Times have changed, the advent of smart-phones has meant that where in the past people would go out and choose a new phone for it's size, or later the megapixel count of its camera, the phone is now seen as a "computer in my pocket".
A side effect of which is that even the most unlikely of people are now asking me "what phone should I buy".
I think it's significant that these were once the people who would ask me for advice before going out and purchasing a new PC or (more usually these days) laptop. These days they will happily do this without seeking any advice from me, which is surely a good move on their part ;-)
To my mind this goes to show there is more competition in the phone market than the traditional computer market. In the computer world you either buy Microsoft, or if you've encountered one, an Apple machine (I personally don't know many people outside geekdom that have even heard of Linux, let alone care about it) .
When people ask me what phone I would recommend, as I mentioned in a much earlier posting, I either recommend an iPhone or something running Android (It's interesting how I'm avoiding Symbian, the biggest smart phone OS out there, or any of the other Nokia/Intel variants. For me the once great Symbian is suffering in the same way as the once great Windows Mobile, but hopefully Nokia have that in hand).
However, as I've stated before, I love Windows Mobile for myself, and I put this down to the the fact that I've been using it for years and really don't mind resorting to a stylus once I've moved away from the basic phone functionality, although I'm aware that puts me in the minority, which is just one of the reasons why I don't tend to recommend Windows Mobile to others.
Now Windows Phone Series 7 has been announced I'm quite interested. If the rumours are true then the apps I already have will be useless on the new OS, but I don't care too much, it’s a break they (arguably) need to make, and something they should probably do for Windows (I’ll discuss that soon). What worries me more is ending up with a neutered device in terms of functionality, for the sake of consumer usability. Windows mobile is great because it has real tools written for hardcore developers and sysadmins.
I guess Microsoft can't please all the people. Still, as long as the multitasking remains in place, and if it's build on Siverlight and .Net, then we could end up with a nice OS, and possibly one I'll even be recommending to my friends.
That would be nice. The jury is out...
For a nice article on Windows Mobile 7 see http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/17/windows-phone-7-series-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know/
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