The tech-world can be an unforgiving world. There’s so much competition all around that it’s very hard to know which little flap of your wings will cause a tornado! And, as Microsoft’s VP Joe Belfiore found out (the hard way), a simple tweet can cause untold mayhem
Apart from being the VP of Microsoft, Mr Belfiore also has been the face of Windows Phone of a very long time. So when he tweeted this pic on Tuesday, the Twitterati lost it. Why? Because he tweeted from an iPhone!
It really hasn’t been the best week for Microsoft in general. In fact, hilariously enough, their most recent struggle has been to stop NFL announcers from calling their Surface Tablet an iPad! When they finally got that sorted out, the device stopped working – ON LIVE TV!
That was hardly the kind of publicity Microsoft was expecting from their $400 million sponsorship! The incident was even more damning because Belfiore has been known to mock the iPhone publicly when he takes the stage during the Windows Phone events.
However, as fans of Microsoft were quick to point out, his choice of phone hardly mattered. Because he’s been on an extended leave from Microsoft since November last year and is expected to return to his old position this summer. His Facebook status update made in October 2015 states this quite clearly
Belfiore himself has given this clarification for his actions:
“It’s very important for me to understand products like the iPhone and Android phones, which […] represent the competition for Windows Phone. … To understand the benefits and drawbacks of a full ecosystem like Windows, Android, iOS — you have to LIVE IN IT. You have to feel its strengths and weaknesses, be let down, be delighted. And you can’t do that just ‘playing around’ with a device for a couple of days. You have to learn the UI, upload your photos, use cross-device apps and tools… all of it.”
Well, it’s hard to argue with that kind of reasoning. We know the power of an ecosystem in the tech world. So for this time, we’ll give Mr Belfiore the benefit of the doubt, and let him enjoy his vacation in peace!