Evolution and Life
My fellow writer here at MobilitySite, Steve Laser, recently posted an excellent and well thought out piece detailing his frustration with the Windows Mobile platform and mobile devices in general. The essence of what he felt was missing over the last several years was a “leap frogging” or radical change in the technology. His feeling was that we have been seeing the same product and technology essential repeated over and over again.
After giving his views careful thought, I can’t disagree with his observation that there have been few radical changes in the Windows Mobile OS of late. However, where I DO disagree with Steve is concerning his conviction that this a terrible thing.Personally, I don’t want Divergence, I want Evolution…and that is what I get from Windows Mobile.
The sort of sudden advance or change in devices that Steve is understandably longing for, where the rules are all redefined in the face of some technological or marketing breakthrough are rally few and far between. Some may say the iPhone qualifies, but only in that it seems to blur the lines. If you really look at the product, it is more a MID then a Smartphone…and MIDs/UMPCs are nowhere near a mature product type.
The last real breakthrough in technology that I can think of was the birth of “Windowed” computing on home systems superceding the former DOS model. Think about it. There have been very few real changes in the standard PC GUI since the arrival of the Macintosh and Windows 3.0. The operating systems have gotten prettier, certainly, and the technology has increased to bring us ever more power, speed and system complexity…however the core usage model, clicking icons to open folders and applications displayed in individual windows on screen, has really not changed much at all over more then 20 years. Why not? Because it works, plain and simple.
Looking at the two images below, of Windows 95 and the Mac circa 96, the only real changes have been in graphical complexity. The user experience is essentially the same as we now see in Leopard and Vista.
Look basically familiar?
The only really significant changes that I have seen since Windowed computing took over are application based - the rise of Email as a mission critical feature and the growth of the internet as the only network that really matters. However, to a great degree these were made possible by Windowed computing and it’s rapid standardization of the user experience…and didn;t give birth to any major changes in devices.
If computing overall has shown such little change over 20 years, why then are we surprised that mobile devices have shown little change over the last four? Smartphones to a great degree were designed to mirror the desktop experience. One of the original selling points of MS PocketPCs if you recall was that you could mimic your normal Windows experience in a handheld device. No more, no less…and that sold pretty well. In fact, even more then in desktop/notebook computers, mobile devices such as phones are not really Operating System oriented, but rather hardware and task oriented.
Windows Mobile has been evolving incrementally not due to a lack of innovation, but due to hardware realities, it’s role as an extension of the desktop and the needs of the market.
There is no point for the OS to exceed the engineering constraints of the hardware it runs on. If you tried to run WM 6.1 on a Motorola Star-tac (circa 1998 or so), you would run into a good deal of difficulty simply because the hardware would not be suited to it. The same would be true trying to run a “leap frogged” mobile OS on the devices that are available now.
Beyond that, WM and the iPhone are designed to give the same look and feel as a Windows PC or a Mac…that doesn’t leave a lot of room for leapfrogging. Even Symbian and Android are more or less designed to mimic Linux/Windows desktops.
Even more persuasive then the previous two points, in my opinion, is that Windows Mobile has not changed overly much since it was introduced because the essential tasks we need it to perform have changed almost not at all…so there is no pressing market need for radical shifts. Phone reception, PIMs, Calendar, Syncing with a desktop computer, basic email…these were the bread and butter of a first generation Treo just as it is the central features of a HTC Touch Diamond, or even an iPhone. Sure, a Touch Diamond is prettier, and an iPhone surfs the web and displays media a lot better then older phones, but those are not bellweather changes but nice extras added to the core functionality. MY needs have not changed…therefore I have no need for my smartphone to change overly much and I think that is true for the majority of users. Refinement is nice, redesign is simply not needed, thanks anyway though.
I certainly want to see Windows Mobile continue to advance and thrive, but I am not looking for a radical change…I much prefer evolution to match my lifestyle. I want my OS to grow and change to better serve my needs and the hardware I have available, not innovate for the sake of innovation. When my needs change, or the hardware takes another step forward, I am sure the OS be it WM, Symbian, the iPhone or Android will follow suit…that is just good business.
I feel we should leave radical and impressive leaps forward to concept devices and new product categories. When it comes to my smartphone, I just want to get some work done…and for me, that means my Smartphone runs Windows Mobile, staid as it may be. Good business, indeed.
Thanks Steve for bringing up some excellent points, and advancing the dialogue on the future of mobile devices. I totally agree with you that such things are a lot more important to blog then a feature list of the newest gadget. More power to you, and to us all.
Written by Zealot · Filed Under General
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Well put, Zealot, more and more I realize that maybe a watered down “all purpose” device is not as good as finding out what your needs are, and finding the right device for your own needs. Sure, I’d love to replace my Axim, but not at with a toy that does not carry my computing needs. I can’t tell you how many i-phone friends show me their toys telling me about features I have had on my Axim for years. Thank you, my friends, for writing about the true technology: breakthroughs as well as standards. Msliberty.
Things are taken a bit out of perspective here. Let’s look at revolutions in computer technology with widespread effect on peoples lifes (mankind in fact) during the last decades.
The PC in the mid 1980’s. The World Wide Web (or the internet as we know it) in the 90’s. Mobile phones in the late 90’s and early 2000. GPS car navigation in the mid 2000 (but also hiking/travelling and air/sea navigation).
Where do WM fit into this? Well, it doesn’t realy fit into this as an important key technology. Approximately 10% of mobile phones use a “smart” operating system. Approximately 10% of the smart OS’es are WM. This leaves WM as a technology in approximately only 1% of the mobile consumer type devices in total. The internet, mobile phones, PCs and GPS’es do extremely well without WM.
Where WM do have a mission is in integrating those technologies in small portable devices. But the fact is that WM does not do the job all that well either. Ordinary “dumb phones” have internet, they have email, they have GPS either built in or through BT. The reason for this is as the article say - hardware. The constraints in power consumption prevents development of general OS’es that consumes huge amount of power just to tick in favour of low power consuming and lean purpose built OS’es (the OS in the iPhone is probably the best visual example of a lean and mean purpose built OS, but so is S40 and all other “dumb” OS’es).
If WM is to have any future life, one additional revolution is needed, and that revolution is in battery technology and/or low power consuming electronics.