Pocket PC Thoughts: Missing Parts and Bad Communication: The AKU 2 / A2DP Situation

3. What is so hard about open communication with end users?
As I said before, Windows Mobile power users are a fairly tech-savvy group. I am confident that if any of the big OEMs had posted a message on their tech support sites stating something like “The AKU 2 update has been postponed until approximately March 1 due to incompatibilities and “memory leaks” we have discovered while testing it. Check this page for updated status as we near release”, power users would have been grateful (We’d be even more grateful if they actually updated the message periodically as well!). When we don’t hear anything from the OEMs, we begin to become anxious, distrustful of official statements, and annoyed. Power users begin debating their next device purchase, and the OEM they currently buy from may lose business to another OEM with better communication.

In a special way, I believe i-Mate takes the cake for the most paradoxical support communication. When deciding to buy my newest generation of devices, I went with i-Mate because previous devices I had of theirs were supported nicely. ROM updates were frequent and communication flowed through their support forums. When I returned to the Club i-Mate site a year later, I found forums that had not been updated for new devices (Users there still debate where to post topics as they can’t find an appropriate board), and virtually no communication from their live support personnel regarding ROM releases other than obligatory “in the next few weeks” replies. But amazingly, they are the first to have an official AKU 2 ROM update out, so perhaps all hope is not lost. If ANYONE from i-Mate is reading this, I beg you – Update your forum layouts, communicate with users better, and do NOT alienate further a loyal user base that buys your devices!

4. The prevailing feeling from users that OEMs favor gaining new customers and not servicing the needs of existing customers
This is perhaps the most dangerous problem OEMs can face in this market. With some products, you can rest assured that once you have a customer, they will keep the product for a fairly long time ( > 1 year ) before making a purchase decision, our user group is different. Anyone who follows PPCT knows that our editors buy new devices and retire old ones approximately 1 – 2 times per year. Each time we do so, we decide which OEM we wish to buy from. OEMs that do not keep up their end of the bargain in the form of timely updates and communications do not get repeat business. Is it really sound business practice to get only 1 purchase out of a customer that could potentially buy many high-priced items from you?

Based on these 4 topics, I propose guidelines for both power users and OEMs that can make all of our lives easier…

My guidelines are:

1. OEMs should communicate with power users frequently and accurately
Even if it is just a page that’s updated weekly saying “We are still working on ROM x.x.x and hope to have it out <date>” with a nice “Updated <day close to today>” at the top. This lets users know approximately what is going on, and if delays are happening. This does not look ‘unprofessional’ OEMs – this looks responsible. Also, OEMs should be careful with stock answers provided to support technicians: We all are tiring of the stock “we expect ROM update within the next few weeks” reply.

2. OEMs should be mindful that Windows Mobile should mean the same for all devices
When I emailed our team about my post this morning, Jason emailed back a point I hadn’t considered but I believe is very important, namely – AKU 2 is known to possess A2DP, so if some manufacturers take that out, what does it do to Windows Mobile as a platform? Think about it – when shopping for a new Pocket PC, we take for granted that all WM 2003 SE devices have approximately the same look, feel, and features. We know that some applications need Windows Mobile 5, some need a different version. Power users with past experience know what OS they want and are confident in buying because they know that any device with that OS will have the same software feature set . If OEMs unbundled or remove components that other OEMs haven’t, this means that simply knowing the OS a device has gives no guarantee of that device’s capabilities. This is extremely bad for users, extremely bad for Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Platform, and extremely bad judgment on the part of the OEM. If features must be hidden, communication should be key so the user knows that about a particular device before buying.

3. Users and Website Administrators / Editors should verify sources BEFORE posting rumors as fact
In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s AKU release by i-Mate, many web forums and at least one of the larger Pocket PC websites reported that they had a definite ROM release date from i-Mate. This information, supposedly leaked out through sources which ranged from semi-legitimate contacts in the company to mere hearsay, caused users to feverishly check websites and write annoyed posts. Undoubtedly, OEMs noticed this and felt strained to put an update out there. While unlikely, it is possible that i-Mate was testing their AKU 2 release, was held up at the A2DP profile and under pressure, released a ROM without it just to appease the community. While this seems to make people happy, it also buys i-Mate much more time to play with A2DP and delays our use of it even further. I’m all for posting rumors when they seem appropriate – but posting in an authoritative voice when your source may be ill-informed is dangerous for the community. Editors, contributors, and forum users should simply think about how confident they are in their information before they post it. After all, you wouldn’t post a technical tip or link to software if you weren’t reasonably sure it would benefit your peers or users!

Now I don’t expect my guidelines to be adopted universally, but if OEMs heed ANY of the advice, I believe they will provide a much better user experience for their customers and assure repeat sales in doing so. As a user community, we do not ask much other than honest and open communication. When OEMs start out in our area, they usually adhere to this request (e.g. i-Mate’s live support chat and forums). But once they begin to feel like a ‘big company’ they act like so many companies do and begin to give a very distant and aloof experience to their users. This attitude of “We’re the big company, we’ll tell you what you need and pick and choose features as we see fit” is extremely troubling and dangerous to our platform and existing devices!