| iPhone vs. Windows Mobile? partners make the difference |
Aug. 31, 2007
 What's the difference between an iPhone and a Windows Mobile device? Actually, a new post on the Windows Mobile team's blog doesn't mention Brand X at all, yet author Mike Calligaro goes to the heart of what makes Windows Mobile different -- and arguably more vibrant.
(Click for larger view of Brand-X beside Palm Treo running Windows Mobile 6)
Calligaro, a member of the Windows Mobile development team, writes in "To Partner or Not to Partner" that many people analyze competing technologies in detail, but don't necessarily understand the varying business models that brought them about. "The main difference," he says, "comes from [a company's] deciding whether to work with partners or whether to go it alone."
"Microsoft's stance on partners ... varies from division to division," Calligaro notes. "The desktop OS division is the basis for the entire partner model, and they're one of the most successful products ever invented. On the other hand, Zune [story] is doing the go it alone model and has seen some good initial success."
Calligaro cites Xbox as being one of the rare places that is somewhere in between. The hardware is almost entirely "go it alone" but it relies heavily on partners for games software.
As for Windows Mobile, it's "firmly in the partner model," declares Calligaro. More than 40 device-makers are building phones, bringing a huge variety of devices: "We have flip phones, candy bar phones, QWERTY keyboard phones, phones with sliders, phones that look like small laptops, phones with touch screens, phones for the vision-impaired, phones that cost $600. Phones that cost $300. Phones that cost $150."
A "go it alone" company like A---e can gain consistency and quality, plus customers know whom to blame if anything goes wrong," Calligaro writes. But, he adds, that only works for the people who want or can afford the few phones they create: "Forty companies will always make a wider variety of things than one will."
As an example of variety, Calligaro cites video teleconferencing, a feature added to some Windows Mobile phones by the company's partners. "You can lose some consistency when different people develop different parts of the OS," he writes, but "given the choice between an inconsistent UI with video teleconferencing and no teleconferencing at all, many users will choose to have the feature."
A partner is someone you share responsibility with and can't really order around, Calligaro comments. "We're sometimes frustrated with some of the things our partners do, and our partners can be equally frustrated with us," he concedes.
Different partners can have different priorities, he adds. For example, some think that quality is the most important aspect of a product, while others might think price is. And customers can be frustrated when they don't know who is responsible for a certain feature.
But, Calligaro concludes, "we strongly believe that the worldwide phone space is one where variety is crucial. I'd be very surprised to see that change anytime in the future."
As for not mentioning the iPhone by name, he writes in a followup comment, "I have no idea what Apple will be doing years from now. So I figured I could keep this entry relevant longer if I kept the subject general."
Interesting and detailed in its own right, the post is also generating thoughtful replies. Read it here.
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