14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier today, Joe Belfiore, who’s often referred to as the top Windows Phone guy at Microsoft, used an iPhone to tweet a photo from his holiday, a move that was quickly criticized by the Windows community.
Basically, the majority of people think that Belfiore should be using Windows 10 Mobile and Lumia devices all the time, especially because he’s supposed to be the pioneer of the platform, so seeing him tweeting from an iPhone is kind of unexpected.
But in a reply offered to all the angry users, Belfiore explains that he’s using an iPhone only to look into what competitors are working on right now, as it’s critical to always know your rival in order to improve yourself.
In a lengthy post that you can find at the end of the article, Belfiore explained that during his holiday he had the chance to further look into Android and iOS devices, not necessarily because he wanted to use them, but because he had to in order to understand the benefits and setbacks of different ecosystems.
“It’s very important for me to understand products like the iPhone and Android phones, which are heavily used by PC users around the world, and which represent the competition for Windows Phone. Consumers and business users expect their PCs and phones to work in concert - so to satisfy our customers we need to consider the devices they use AS WELL AS the devices we’d like them to use,” Belfiore stated.
Also using a MacBook and a Nexus
Belfiore goes on to reveal that the iPhone is not the only non-Microsoft device that he used during this whole time, as he also tried a MacBook, a Nexus phone, and other services such as Spotify and Persicope.
“There’s a lot of work happening at MS which integrates Windows PCs with iOS and Android devices - like bringing Cortana to these phones so your intelligent assistant can help you whereever you are. I want to experience and understand all that work deeply too,” Belfiore.
Certainly, he has a point here, especially because Microsoft is now working on several solutions that would connect non-Microsoft and Windows 10 devices. Furthermore, with Microsoft investing so much in iOS and Android apps, it’s very clear that company employees need to know all the features of rival platforms in order to develop software that’s being used to maximum potential.