Q&A with Steve Ballmer ahead of Windows 8 launch

[+LogicalApex MVC]

I really beg to differ. It is representative of a lot, how can you just ignore the fact that Windows Phone 7 didn't sell? Two years, 3%. Do I need to say it anymore? The amount of money Microsoft has spent on it is ridiculous for what they've got out of it. It has done so poorly they decided to abandon support for all phones, phones that are still selling today and will be sold tomorrow. To them it is dead weight, not enough people bought them to even think about supporting them. No Windows Phone 8 updates for those phones, software written specifically for Windows Phone 8 will not run on Windows Phone 7.8 devices.

And you know everyone always says that "My friend" or "my co-workers". All it boils down to is you know a few people who think like you. People on here have been saying the iPhone 5 is a disaster and Apple is losing its followers and yet just today they announce it sold twice as many as the iPhone 4S on the first day of pre-ordering. You just can't take small pockets of opinion like on this forum or in a personal workplace and extrapolate market trends, you have to look at the real data and that says 2 years: 3%.

I was a big fan of Windows Phone, but your point is accurate.

Microsoft has botched their mobile strategy for so long I'm not certain that they can bounce back. There are now too many people who have invested too much money, via apps, into their iOS devices and Android devices to consider jumping ship. It doesn't help that Microsoft hasn't really done well drawing users in, as you posted above.

[Active.]

Did they make a mistake in not taking the iPhone seriously enough? Yes. The mistaken assumption was made that they would remain a niche just as other iDevices had.

Which iDevices do you mean? The iPod had a marketshare of something like 80% in 2006, before the iPhone was introduced... :huh:

[Shane Nokes]

Which iDevices do you mean? The iPod had a marketshare of something like 80% in 2006, before the iPhone was introduced... :huh:

I misspoke when using the term iDevice. I was thinking along the lines of the Pippin, eMate, and Newton. Devices that had failed to gain Apple significant in-roads to the consumer market. The iPod line was considered an anomaly by most. I mean that in a good way, since it showed that Apple could make a hugely successful consumer device. Still, when they hit it big with the iPhone it surprised almost everyone.

[Xerax]

Soft questions, where was the one that said "Hey Steve, theres been a lot of opposition to the Modern interface? How do you answer the critics, and whens the service pack to turn it off coming?"

Anything that has been "liked" by 'smooth3006' immediately becomes invalid.