Meet the New Windows Mobile, Same as the Old Windows Mobile?

On Monday Microsoft is expected to announce the availability of Windows Mobile 7.  The debate among the pundits is whether it will be too little, too late or, alternatively, represent the re-emergence of Microsoft as a significant player in the mobile arena.  And, in its war with Google, the success of Windows Mobile 7 takes on added significance for Microsoft.  But let’s take a step back to better understand why Monday is significant in the world of mobile technology.

Let’s start with the premise that the goal of mobile technology is to deliver connectivity and access to information anywhere, anytime.  And let’s layer on top of this the need to make it as convenient, seamless, and user-friendly as possible.  For instance, most of us are not interested in carrying around multiple devices - especially a bulky laptop - to realize this goal.  Yet today most of us still do.

Now let’s look at it from the vendor perspective.  Microsoft still wants (needs?) everyone to buy laptops as well as smart phones.  Google is pushing handhelds because it started with Android.  And  Apple is agnostic.  (I’m not sure how the margins compare between an iPhone and a MacBook but, for the most part, the former isn’t cannibalizing the latter.)  And everyone else – most notably RIM, Palm, and Nokia – are really niche players in the looming mobile operating systems war.

So is it any surprise that Microsoft puts more emphasis on laptops and netbooks (really just a scaled down laptop)?  And it logically follows that Microsoft has - to date – looked at the mobile world from the top down.  Looking at the mobile world from the top down suffers from a number of shortcomings including an inability to step out of the (Windows) box and a predispostion to reuse instead of create from scratch.  Google didn’t start with these handicaps and Apple was smart and disciplined enough to build from the bottom up (iPod to iPhone to iPad).

I suspect Microsoft finally gets it.  But there’s a difference between understanding its shortcomings and executing a strategy to address them.  Microsoft is running out of time.  If Windows Mobile 7 fails to represent a change in how Microsoft approaches mobile technology – bottom up vs. top down – then those in the too little, too late camp will be right.  To paraphrase a refrain from The Who song Won’t Get Fooled Again: “Meet the new Windows Mobile, same as the old Windows Mobile.”

[Via http://industryinsights.wordpress.com]