Not way way too late…
Paris Lemon said it’s way too late, John Gruber agrees it. I agree on some points but I think it’s not way way too late. Why?
Microsoft Office.
What’s the most popular Microsoft product out there? Office. What’s the feature we always see pops out in many business applications on many platforms? Words, Excel and Powerpoint. What’s the one product which successfully made to the Mac platform? Office. What’s the feature iOS adds natively to their device? Exchange.
Microsoft Office IS everywhere. Either realized or not, we all use it at some points. Some may not like it but use it anyway (even perhaps Office 2007 with its “ridiculous” interfaces). DOC, XLS and PPT I think are the most distributed file formats in the world.
So, why not focus more on integrating Office app to the mobile device and make Windows Phone as THE ultimate mobile device for Office? Make it so that you can transfer and edit your Office documents anywhere, anytime. Enable it to be plugged-in to any large-screen displays to make presentation within seconds. Enhance it to be able to show charts and financial analysis on the go. And as many reviews said Nokia is the best hardware out there for Windows Mobile, work together to add more interesting Office features.
It may not win the heart of the young people. It may not be trendy or hip. They can enhance its XBox Live feature for that or add more fun stuff later. Good PR and re-branding will help too. But it will win the heart of business people, at least make them consider. Who knows eventually they may ditch their Blackberry. ;)
It’s a bit too late indeed, but not way way too late.
