Guardian’s Charles Arthur recommends that Nadella scap WP, go with forked Android

The Guardian’s Technology Editor is giving Satya Nadella some advice. Scrap WP and instead, go with a forked Android.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/07/satya-nadella-mobile-windows-phone-android

Charles finds that despite WP’s growth, it’s still much too slow and insignificant. The advice is akin to Nokia dumping Symbian. Dump WP, and then save on the development costs. Whilst forking Android wouldn’t be a trivial issue, it may be easier than the WP pursuit.

Nadella said they’d be a mobile and cloud first company. They’d ruthlessly remove any obstacles to innovation. Microsoft would focus on things Microsoft is good at and can uniquely bring.

Windows never really took off in mobile. So it wasn’t something MS was good at. Perhaps that means WP could be culled? Then again, Windows is MS’s bread and butter. RT is getting closer and closer to being ready for mobile.

Windows Phone was a wonderful project, but it was too late; the benefits of integration across handset, tablet and desktop simply haven’t appeared. The vast majority of people who use a desktop PC don’t use a Windows smartphone, and there’s no chance of that changing any time soon – or ever, actually.

AOSP offers Microsoft the chance to remake its mobile strategy so that it exploits all the strengths of its most bitter rival – it’s free, widely available – and grab mobile developer interest. An all-out war between Microsoft and Google using the Android platform would be absolutely fascinating; both would be pressed on their strengths and weaknesses. For Microsoft, presently a distant third in this race, it could be the answer it needs.

I guess, Xbox was also late to the party right? What if MS had given up then?

On top of the external challenges WP and Nokia have faced, one of the biggest obstacles to innovation is Microsoft itself. Like, seriously, who takes this long to do the simplest things? Those are some bad lessons MS took from Nokia.

In related news, Steve Wozniak wants Apple to make Android phones.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-02/07/woz-interview

I guess the only way Microsoft boardroom would consider Android is to truly ‘fork it up’ by being successful in their own right. Ecosystem, ecosystem, ecosystem right? :p

Cheers spacemodel for the tip!

Category: Nokia