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There is something so satisfying about seeing aging juggernaut Microsoft fail on its feet so badly. Introducing and ending the Kin – In just 48 short days we have seen an abysmal product (marketed heavily on top 40 radio around the nation) that you may or may not have heard of go from being the latest effort in Microsoft’s restart to being its next massive disappointment. This company is having difficulty tying it’s own shoes when it wakes up in the morning! I can only imagine how disheartening it is to be so behind the curve while still throwing millions if not billions of dollars at the same problems year after year.
Guess what Microsoft: You are your own worst enemy. You’re scared of the market and making things that are built for people nobody. Why are you doing this? My best guess is you have incredibly smart people that are being given carte blanche on projects, and they’re finding the system that governs production and testing is incredibly outdated. It’s time to give up all that stored up pride all you unhappy Vice Presidents’ and get back to brass tacks.
I hope the success of an operating system (Windows 7) that isn’t completely backwards hasn’t made you too happy. Google is coming for you ~ and Apple beware. You’re not going to hold on to that #1 throne for too long.
So if you’re into discontinued products that have barely any use (and no cross platform appeal) then buy a brand new Kin at the Verizon store. I’m sure you’ll be as disappointed as they are at Microsoft. Dang guys, get your act together! Somebody might start taking notice… oh right… too late. Verizon slashed the prices of the phones to $50 from $200 for the higher-end model and to $30 from $150 for a stripped-down version. Verizon still claims they’re taking Kin seriously… although it seems like this device is having a fire sale. Watch for them to pop up at local dollar stores, Tru Value, and the Family Dollar.
Special thanks to I Can Has Cheezburger for the appropriate photo to describe what Microsoft needs right now.
Also, just to get the record straight, I have no big love for any of the major companies in the tech game. They’re just products and as those go I think Google has stepped up their OS game a lot with the Android. Now if they could stop randomly introducing weird things like Google Wave or Buzz to the market we would be square.
Ok, I have a confession. I haven’t seen the Kin in action, and I am not a Microsoft fan by any stretch, but a friend of mine showed me his Zune HD, and my first and major thought was… this looks better than the current iPod, across lots of dimensions… including design, UI and usability.
Microsoft always fails, we know this. But I think it’s worth asking the question… are these devices actually BAD at this point? Or are we just conditioned to believe that something labeled “Microsoft” sucks at devices and UI? Is Microsoft now the super cute girl in She’s All That (slash Not Another Teen Movie) who everyone thinks is a disgusting nerd just because she’s wearing glasses?
Either way, the result is the same… a device (especially an app-reliant device) with no support is in effect a bad device. And with an ad campaign as massive as theirs was, this is pretty sad (why is Microsoft SO TERRIBLE at marketing?) But I’d like to take it for a spin before I write it off as an issue with their design culture, as opposed to our consuming culture.
@jamie Please lord tell me you’re going to pick up a Kin and play with it. I want to know how worthless (miraculous?) it really is.
I also heard the Zune HD is a dream. My only question is … what music player do I use on my computer to work it? I have a Mac and an android. I am an equal opportunist that can’t seem to us iTunes anymore. Would love to know what I should do.
Oh, I already played with one. What a piece of crap. It kinda reminds me of the Jitterbug; except somehow worse. Why would you make a square phone? Okay, so it’s not a square per se, but it’s damn close. This ‘thing’ is definitely made for stick figures with minuscule fingers that can stab eyes because it’s so damn tiny. I’m pretty sure dwarfs would get upset with this phone. It actually reminds me more of a makeup mirror/case than a Jitterbug. Whatever, they’re both stupid. What the hell is a Kin anyhow?