Microsoft packs 36 iPhone digs into one 7-paragraph letter

Sad, sad, sad…I currently own the old iPhone, bought it for quite a tidy sum. Pay the fees to At&t, obviously also pay for internet access through the phone, my phone has you tube on it, but it takes 10 minutes to get a 2 minute video clip, and thats in NYC. Why would I buy an iPhone again when Apple cannot sort out my problem? Why do I have to pay to get the new phone when my current one does not work well. Is apple going to let me swap my old iPhone for the new 3G phone? for how much???

Don’t feel sorry for Apple. If you were at the Keynote today, you saw that Apple gives as good as it gets. ActiveStink was classic.

Having purchased a new iPhone for $499 on March 20, 2008 (twice as slow, twice the price of the 3G), I don’t know if should consider myself a fool for having jumped into this company (Apple) and their product. The next phone will certainly NOT be an iPhone unless some from of customer care is offered.

Maybe the open, competitive MS Mobile platform will keep foolish consumers like myself satisfied…

I guess the truth hurts.

For about a week, I have been using iPhone version 2.0 Beta software on the old 1.0 hardware with support for enterprise email (MS Exchange) – before that, I was a WM6 user on a BlackJack II… in my opinion, the two experiences don’t even come close… I am NEVER going back to a windows mobile device – the value of nearly functional browser in iphone, far exceeds anything else (like multi-touch screen and well-thought user-interface)

Nothing wrong with that letter. All they try to do is highlight what they regard as their strengths vs the iPhone. It´s called positioning.

I used to own a Windows Mobile phone. After 6 months I gave up. It crashed several times a day, it was virtually impossible to use as a phone because you had to wade through umpteen menu choices to get to it and needed both hands to operate it. The email client was a joke and the web browser was completely useless. Oh, and btw, it had no iPod.

I now own an iPhone and gone are the days when my pockets bulge with phone, camera and iPod. I only carry my iPhone. I even hardly ever need to schlep a laptop with me.

And you know what the best part is?

IT JUST WORKS!

It’s funny how people accept gross exaggerations and outright lies from Apple in their ads, on their websites, and so on about their so-called “innovations” or how MS sucks in comparison. But when Microsoft touts its real strengths that it usually does such a poor job marketing, people (or rather, Apple Fan boys) have a problem with that.

I don’t like to take sides, but I have no respect for ANY company whose marketing strategy is based on nothing but lies. Apple does make products that look great, and work great after the first version. Why not focus on that and spare us the lies about innovations or how competitors don’t have feature X when they’ve had it for years. Nothing irks me more than the claim that PCs are just good for “piecharts and spreadsheets”, or that auto-complete in a soft-keyboard is an “apple innovation”.

I have an easy formula for gauging the quality of a particular technology. When commenters start paragraphs off with “From an IT guy…” I know to believe the opposite of what they’re saying. The fact that myopic IT droids with their super nifty MS certifications are anti-iPhone is proof Apple has an excellent and innovative product. You get what you pay for. Apple’s 30 year old fad has been a magnificent ride for this pretentious fool who likes to waste money. Thanks, JD!

I have a Dell computer and a Iphone. I could not care less about MS or Apple. The bad news is that my Iphone SUCKS. I love it for music, internet and everything else it offers but as a phone it is shocking. My wife had a Blackberry Pearl on the AT&T network just like my Iphone. When I need to make a call I have to use her phone. I am not Apple bashing just telling it the way it is. Yes, I’ll get the 3G when it comes out and I hope this time the phone works.

Guys, it a friggen phone! Get outside for a minute.. Touch a tree, go camping, and turn off your phone.

The Iphone is great.. and pushed expectations.. but it just means that in 3 years everyone will be where the Iphone is.. and its just going to be about as usefull as that “unbelievable” palm you had 7 years ago.

I could really care less if MSFT did fully intend this about Apple. I see an Apple commercial EVERY DAY where Apple bashes PS. Now then I have read ALL the posts here and find a few comments are so totally off base it makes me chuckle. Now I am not sure what rock some of these people have been living under but they not watch (or at least read about) the new ENTERPRISE path that Apple is taking the iphone on. Lets see they are going to bypass the whole RIM thing and not FORCE all your emails to go out of country before getting to your phone. They are beefing up security with things like remote wipe and enterprise level security features. This first iphone was nothing more than a bete product to get customer feedback (from all levels of use). The iphone you are going to see on Monday is the real iphone and is going to make a lot of heads turn. Did none of you WM fans not read about all the Fortune 500 companies that want to switch to iphones after this release?

