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comment by dublinben
dublinben  ·  4626 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Arstechina reviews new Nokia Lumia 900
I just talked to a young woman with a new Windows Phone (not this one). She found it perfectly functional for her primary tasks (SMS, facebook, browsing) and the cost couldn't be beat. I see strong potential for Windows Phone among first time smartphone buyers, cost sensitive buyers, and customers who shy away from the app overload of iOS and Android. I think they've really nailed their key features and know their target audience.




insomniasexx  ·  4626 days ago  ·  link  ·  
The problem with the OS for those types of users comes here:

    The situation with Windows Phone reminds us, fittingly, of the recent Windows 8 Consumer Preview. That has been knocked a bit for making certain crucial access points too subtle; for instance, the hidden start button. Microsoft recently clarified that the Windows 8 release will include a tutorial, but Windows Phone currently doesn't have any kind of intro.

    In some of its design and native apps, Windows Phone occasionally assumes too much. Take the Calendar app as an example. At launch, swipes between our agenda, day schedule, and so on are horizontal swipes, consistent with navigation in many other apps. When we switch to month view, we have to swipe vertically to see the next or previous month, but there's no visual indicator that this is the case. Someone could go on using this phone for weeks or months before realizing they can see months other than the current one. It's not a life-ruiner, by any means, but the interface doesn't make the availability of more information clear, and it's not alone.

bgritzut  ·  4614 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Point taken, but to be fair, I honestly don't find Apple products as intuitive as they're hyped up to be. For example, shuffling a playlist on the iPod, turning on 3G was quite annoying on the updated iOS, print screen, actually closing apps, etc. While it's simple once you figure it out once, it is definitely not so simple that an elderly person whose never used a computer before would get (would someone whose never used an Apple product before think that double clicking the button brings up a list of open apps that they thought they have already closed?). I find that people really like the elegance and design of the products, which drives them to learn more about it and play around with it to figure things out.

I don't think people will have much difficulty navigating around Windows Phone, and I believe it is just a question of the coolness factor.

dublinben  ·  4626 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I don't think that ignorance of further features and information is going to upset largely ignorant phone users. If they cared more about how their phone worked, they would have gotten an Android.