I love Windows Phone, Microsoft, Samsung and Android so the following video doesn’t appeal to any particular bias I may have. But Microsoft seem to have lost it. Basically they’ve decided to compare the cost of the Samsung Galaxy S4 (about £500) with the cost of the Nokia Lumia 521 (about £100). They then decide to see what you can buy with the difference in money. Insane. No mention of specs or what each phone can do.
Take a look at the video itself..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW-boe_-M4U
So what else can we compare how many Ford Fiestas can we buy for the price of a Ferrari? How many bags of crisps can we buy for the cost of a meal at the Ritz? No we jolly well won’t compare that, that would be stupid. Stupid Microsoft.
I’m a huge Windows Phone fan, but I agree – their Marketing department want shooting!
Microsoft seem to have been caught out thinking they rule the tech world & everyone else is 1) wrong, 2) will fall in line with Microsoft!
Wake up Microsoft – WP is great, but still needs work to compete, so crack on with it and stop making ridiculous marketing statements!
(and clearly no-one tell them how much the Nokia 925 costs!!!)
Yup, my thoughts entirely (apart from liking Windows Phone). Microsoft’s whole attitude sucks, and is getting worse not better. With all the really great non-proprietary and Open Source stuff around, I start to wonder why Microsoft even exist any more. Don’t forget the price of your Windows phone (and a great deal of Android phones too) are artificially hiked by Microsoft because of their petty patent agreements. This in itself annoys me, as MS haven’t done anything like the amount of innovation that HTC, Samsung and Apple have done over the last 5 years.
I can understand that some will quite like WP8. It’s probably not bad at all once you get used to it, and probably does the odd thing better than alternative OS’s. However, is it really that much better, to the extents educated consumers should support the longevity of proprietary consumer software, when the flow of such companies powers should be stemmed for the good of pretty much everyone?
I don’t mind whether innovation comes from multi national dinosaurs or new kids on the block – as long as it comes.
I do think Windows Phone is innovative & offers something different to IOS & Android, but is it enough to drive MS forward – no, very doubtful. MS spend more money than they make on WP and its still not succeeding, which i think is a shame, as everything else they’ve done recently has been disastrous (Windows 8 in particular).
One thing about Microsoft is you can rely on them to shoot themselves in the foot like no-one else!
I don’t mind whether innovation comes from multi national dinosaurs or new kids on the block – as long as it comes.
I do think Windows Phone is innovative & offers something different to IOS & Android, but is it enough to drive MS forward – no, very doubtful. MS spend more money than they make on WP and its still not succeeding, which i think is a shame, as its very good, whilst everything else they’ve done recently has been disastrous (Windows 8 in particular).
One thing about Microsoft is you can rely on them to shoot themselves in the foot like no-one else!
Why? What’s wrong with the ads? It opens the mind of those who are unware. Nokia 521 is a good phone that runs the latest version of OS. It’s smooth and can get things done for the user. It has a decent camera that can take good low-light shots. Definitely the best cheap phone around with value for your money. People ask, what is a good phone to buy. If you’re not a power user with fancy for MySpace style, why opt for an expensive one where you can do the same thing with this phone. Thus, simply educate you that you can save money or be more satisfied by buying other stuff you like for $500 more. People are blinded by brandname and popularity.
Not sure if people are blinded so much. For the majority, most people are going to be happier with an $199 S4 on contract or a used Android or iPhone off contract. Just a fact. Brand name is OK, but the overall experience is what people like. People don’t just buy a phone for name brand only, especially for phones that suck, they’ll return it in a heartbeat or just never buy it again. Microsoft is definitely a name brand, but when I tried the Windows Phone I ended up taking it back before 30 days because it just wasn’t as good an experience for me personally as my previous Android, and especially no comparison to a Nexus 4. Vertical endless scrolling tiles with some information and moderate customization, is just no comparison to widgets with full information and full customization, at least not to most people.
Myself, I don’t think Microsoft are trying to compare the S4 up against 521. What they’re saying is that the Samsung is pretty expensive – indeed, it tells other users ‘you don’t have to spend that much money on a phone’ (yes, it’s a competitor – of course they shown a cheaper phone)
My reactions … Not many folks are going to go out and buy an off contract phone, it’s typically the more expensive option than getting a phone on a plan, or some other option from the carrier. Unless I’ve broken my phone, I’m not looking for an off contract phone necessarily so I wouldn’t have the difference between the $150 and the $700 phone – I’m looking for a phone cheaper than replacing my current phone – I’m probably looking at a $150/$250 phone that I can use to replace a broken phone – but that doesn’t mean I’m going to have the $600 to spend — plus I’m not going to spend the money I “saved” by not spending it – and buy additional gear and gadgets – I’m just not.
I’m possibly interested in a Lumia phone – the hardware seems right especially given the price. What Microsoft advertising always seems to fail at is selling the benefits and use of their products (or devices running their products) — show me what it does, and how it does it. Make me see how this platform is one that I should want. The ads don’t do that.
Let’s compare Trump Towers to this stack of rocks I made, placed ever so carefully on top of each other. Sure- it may be missing a few bells and whistles compared to the insides of Trump Towers, but I saved a ton of money on resources and building materials. Other than an occasional wind gust, or the neighborhood girl bully who just likes to knock my tower of rocks down, I almost have 0 liabilities and maintenance cost.
What I’ve noticed about Microsoft marketing in general is that it tells you nothing about the product. It tries (and fails) to be a bit Apple like (and I’m no advocate of the Apple marketing machine, let me tell you), yet at least with Apple they tell you the merits of their devices, and display it fairly well. No Microsoft ads have ever made me even want to go into a shop and look at one (a phone, tablet, PC, whatever), let alone buy one. So it doesn’t really surprise me that they are comparing an S4 to a lettuce, or whatever.
But I think this reflects the state of the company at the moment. At one time I worked very closely with some fairly senior Microsoft folks, and there were a few good ones for sure. Pretty much all the really sharp people left a long time ago, and did so not on the best of terms with the company. At around the same time, they stopped being innovative, and instead became horribly derivative. Rather than be the first to release something, they’d release something to compete with the market leader.
I don’t know how so many people are still ‘fans’ of Microsoft. I do not understand what they contribute to this world that’s so great. All they seem to do is try to dictate to people what they should like, how they should use something, and then follow market trends.
i like the ad, it just shows that the S4 is worth more than all that crap put together 🙂
Hmm, I think the ad fails because most aren’t looking at off-contract gs4’s, they are getting them for $200 with a contract.
Sure if you dont have/want a contract the 521 might be an okay way to go, but they are not really comparing a gs4 with the 521, they are comparing the gs4 with a basic phone, some fancy headphones and a laptop.
Heck Samsung could do the same thing comparing a galaxy precendent, which is $30 bucks off contract, to a Lumia 920 which is $500 off contract and sell you a chromebook ($250) same headphones ($100) and same sd card ($20) and still have $100 left over because we are not focusing on specs in an “apples to apples” way.
Obviously on specs the gs4 crushes the lumia, but if MS could have shown the laptop tethered to the lumia, THAT could have swayed some opinion, but that is a feature of the carrier not the OEM.