Apple:
We’ve got (1) mobile OS that does not suck with a (2) browser that is not horribly broken on (3) a phone that is pleasant to use.

What again is wrong with the letter? I didn’t see any Apple slams. Unless you are an insecure, overly sensitive type, with Apple branded on your forehead.

The memo doesn’t say that they did sell 20 million units only that they will sell 20 million. Meh. Also “last quarter year-over-year sales” figure is technically correct but misleading. MS says that if you compare Mar 07-Mar 08, they sold more smartphones than Apple sold iPhones to date. Considering that iPhone became available June 27 (less than 1 year) and the iPhone is a 1st gen product, this makes their sales comparison weak. It smacks of desperation.

The author must be smoking something while standing in the reality distortion field. Apple’s entire advertising strategy is based on taking cheap digs at its competitors (i.e., ms and pc makers).

two things rile me about this blog post. firstly, some of the things stated here are not ‘digs at the iphone, or even shivs directed between steve jobs’ ribs’, they are common sense. Secondly, are you honestly saying that apple are the only ones that are actually allowed to make snidey comments about competitors?

come on cnn. I know this is a post by an apple fan, of sorts, but i kind of expect more from such a reputable news organisation.

It’s good to let them compete, we as consumers will get better product, better price, better service and good altitude.

So he’s saying that it took 50 handset makers with 150 models of phones and 160 carriers to outsell Apple with essentially 2 models and a fledgling number of global mobile operator partners. Sounds like a fair fight to me.

The difference between the iPHone and the Windows Mobile phones is that the iPHone’s mutli-touch interface enables it to be used as a mini-pc, whereas Windows mobile is a phone with an address list. Prior to the iPhone, other phones had web browsers, but nobody actually used it for browsing, because the user experience is painful. So while other catch up with the iPHone, watch Apple start crafting the multi-touch experience around other applications, such as documents, books, etc.

M/S is spot on. They are not lying about the capabilities of their platform or WM devices.

What M/S does leave out, of course, is that Windows Mobile is a completely unstable, unreliable and from an end user standpoint almost entirely unusable platform for 99.9% of the people who own a Windows Mobile phone.

20MM licenses in one year is pretty impressive.

What’s MORE impressive is how much more internet traffic a few million iPhones generate compared to 10s of millions of WM phones.

What does that tell MS and the rest of the world? WM devices are practically unusable no matter how many great features they offer.

I was a WM user for 6 years before switching to the iPhone last year. I will never go back to WM. I miss Word and Excel in my pocket but that will change Monday when the iPhone opens to third party developers.

This letter is WM’s death knell. WM may dominate the mobile landscape today, but in a few years WM be exactly like the statute of Ozymandias, a colossal wreck, boundless and bare, where the lone and level sands stretch far away.

I count 564 digs: (1) Earlier (2) this (3) year, (4) I (5) joined (6) an (7) amazing (8) group (9) of (10) people…

Hey Micosoft,

Just develope a product that is visionary and works then you won’t have to slam the competetion.

Your product will do all the talking.

Randy, TX

Microsoft is missing the boat here. They need a brown ZunePhone.

Wow, I just saw it! The letter states nearly 20 million smart phones using Windows Mobile and 150 different handset choices.

That means that on average, about 134,000 devices have been sold for each handset choice.

Sounds like they have a very high volume, high efficiencies of scale going here.

Fair enough…
But take the article in context, Ballmer is afraid of what the Iphone is capable of . You dont think this was a carefully crafted and timed memo to help retain his customers when the Iphones are out of carrier contracts?
ATT only has a year left in exclusivity.
If you think success is a %28 stock and the inability to close a crucial deal in the internet market space… then my MSFT friends, your kidding yourselves.
Fanatic,yes…only after 10 years of buying windows machines loaded with crapware and susceptible to viruses. From Microdoft to “FANBOY” in two years.
I want my devices to work like a refridgerator. You open it its col.
You wanna surf the web on your phone,you do it.
I was surfing the web faster than most people in Vietnam last week on my iphone. Through the edge network. Faster than the widely available adsl connections.
They work!

This sounds more like a post mortem.

Good post ped.

It is total war and MS knows it. If you are VP of that division you need to assure your partners and vendors that everything is great. You need to increase your rhetoric.
This is pure politics and every word highlighted is a defensive move.

