I was reading Gavin Li’s post about Microsoft’s “a phone to save ourselves from our phone”, and it caught my interest because I also have a smart phone with the Windows OS on it. I have an LG IQ, and I think I’m the only one on the face of the planet to have this phone. For about a week, it was the top of the line, the crème de la crème, the cat’s pajamas for new Telus smart phones. I think the phone’s only saving grace is its lengthwise slide out keyboard that is extremely useful for texting and emailing. I hate the phone though, and I started to realize that it’s not the phone I hate, but the Windows Mobile operating system. It is too much like a computer. I don’t have any “fun” apps on my phone. I can’t pretend I’m drinking a beer or use it as a level when hanging a picture. Noooo, my phone comes installed with a mobile version of Excel, Word, and Powerpoint. Sooooo much fun!!! *Sarcasm. When was the last time you wanted to make a Powerpoint presentation on your phone? “Check it guys, I got Apple’s third quarter results, and they are kicking Microsoft’s butt! And then I made a Powerpoint presentation to show you, ALL ON MY PHONE!” And maybe it’s not entirely the components of a Windows Mobile smart phone, but its utter lack of user-friendliness. Microsoft’s claim to fame way-back-when was its Windows OS system for PCs that made it super easy, even for grandmothers, to use a computer. They continued this format with the phone, which also has a “Start” button on the top left corner of my touch screen. The problem is, it’s TINY! As I don’t use that stupid little stylus that came with the phone, and use only my fingers, I find it extremely difficult to hit the start button without hitting the area directly below, that displays the date and time. The battery power button is right next to phone volume, which is right next to the “Ok” button to close the screen. These “buttons” are about 1/8th of an inch. Pretty hard to accurately hit the right buttons when the surface area of your index finger is about half an inch squared. At this point, I’m at a rant, but I’m just going to go with it at this point. The final thing I HATE about my phone is that I apparently have “worn out” the “ok” button area on my touch screen. Doesn’t work anymore. At all. I now have to open the slider of my phone to rotate the screen horizontally so I can hit the Ok button that is now in the bottom right hand corner of the touch screen.
The second point I’m going to make, (to build up to the point about this blog) is that I have recently learned that Bill Gate’s stole the GUI idea from Steve Jobs. It was Steve Jobs that first designed a user-friendly way to operate a computer, but Bill Gates copied the idea to develop their Windows OS. In a court settlement over patent infringement, the courts ordered Microsoft to pay $400 million to Apple. That’s chump change when you think about how much the Windows concept has benefited Microsoft.
That brings me to the final point. If Windows is going to develop a better user-friendly OS for smart phones that will allow people to get in and out, they are definitely going to have to abandon their current format and once again, copy Apple. I don’t have an iPhone, but I have seen people use them, and those big buttons and how quickly people can use their phone makes me drool! The last point then is Microsoft’s advertising campaign must be extremely effective to convey their new OS format to be considered even remotely comparable to that of Apple’s. I find it funny to see how they portray people in their ad to be so “involved” in their phone, when they are portraying the CURRENT people that use phones with the Windows OS. The people who are glued to their cell screen are the people that are playing the games and watching movies and doing everything else that is so cool on the iPhone. I’m the person that is trying to use the very tip of my pinky finger to hit the “ok” button without hitting the battery button or the date and time button. And P.S. – I have walked into people before!