Cortana on Android = Nail in WP coffin?
This article wasn't worth the read. But with all of the clickbait articles out there I've had to start reading them through before jumping to conclusions on what the authors are saying. In this, the argument more or less makes the argument that the title infers (which is good) but is otherwise totally wrong (which is bad).
This isn't a sign of anything. It isn't a nail in the coffin for Windows Phone. It is MUCH less significant than everything else happening around the platform of late. Firstly, the claim misses the point. It is much the same thing as saying that offering Office apps on iOS and Android was a nail in the WP coffin. Firstly, it assumes that a not insignificant number of people WOULD have chosen WP OVER iOS or Android EXPLICITLY because it lacked these apps. The history of the platform didn't prove that out. But, that isn't even the point. Providing Office apps on other platforms was never about ecosystem tie in. It was about keeping users on Office instead of the alternatives and then hopefully both directly and indirectly boosting sales of products like Office 365.
Cortana is in a similar but different boat. Microsoft doesn't monetize Cortana directly. But, you need a Microsoft Account (MSA) to use the service. And the service syncs across supported devices. So, it serves as a potential way to get people who wouldn't otherwise to use a MSA, which strengthens Microsoft's ad position. Also, once you have an MSA you're using often, it is much easier to get customers to use other services like Skype, Office 365, Outlook, OneDrive, etc... some of which they monetize directly or indirectly. Some apps have ads, some of in app purchasing (Skype calls to landlines) or subscriptions (Office 365). Also, if you're using these over the competition, you probably walk away with a better impression of Microsoft which can't hurt their future sales either.
So, part of the problem is that the offering really has nothing to do with Windows Phone as a platform. It has a lot more to do with MSAs and the Microsoft ecosystem. Much in the same way that an Android phone or iPhone is more or less useless without a Google Account or Apple Id respectively.
The other part of the problem is that while apps like Office and Skype are potential platform differentiators, Cortana isn't. Digital assistants are only truly useful when they are deeply integrated into the platform. So, on Android, Google Now will likely always be superior and Siri will be a better digital assistant on iOS than Cortana will be as well. These also aren't the sort of features people switch phones for. No one buys an iPhone because of Siri or an Android phone because of Google Now. And since each platform has its own equivalent, you wouldn't choose one platform or another purely for the existence of such a feature.
In fact, with Windows Phone on the decline before this move, it actually serves to help keep who defect from one form factor from abandoning the ecosystem entirely. The most likely users of Cortana are those who came to Android from Windows Phone.
In the end, this doesn't feel like *the* nail or even a lesser nail in the coffin of Windows Phone. It feels like an inconsequential move. It doesn't even deserve mentioning in the shadow of the 7500 people largely from the Nokia side being axed or the downsizing of the companies ambitions for the Lumia product line. The proverbial nails in the coffin are significant or otherwise symbolic moves that seal the fate of something. Cortana going cross platform is none of that. If Microsoft kills Windows Phone in the short term there are so many other things in recent history of much greater note that I doubt anyone will even remember this act. It isn't worth noting now, and won't be worth noting later either. Digital assistants are gimmicks. And largely unimportant ones.
This isn't a sign of anything. It isn't a nail in the coffin for Windows Phone. It is MUCH less significant than everything else happening around the platform of late. Firstly, the claim misses the point. It is much the same thing as saying that offering Office apps on iOS and Android was a nail in the WP coffin. Firstly, it assumes that a not insignificant number of people WOULD have chosen WP OVER iOS or Android EXPLICITLY because it lacked these apps. The history of the platform didn't prove that out. But, that isn't even the point. Providing Office apps on other platforms was never about ecosystem tie in. It was about keeping users on Office instead of the alternatives and then hopefully both directly and indirectly boosting sales of products like Office 365.
Cortana is in a similar but different boat. Microsoft doesn't monetize Cortana directly. But, you need a Microsoft Account (MSA) to use the service. And the service syncs across supported devices. So, it serves as a potential way to get people who wouldn't otherwise to use a MSA, which strengthens Microsoft's ad position. Also, once you have an MSA you're using often, it is much easier to get customers to use other services like Skype, Office 365, Outlook, OneDrive, etc... some of which they monetize directly or indirectly. Some apps have ads, some of in app purchasing (Skype calls to landlines) or subscriptions (Office 365). Also, if you're using these over the competition, you probably walk away with a better impression of Microsoft which can't hurt their future sales either.
So, part of the problem is that the offering really has nothing to do with Windows Phone as a platform. It has a lot more to do with MSAs and the Microsoft ecosystem. Much in the same way that an Android phone or iPhone is more or less useless without a Google Account or Apple Id respectively.
The other part of the problem is that while apps like Office and Skype are potential platform differentiators, Cortana isn't. Digital assistants are only truly useful when they are deeply integrated into the platform. So, on Android, Google Now will likely always be superior and Siri will be a better digital assistant on iOS than Cortana will be as well. These also aren't the sort of features people switch phones for. No one buys an iPhone because of Siri or an Android phone because of Google Now. And since each platform has its own equivalent, you wouldn't choose one platform or another purely for the existence of such a feature.
In fact, with Windows Phone on the decline before this move, it actually serves to help keep who defect from one form factor from abandoning the ecosystem entirely. The most likely users of Cortana are those who came to Android from Windows Phone.
In the end, this doesn't feel like *the* nail or even a lesser nail in the coffin of Windows Phone. It feels like an inconsequential move. It doesn't even deserve mentioning in the shadow of the 7500 people largely from the Nokia side being axed or the downsizing of the companies ambitions for the Lumia product line. The proverbial nails in the coffin are significant or otherwise symbolic moves that seal the fate of something. Cortana going cross platform is none of that. If Microsoft kills Windows Phone in the short term there are so many other things in recent history of much greater note that I doubt anyone will even remember this act. It isn't worth noting now, and won't be worth noting later either. Digital assistants are gimmicks. And largely unimportant ones.
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