[K3G]

Having played with their new "Kin" line, I can confidently discount them (unless they make some serious changes in strategy). I was met with a device that made little sense, had no clear organization of tools and apps, and had a HORRID UI. I'm an iOS fan, but I would pick an Android phone over M$'s offering any day.

[TomOfTTB]

But as many have said Microsoft is not targeting Kin at the type of person who would visit HN. It's targeted at the teen market that bought sidekicks in droves and I'm sorry but if you look back at the sidekick it's UI was pretty horrid too (and it's technology was far inferior to boot)

[joezydeco]

The moment you treat teens as inferior customers, you've lost. They're more adept at this stuff than we are, and adopt winning technologies faster. They only adopted Sidekick because it was an easier phone for text messaging than the others.

Selling Kin to a generation that's now used to the iPhone and Android is throwing money down a hole.

[TomOfTTB]

I'm not sure it is treating them as inferior consumers as much as it's seeing what they value. Teenagers are generally self involved. They aren't information consumers except when that information involves their immediate surroundings (aka gossip, updates from friends, etc...)

The iPhone and Android are all about information consumption. Check your e-mail, superior web browsing, news, weather, stocks, etc... Most of which, I'd assume, is of little value to a teen (even if they're in to celebrity gossip the Flash-less iPhone isn't going to do much for them)

Again, I'm not a teen. I don't know if the Kin appeals to them. But I can see how they'd have different values and how something that appeals to me (iPhone/Android) might not appeal to them.

[joezydeco]

iPhone and Android are consumption devices?

Phone calls, tweets/twitpics, facebook posts, camera and movie capture, movie editing, audio recording, skype, video chat, geolocation capture, and augmented video are all examples of things people are using right now on these devices. None of them are consumption apps. They generate content.