Wayne's Next Big Purchase

Glaucus

Glaucus

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The Microsoft Kin

kin_handson_intro-thumb-640xauto-13300.jpg


heh, ok, maybe not. :mrgreen: Still, it's not quite what I expected from MS. They seem to be going after the teeny bopper market which I thought Apple owned. Media player is powered by Zune, so I take it this is what the rumored "Zune Phone" was all about? I kinda like the smallness of it and the keyboard is nice too. Not sure it's "me" though.

They say the iPod was for the download generation. This Kin is supposedly better suited for connecting to Facebook and myspace and MSN etc, which they say targets the "upload generation". I'm probably too old for this phone.
 
Possibly the ugliest device I have ever seen. Yup, sounds like Microsoft.
 
Still, it's not quite what I expected from MS. They seem to be going after the teeny bopper market which I thought Apple owned. Media player is powered by Zune, so I take it this is what the rumored "Zune Phone" was all about?
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Nope, not what I was expecting in a Zune phone, at all! Indeed, it does look posed to be the punchline to the joke of Zune. :lol:

And, you're right, it just doesn't make sense to attack the teen market where iPhone is so strong. I'd think the time would be right to deliver the deathblow to Blackberry on the professional end of the market, and then leverage from there. That would make more sense, as Microsoft could integrate a phone with Outlook, Exchange, and Live much better than anyone else could, as they'd own both ends...

I'm probably too old for this phone.
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Yeah, me too. I think I had to chase some facebookers off my lawn a few days ago...
 
Already bought one...

ummmm.... no.

First and foremost, it has the brand Microsoft attached to it, and I have the inviolate hard and fast rule which says "Microsoft will never get another single penny of my money. Ever".

Strategically, it does make sense though. Yes. Apple owns the social device market with the iPhone, but it's a REALLY.. REALLY big market. Kids (pre-pubes, tweens, all the way through collegiate pukes) are the ones out there spending mommy's money on tech.

These same kids are already so far into social networking they couldn't withdraw without seeking professional help from a cult-style deprogrammer.

As such, yes, it'd make more sense to target a market like the professional Blackberry market, but when the President of the USA refuses to step away from his crackberry, you should consider that RIM is literally entrenched far more than Apple.

Besides.. Microsoft may be shite, but they are good with numbers, and their numbers probably tell them that "the kids" and "social devices" are where Apple is cutting into Microsoft's own market most heavily, so it may (hopefully) be a case of self-preservation for them to target Apple's core (and future) market.

Think about it this way. For about 2 decades now, Apple has really striven to become entrenched with the youth of America, through school programs and everything else.

Enter 2010, with their glitzy, high-tech, "cooler than MS" marketing, OS X, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iMac, they're actually starting to show results as these "kids" who cannot seem to put down their iPhones long enough to procreate, are now growing up to have kids of their own.

Wayne
 
I think of this like the iPod Nano. Small and compact but focused.

It's not a smartphone and more than a dumbphone. If the pricing is as inexpensive as a dumbphone, MS may well have found a niche.

$20-$30 for a phone.
$20-$30 for a KIN
$200 for an iPhone / Win7Mo

Remember... Nintendo is winning the $ in gaming by canibalizing the group willing to spend less, but still spend.
 
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