snapped them up. Free, $5, $25, even $50. We didn't care. It freed us from our desks in ways not thought possible.
Now others in the PDA/Mobile Device industry, those that were panning Microsoft's mobile attempts are recognizing the fruits of MS's labors. Read the article from ZDNet. "I remember someone writing that Windows would never succeed against the Macintosh because DOS had been architected in such a way that it would take a massive effort to allow it to support graphics properly. We all know what happened there. I think in the mobile space, we are seeing just that same kind of effect, once again."