Do not be naive they (MS) spent a week or two writing memo like that. It is not about marketing it is about politics.

MSFT is trading about where it was 5 years ago for a reason. Progress and growth have been lackluster simply b/c they have offered nothing highly compelling to make us want more of their products.

The iPhone is not a fad and it is not just about the coolness of the multi-touch screen. It is a device, besides a phone, that allows users to access the internet in ways never before. The number of iPhone users on the web compared to other mobiles OS is astounding! Sure my HP iPaq gets me online, and is a reason why I spent nearly 500 bucks for it a while back, but b/c it’s such a pain, I rarely do so. I laugh when some say that it does nothing new… sure, it just does it a lot better to where one actually uses it! And that’s what it’s all about… making products that people will actually use b/c it is a pleasure to do so.

No OS does everything. If Microsoft, Apple, and every one that contributes to Linux would put there heads together, then maybe we would have an OS that provides beautiful interfaces with perfect processing.

Andy Lees letter? Who cares? MS taking shots at Apple? What else is new? Is any of this nonsense newsworthy? No way. When I need to use email, write a nice letter or make a quality spreadsheet, I think Microsoft. When I need to get creative, make money with a computer or increase the productivity of my staff, I think Apple. When I want to make a cell phone call, I couldn’t care less about how cool my phone is, my $39 vintage 1995 Motorola T70 does everything I need it to do. Who has time to be entertained by a smartphone or iphone? Sheesh….this “debate” is pure unadulterated crap. Buy whatever you want to buy and shut-up.

I love reading the windiot comments on this M$ article for a change :D They seem to be as clueless and in denial as the “apple fanatics” they like to bash. In the end, PED is caught in the middle and loving it :P.

Are you kidding me? Anytime a company mentions its successes, you find it to be a jab to Apple if they have not yet achieved the same? I don’t see what Microsoft did wrong.

Just because you think that Windows Mobile is a failure does not mean they are going to run and put their head in the sand.

Wow, what an ego you have to think all of that is an attack on your platform of choice. They mentioned apple ONCE, everything else was simply touting their own product.

Fred,
with your “hard data”

trailing data will not do much for analysis of a company like apple. Are you serious about the centro(google:palm market penetration)
Iphone launched in one country,the us in its first iteration. Rimm’s blackberry has been selling for a decade.Crackberry users that access the internet is %17 ,first time iphone owners access the internet at a rate around %87 …
how do guys like you reconcile that fact. Its a little computer in your pocket that happens to make phone calls.
Oh yeah…as of yesterday Aapl has carrier agreements with 70 countries. Including Hong Kong, Japan,South Korea. JAPAN where 3g is the standard.Do you understand the concept of growing market penetration.
Its really sad that it took a personal computing company(aapl) to get the cell phone to become a device that people dont switch every 6 months. Look forward to the release,and the crown jewel-buy more products from them. Can you say Halo effect. %50 growth in yoy sales for the Mac.
AAPL products just work… how much time and money do you windows guys spend on anti virus programs and the geek squad?
I dont even know of an apple virus protection program… Curious
AAPL long(ya think)

Congrats Philip. You were just called an Applehead and declared to be infatuated with the iPhone. I never thought you would be blamed for slanting an article in Apple’s favor.

You should probably be careful, because it does seem that the pull of the reality distortion field on you is getting stronger.

This article is drivel. Microsoft touts their own products…so what? What company doesn’t, including Apple? Or should we all bow down to Steve Jobs and just hand the entire consumer electronics market over to him and not let anyone say anything that could be construed as anti-Apple? Both companies have done things well and both have done things poorly? They are competing. Let them do that and find something worthwhile to write about.

How open iPhone will be? Are we creating another monopoly and bully?

How is the Iphone a fad? Next week the 3rd party vendor store will be open, globally it is on all sorts of carriers networks. As far as OEMs, I am not sure how that is a strength. It is part of the reason that Windows Mobile is so watered down. You have to hand it to RIM for their security, not even Windows has that in any of their spaces. In fact, now that the IPhone has Exchange capabilities next week, the weaknesses in that “semi-push” platform are thrust on it. I am amazed at anyone who shows love for the Windows Mobile platform, it is a cobbled-together mess.

