Kin: What is Microsoft thinking?

Quoting:Perhaps Microsoft knows something that we don't which is why it has released the Kin. Perhaps there are millions of users who simply want to Facebook, Twitter and SMS their friends but don't want to bother about technology, millions of users who won't want to bother about adding other applications to their Kin.

In my experience the majority of people don't really care a toss about smart phones. What they want is a phone that works, is cheap, and doesn't require that they learn a bunch of stuff they will never use.

I think Microsoft actually has an idea.

They're just mimicking Vodafone's 360 platform and adding a bit of iPhone to the sausage I guess.

When cheap devices meet cheaper services, then you see mass uptake. Some of these kids SMS hundreds of times per day.

If you can put together the SMS with targeted services such as Twitter and Facebook, you don't even have to give them the whole Web, and maybe you can charge less than for full Web access and grab a whole bunch of market share.

But what do I know? I figured the iPod wouldn't be successful until they sold 'em for $50 ....

Steven: I nominate that one for 'most plausible comment of the day'.

Twitter could replace SMS. SMS is normally about a few cents per message, though if you send them 20 a day Twitter would be cheaper.

I just found out Twitter supports private messages too (if the receiver is following you).

Facebook pretty much does the same, but I think it has more overhead.