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Posts: 83 | Thanked: 34 times | Joined on Feb 2010 @ Poole, UK
#267
Originally Posted by zwer View Post
Make up your mind, is it good for a dev eloper, or good for the end user? It can't be both on the same level. Knowing various .NET/CLI caveats, I'll take a guess - WP7 is better for the user, and you are saying that it's made with the user in mind, and here is what I have a problem with...

How come something is created with the user in mind, yet it tries to lock in the user and milk cash from him/her whenever it can? Doesn't that seem rather contradictory? Let me put my user hat for a moment, and lets say I purchase a WP7 device - how am I to transfer my music library from my Linux laptop to it? And even VBox is not a solution, already tried it and it didn't work, but even if it would - why would I buy a desktop OS to run it in a virtual machine just so I could transfer my files to my mobile device? How is that 'with user in mind'? How is it bad for the user to be able to access the device via a standard USB connection, or to transfer his/her files from network storage, or...? Name me one good reason to only be able to access your device through a proprietary app and how can that be good for the user?

I personaly have no problems with closed-source apps/OSes/whatever, I have a problem with locked in systems directed and censored by some outside entity - in such system you end up leasing your device instead of owning it, where the manufacturer can change the terms of use retroactively, after you've purchased the given device - and I just cannot accept that. True, given a choice I prefer OSS, but closed source is just fine as long as it uses widely accepted standards and does not lock you in.
You have to look at the business side of things, MS have basically copied Apple with the whole closed eco-system aspect of things, it is something that works.

However, then look at where the biggest user base is. Regardless of preference, or what mobile you have, the biggest desktop OS is Windows, followed by Mac, followed by all sorts of Linux based systems. A business will create things for the masses first. There is the ability to sync to the WP7 device through windows and Mac, I suspect it will come for Linux devices at some point, but that point will be based on demand.

And who better to try and push for that than Nokia, a large percentage of the Nokia community is geared towards Linux, I suspect that the Nokia partnership with MS will push this side of things, but early days at the moment.

I think that the majority of users prefer this 'locked-in' route (I am not one of them, I like choice. And I doubt that many people on here do either), but can see how it works in the real world and the simplicity it creates for the standard user. Remeber, the majority of users are stupid!!!!
 

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