Why would I buy a Windows phone that doesn’t have a reliable computer operating system to work with? I use both Windows/Mac systems daily and for many, many years. When Microsoft gets a new and “real” computer operating system that doesn’t hiccup every day, sometimes repeatedly, and meshes it with their phone, then we can talk about comparing features, flexibility, reliability, phone freedom, etc. In the meantime, Apple continues to dominate.

Not a fan of MS here, but definitely not a fan of Apple either. Looking at the iPhone, besides the touchscreen feature, what does it provide that no other phone doesn’t already?

I have a Symbian Based phone and it does everything the iPhone does minus the “nifty” touchscreen that made people go gaga over this phone. And mine came out 1 year prior. I faced off against an iPhone user and despite that I was using just a reguar number pad compared to his touchscreen, I beat him at everything from surfing the web to finding phone numbers to playing MP3 music loudly and clearly(and my phone only has 10MB system space with a 2GB MiniSD card).

Worse off, how can a phone like this be used in an enterprise enviroment that is mainly Domains and Exchange Servers (where Microsoft shine with Windows Mobile).

Apple only caters to those who want to “look cool” and not care of the price. They are a fad company and as such are treated like one. Even Steve Jobs thinks putting “enterprise level support” on Macs is useless.

From an IT guy, Apple is worthless in a business environment. The only way Apple will ever get near Microsoft is if they suddenly decide to work alongside them (or against them better) and work into integrating themselves into networks that are pro-MS.

I think that people underestimate Apple. Yes Microsoft has an enormous marketshare, but who is converting the college students, and younger generation. Apple, by far, is getting the new generation and as they grow up and get into the business world things will change.
As far as the Iphone goes, it is not a fad, and there is simply no Windows Mobile device that is as simple to use, has as quality a touch screen, and works as well as the Iphone. Some of the new features aren’t necessary, but simply add to features of a great tool. I didn’t think I wanted an Iphone for a long time, until I actually used one. Don’t beat something down until you have tried using it.

Another commenter said it perfectly:

“Many items you outline as “digs” are simple statements of fact.”

“iPhone” was just added to this article to get page-views at the time apple introduces the 3G version.

Thankfully I’m smart enough that I don’t need to overpay for apple’s fischer-price interface on its range of products. I have a pretty wired home and it is apple-free and problem-free!

Wow, talk about seeing things that aren’t there.

Microsoft releases what is pretty much a standard makreting letter, talking up the features of their platform, and you see some sort of veiled dig at iPhone in practically every sentence? You sound like an incredibly insecure iPhone early adopter. Gee, maybe Microsoft should avoid talking about any feature they have that iPhone doesn’t lest they be seen as taking a jab at the all-powerful, all-knowing iPhone!

Get a grip. Everything doesn’t have to be about Apple or iPhone. Other companies are allowed to talk about their products and features too. Even when they deliver things iPhone doesn’t.

There are lots of us who wait for Version 2 of anything before we buy it. If the iPhone is half as good as the blogosphere hopes, I’m going to buy my first one.

Windows Mobile is not as widespread as the letter will have you believe. Symbian has more than 10x their market share and 100 million units shipped in the last 18 months. I know very few people who like WM anyway. Its crudely inferior interface is vague, arbitrary, rigid and clumsy all at the same time.

Compared to some excellent alternatives, deploying anything with Windows on it is nearly irresponsible.

“A product (iPhone) that generates rafts of “buzz” is a failure if it doesn’t meet everyone’s unreasonably high expectations, while a product (Vista) that meets dismally low expectations is a resounding success. Brilliant.”

The same logic went into many of the government projects, wher the project fails to complete by the first deadline, they push it back to a new deadline; then third; then fourth…by the time the project is completed prior to the 17th deadline, everyone gets a pat on the back, along with a huge bonus for beating the deadline. When you allow the bar to move downwards along the failures, as we continue to dumbdown to meet the lowest of expectations, you will continue to come up with lousy products that exceeds expectations.

josh, princeton NJ : June 6, 2008 11:51 am

Josh, Hummm…

Do you track data at all?

Perhaps you need to do a little homework before you start name calling.

1. Vista?!
2. what is MSFT 28$ a share APPL 187$
3. Apple increase in market share
4. MSFT is software Apple is hardware

the list goes on and on, you moron!

“Only those whom are stupid should feel stupid, and they are too stupid to know.”

@ jim in the netherlands
your a moron if you think apple is overtaking microsofts market share of anything except mp3 players anytime soon
most of those people buying the new iphone already own a regular iphone which doesnt really expand market share.
and for OS and all the other products microsoft releases it will be quitea while before apple beats out windows in market share

They just don’t get it. Consumers don’t like freedom and features if it means they have a product that’s unreliable and difficult to use.

