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It's Time To Be Positive about Windows Phone 7

RCPU guzzles cynicism the way one of those "extreme" athletes swigs Red Bull or an SUV drinks gas. We get that. But we're setting it aside today, just for a little while. Let's put it this way: When your editor's mother told him, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything all," he didn't speak for 15 years.

OK, that last part's not true (at all), but it doesn't matter. Today, we are not only looking on the bright side of an issue, we're actually going to be nice about one of our favorite targets: Windows Phone 7. (A YouTube link to something from this century? This really is a new era for RCPU.)

Yes, Microsoft's mobile operating system, heavily carried by struggling device maker Nokia, has a long way to go to catch the iPhone and Android. We get that. Everybody gets that. But some of the new Nokia devices actually look pretty cool (and they're bendy!), and Windows Phone 7 has had, since the beginning, a really pleasing interface.

Now, we still believe that Microsoft should focus more on the enterprise market for mobile devices -- currently left wide open by the faltering RIM and BlackBerry -- and worry less about consumers. But we're also not convinced that consumers will just reject Microsoft's effort out of hand. The company's going to have to do some clever marketing, something it's very hit-or-miss at, as well as get app development ramped up in a serious way.

So, since we're all about sunshine and rainbows today, we're going to be positive about Windows Phone 7. We think it can actually carve out a bit of market share and get a foothold, even among consumers. And Nokia might not be dead yet, either. A bendy phone? We actually think that's pretty cool. No sarcasm involved.

Posted by Lee Pender on October 27, 2011


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