Friday, April 5, 2002
The third party software puzzle
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 02:37 PM
This issue has been skirted lately, so I wanted to bring it to the forefront. It's very complex, and there are no easy answers, but I want find out what you think of it. Where does the Microsoft software development begin and end? Where should 3rd party developers step in?
Imagine you're a Microsoft Product Manager for the Pocket PC. You've been tasked with putting together the list of software to include on the device. The product has to ship in six months, and you have a limited number of development days to have your team create the software. Do you develop two feature-rich applications, ones that would satisfy 99% of the market with some hard-core features, or do you develop eight feature-light applications that will make 80% of the market happy. What will give your device the best shot in the market? What would YOU do?
Now imagine you're a developer of Pocket PC software. You know that you can make a more functional version of Pocket "Whatever" - but you're leery of putting a lot of time and effort into an application that Microsoft may end up releasing later on, thus killing your market. You don't want to become the WordPerfect of the Pocket PC world. What would YOU do?
Imagine you're a Microsoft Product Manager for the Pocket PC. You've been tasked with putting together the list of software to include on the device. The product has to ship in six months, and you have a limited number of development days to have your team create the software. Do you develop two feature-rich applications, ones that would satisfy 99% of the market with some hard-core features, or do you develop eight feature-light applications that will make 80% of the market happy. What will give your device the best shot in the market? What would YOU do?
Now imagine you're a developer of Pocket PC software. You know that you can make a more functional version of Pocket "Whatever" - but you're leery of putting a lot of time and effort into an application that Microsoft may end up releasing later on, thus killing your market. You don't want to become the WordPerfect of the Pocket PC world. What would YOU do?