To Lucas regarding your comment “Apple has had more trouble meeting expectations than Microsoft has. With all the buzz the iPhone has they should’ve exceeded their own targets.” In fact the iPhone will exceed the targets.

Where do people come up with this stuff? Apple has continually exceeded expectations. As for Microsoft, even though consumer expectations are extremely low for this compnay, they still can’t meet them – can you say “Vista”, or “Zune”? Have you looked at stock performance lately – do you actually follow these companies?

The thing that always brings me back to the Iphone is when I try to use the browser on my “forced on me” blackberry pearl. My thumb goes into cramp mode as I have roll my finger thousands of times to scroll through the inept browser. This is the first iteration of Apples phone. People forget that Micro$oft and Rim have been making these phones for years. Android will be good, but with all of the patents that Apple holds we will have to wait and see what Google can produce. Lastly, people can complain about the fanboys, but Microsoft has their own. (That is if you can pry them away from late night XBOX360 parties and the multicolor glow of their “lowrider” pimped Vista PCs.)

>>Apple has had more trouble meeting expectations than Microsoft has.<>With all the buzz the iPhone has they should’ve exceeded their own targets.<<

A product (iPhone) that generates rafts of “buzz” is a failure if it doesn’t meet everyone’s unreasonably high expectations, while a product (Vista) that meets dismally low expectations is a resounding success. Brilliant.

To add some hard numbers. In Q1 MS shipped 4.3 million WM devices, while Apple shipped 1.7 million iPhones.

MS grew shipments by 1.9 million in Q1, more than Apple’s total shipment of 1.7 million.

Apple is losing market share to the Centro of all things.

Philip,
Your prejudice is showing, and so are your doubts about the iPhone.

Many items you outline as “digs” are simple statements of fact.

How can Windows Mobile, a software product, be compared to the iPhone, a complete system? It’s apples and oranges.

The iPhone is a great product and Apple is a great co. and Steve Jobs is one of the great entrepreneurs of our time, but other companies should be expected to brag about their own products. Why is Microsoft not allowed to do this without the “evil” implication? They certainly have no monopoly in the phone business.

Fortune and the Wall Street Journal seem to have a mental problem with Microsoft. MSFT’s stuff is never good enough and their intentions are always nefarious in both your views. Don’t they place enough ads with you guys or what?

Even if it is a jab at Apple, so what? That’s business. Don’t forget about Apple ads that harp on Windows problems.

The writer is obviously an Applehead. I count one reference, possibly construed as a negative comment concerning Iphones. That msft outlines in details the breadth of their offering has little to do with Apple. The writer is so infatuated with the Iphone, that one could praise the virtues of Mother Theresa, and he would see that as a dig at Apple.

I can’t recall in my adult life seeing so my sychophantic cultist as I do with the Appleheads

Two teams are in the final seconds of a basketball game and the score is tied. As the clock ticks down 3, 2, 1… a player on one team takes and makes a 3-point shot to win the game. As fans pour onto the court to mob the winning team, an assistant coach from the losing team screams to anyone who will listen that the last-second shooter had his foot on the line — it was actually a 2-point shot. No one cares except the whining assistant coach, because even though there may be truth in his claim it doesn’t change the outcome of the game. Microsoft simply doesn’t get it.

The Apple iphone is nothing more than a fad. It was the first phone with a unique touch interface, and people overpaid for it. Windows Mobile PCs actually provide real value all the way around. Don’t get me wrong, the iphone is cool. Just not a long lasting product. Apple is good with the ipod and itunes, but thats about it.

How is this desperate? These are all very valid facts. The iPhone may be sexy & cool, but is not a practical platform. Windows, however, is a mobile platform that is open to carriers, 3rd-party developers & OEMs. In this regard, windows mobile is light years beyond the iPhone.

The thing that I don’t understand is why everytime apple has a wet fart, the press goes nuts in praising it.

what??
digs?
you have too much time on your hands

Microsoft is a joke and Vista is their punchline.

Apple has had more trouble meeting expectations than Microsoft has. With all the buzz the iPhone has they should’ve exceeded their own targets.

Microsoft is toast.

Apple is gain market shares as Microsoft helplessly loses.

Don’t auto-smiley’s just drive you NUTS?!?!? (8)