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Windows Phone 8 will soon be the most popular mobile operating system in the world. The conversion will start gradually but grow exponentially through one-to-one peer conversions, like a confluence of door-to-door religious proselytising and a zombie apocalypse. And it will all start here in Australia — North Ryde, in Sydney, to be exact.
The 800 Microsoft employees in Australia are currently being armed with Windows Phone 8 devices, such as the new Nokia Lumia 920, Samsung ATIV S and the HTC 8X, and are under instructions from Windows Phone Business Group Lead Megan Howard to “show their friends and family what they love about the phone”.
While this is happening, Microsoft is working with the “three out of ten” Australians classified as “influencers”, and these are not just celebrities — one of them is Jessica Watson — to “authentically tell their story”. These stories will include “music, sport, fashion, new places and new things”.
Importantly, it is irrelevant whether these influencers have ever touched or used Windows Phone 8. Microsoft will get them to say, “’I know this is the best phone for you’, regardless of what the influencer is actually carrying in their pocket”.
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But it’s not just Microsoft employees or influencers not using the platform that will spur on this change – it’s also “sellers who work in retail”, “higher education…peer groups” and that tuned-in person in your group of friends that “you talk to about technology”.
Just as that cluey tech-head friend of yours is actually running Android on the latest LG Nexus 4, “they’re not ever going to recommend that one” — they’re going to recommend Windows Phone 8.
Of course, some of these influencers — between one and two of three out of ten, one assumes — will be using Windows Phone 8. This is because Microsoft is will do “quite a lot of seeding and giveaways” and there will be “demonstrations at retail”.
This will give Microsoft “the ability to actually populate a phone that’s on the floor at retail to have your own personal experience in it”. You can see why there is so much faith in the certainty that there is no doubt that success is imminent.
And it’s not just Windows Desktop users that will benefit from the advanced ecosystem experience that Windows Phone 8 provides. Linux and OS X users will also find it irresistible, due to their “beautiful, beautiful experiences with…People Hub and with…Photos and the camera functionality”.
Nor must a user own an Xbox, because “even if you don’t use Xbox Music your iTunes will now synch through your Windows Phone Desktop app”, which means “the things you are passionate about you can still get onto your phone”.
This will not be confusing if you follow Microsoft’s advice to use your Windows Phone 8 device “everyday”.
And those everyday experiences will be incredible. While Apple messed up its iOS 6 launch by only revealing “200 new features to the world’s most advanced mobile operating system” and Google completely ballsed it up by only taking 69 minutes go through feature after feature when launching Jelly Bean, Microsoft played it smart by only focusing on how children can get the most out of the operating system (Kid’s Corner) and how you can set up Rooms so only your “family members, best friends or [your] fantasy football league” will receive your shares and chats.
That was just at the official media launch. Later in the day, Microsoft suffered a lapse in professionalism and emailed a media release outlining other features like Live Apps (so your home screen keeps changing and updating, such as with “the Groupon deal of the day”), Top Apps (including such topical and definitely not stale apps such as Angry Birds, Cut The Rope, Where’s My Water and Temple Run), Near Field Communication and Skype.
Yes, it is clear — Windows Phone 8 will be the most popular mobile platform in the world. It may have happened in the time it took to read this article. You may actually be using a Windows Phone 8 device right now (though that’s unlikely as they are being released sporadically throughout November 2012) and even if you are not a Windows Phone 8 user, you can still recommend it, you just won’t be paid to do so like those influencers.
Editorial responsibility for this article is taken by Current.com.au editor Patrick Avenell.