The highlight of the Windows 7 launch event? Meeting Kylie (“Hi, I’m a PC and I’m five and a half years old!”)
She loved my iPhone and took several pictures with it. I asked her to tell Steve Ballmer that Microsoft needs to make one of these.
Me and Kylie
Published
Ed Bott (@ wordpress.com) 
I fear for Kylie’s safety if she was to actually ask him that. I don’t care how cute that little girl is, Ballmer would flip out if she point blank told him that.
On the other hand, I am still amazed how incredibly long it is taking for Microsoft to get their act together when it comes to mobile devices. The iPhone was announced January 9, 2007 and released June 29, 2007. They need to get Windows Mobile 7 out the door pretty much yesterday.
Ed, this must have been a fun moment for you.
Damn she’s a cute kid, reminds me of my kids a long time ago. Looks like fun Ed, enjoy the show and thanks for all the great info.
So, what photos did she take with your iPhone?
Me, I’m slaving over a hot 2008 server and you’re at the launch event with that adorable little girl. Some people have all the luck. Sigh….
All Microsoft needs to do is meld the Zune HD with Windows mobile 7 and they’ll have a kick-@ss device that could be very popular. Why they don’t do this, I don’t understand.
…Dale
Were you star struck, Ed? 😉
Ed – it was a great event today in NYC. Her telling Steve that he was late for their meeting this morning was awesome and a highlight!
Sadly, I don’t think Kylie has a future as a photographer. The pictures she took were blurry scrowd shots and one shot of her own hand!
Dale, the problem is political. Zune and Windows Mobile are two different teams. Zune cannot design a phone without invading WinMo’s turf. In addition, Zune cannot put out a phone without alienating Microsoft’s WinMo partners.
Frankly, this is shortsighted. How many dedicated partners does WinMo have? They’re essentially all defecting to Android. At $3-5 per phone, you can make a lot more money by giving up market share with your own device than by holding onto it as an OS licensor.
But it’s always hard to get upper leadership team to accept cannibalization of revenues. The only reason Zune got started is because the PlaysForSure license generated insignificant revenue. $3-5 for WinMo is real money. It’s peanuts compared to what Apple’s pulling in, but it’s still money. And the fact that they’re pulling in real money gives the WinMo team the political power to hold onto the phone mandate and keep screwing things up.
Thanks for the picture of Kylie, Ed. She is quite cute and brings home the point that no matter what OS platforms and tools we use, we’re all human. The launch is exciting, but is a relatively little thing compared to the relationships we build in life. The little things are fun, but it’s the big things that matter. I have three grandchildren that I live 800 miles from…one of them is named Kylie. I think her photography is probably on par with the little girl you met, but she can sure makes grandpa smile with her enthusiasm and kind heart.
Take care,
-Gary