AllAboutSymbian trying Windows Phone (RANT) Welcome to the WPFanclub :p

This post struck a chord with me as the feedback reflects what we’re getting here.

One of the things that came out of the Feb 11 Microsoft Partnership is that Symbian blog, “AllAboutSymbian” could also transition along with Nokia. All About Symbian is of course THE number one place for Symbian-Nokia news.

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/12927_Trying_WindowsPhone_in_the_rea.php

It is the LARGEST site dedicated to Symbian on the web with the most recognizable Symbian personalities in the blogosphere. Now these guys are probably already familiar with Windows Phone (and other OSes – they have another recent feature on BlackBerry). Steve Litchfield already reviews all sorts of phone OSes on his Smartphones Show. But in terms of content, they’ve been sticking primarily to Symbian news. It is in the title of course. There are other Symbian blogs that post all kinds of Nokia related news too (including WP), I don’t see a problem with that. We as a Nokia Blog want to talk about anything and everything (as free time allows) that is Nokia related and most of the time, we do.

Try before you cry

The most heated debates are ones from articles talking about Windows Phone (and indirectly, anything that damages the Symbian name). It’s understandable that after having ammased a HUUGE fanbase of Symbian Fans and diehard Symbian Evangelists, you’ll see quite an uproar from folks used to the versatility of such a feature packed handset. It’s difficult to accept Nokia’s new direction, trying to appeal to the larger masses with these “simpler” phones that “might as well be feature phones” if you concur with the negative comments. That could also be seen as “improved usability for masses, sort features out later”. Nokia’s focus isn’t to retain “Symbian users” but “Nokia users” and get new users in this ever growing arena.

Used it, don’t like it. <<That’s fair.

It is fair that having used Windows Phone, users CAN decide that they don’t like it. That’s the case with everything. But then there are occasions too when, without any experience, folks will bash another group without ever trying out what they’re complaining against. That also goes for anything (e.g. sucktard iPhone users complaining about Android having never touched one, or pseudogeek-come-idiot Android user that has never played with an iPhone). It’s fair though if you just inately hate BlackBerry. RIM sucks. (jooooke!!!)

As Nokia fans, we get annoyed when some clueless analyst and supposed tech blogger whines about Symbian when really they just haven’t used it either long enough or at all. Some misinformation is just spread verbatim. It’s unfamiliar, therefore we must hate. We emplore these folks to try it out and actually see, Symbian is NOT as bad as people make it out to be. It can get things done. Sure it has problems and needs some fixing (that’s an entirely different post) but it isn’t as bad as some people would make it out to be.

The same then can be applied to Windows Phone (and possibly any OS for that matter). Unless you’ve actually TRIED it, it’s difficult to formulate an actual valid opinion. Sure looking at screenshots and watching demoes gives us an appreciation for what it might be like, but it’s using it day in, day out as your main phone for usual tasks that will provide the best judgement. After using it since February, I’m liking it. It has its issues, some to be addressed in Mango, others – who knows. Sometimes I can see there are certain aspects of it that I prefer over Symbian, and vice versa. Overall, I like it and there’s some good potential there. That doesn’t make us fanboys for liking it.

However, playing a phone in a try before buy….that’s not really a possibility for everyone. We can’t all just willy-nilly get devices to try out for periods of time (Though Nokia do have their loan programme/trial for bloggers/online personalities – WOMWorldNokia is one such avenue). That’s unfortunate because Windows Phone is possibly the hardest to appreciate just by looking at images and demo videos. I’m not going to go into discussing Metro UI or Windows Phone OS. If you can give it a go, I’d recommend it. If trying means buying first and if FEATURES takes precedent then you might want to avoid until Mango is there or future updates that brings it closer to Symbian. There maybe some other hardware factors to consider too that affects over all user experience.

Here’s some choice quotes from the AAS article:

– Ewan:

“Right now, while I’m still in the middle of the test, it wouldn’t be fair to judge the outcome, but I can say this: I can do the things I want to do online with the Trophy. It might not be graceful, or optimised, but I’m not feeling limited. In fact there’s confidence that Windows Phone will continue to do what I need it to do. That’s a great feeling to have after a few days on the road, and one day of Conferencing.”

tnkrbo:

“If you like Nokia phones then definitely wait for their upcoming phones with Windows phone Mango. I know its cool to hate on Microsoft, but after owning a Samsung Omnia 7 for about a month now, I can honestly tell you that, if and when you try a Windows phone you’ll never go back to Symbian. This is coming from a guy who has known nothing else in the mobile world but Symbian, from S60 v2 phones and S60 feature pack 2 & 3 phones to Symbian 3rd edition devices and the current crop of Symbian ^3 devices, I have done them all.

Trust me when you go Windows phone, you can’t go back!”

Jo Beann

Man, we have so many similar comments. “When are you going to change to MyMicrosoftBlog”…”Is this mywindowsphoneblog”…blardiblah. As mentioned, AAS is making the transition on what they cover. (There was already allaboutmaemo and allaboutmeego). I’m not sure what name they’re choose. As for us, we’re a Nokia Blog. Microsoft and Nokia have a big partnership for Windows Phone. We want to follow this story all the way through. Nokia’s Official Blog talks about Windows Phone too.

Are you going to change the name of this site to All About Windows Phone.  There seems to be a significant of WP related information these days.  It seems that you are just dropping Symbian much as Nokia have.

Rahul

Ha, they’d still get the same flack.

Maybe you should change the title to All About Nokia or something …

pjthelogan

– I’m a Nokia supporter. I Want this. As I suspect many Nokia people who buy Nokia for the name.

Dear Nokia, None of your supporters want this…

Here’s some comments from another WP-AAS thread.

Rafe Blandford responds

As I’ve said before we will be covering both Symbian and Windows Phone. Realistically our main audience for the last few years has been Nokia smartphone owners and developers. Our future coverage will reflect that.

For the time being limited Nokia related Windows Phone coverage will appear on AAS – this will change in the future. Symbian coverage and AAS will also continue full steam even as the transition happens. After all there are new Symbian phones to come and there will be people using them for many years to come.

This is really understandable given that blogs are a livelihood for some folks. It’s difficult if you just stick to what your title says if that topic title somehow has a sell-by-date or somewhat sidelined. I’d rather have blogs transition than disappear (e.g. SymbianGuru). Rafe, Ewan, Steve and co are also very much passionate tech and Nokia fans and I’d love to have their take on non-Symbian things if/when Symbian activity significantly ramps down. It all boils down to whether the readers are willing to join you for the ride. Thankfully, here, there are some and your interaction makes this all the worth while – even if they aren’t all in agreement with what we write :).

For us, this is just a hobby thing we do on the side. A lot of us are students or working. Posting in free time. I do this blog because I’m an odd Nokia Addict. Every other thing on my mind somehow relates to Nokia and whilst I have this platform, I’d like to share these thoughts. I don’t know how long I’ll have that passion or how long I can keep this up for. I’ll do what I can – fortunately we have a great team to keep things ticking over (cheers!) helped by YOU guys who provide us the awesomest tips for posting :D.

Cheers @bensmith who tweeted about the Angry AAS commenters :p

Category: Nokia, Rant, Symbian, Windows Phone