Microsoft is the smartest dumb company I have ever seen. With all of their resources and mental power, they have made some incredibly stupid moves that have made me shake my head as a developer. The latest has to do with the Windows Phone. If you are a developer using Android as your platform, you can create an application, plug your Android phone into your computer and load your app on your phone. When you finish fine-tuning it, you can load it into the marketplace. One $25 fee gets you an Android marketplace account. From there, you can load apps until the cows come home. The process is smooth, easy and seamless. Microsoft, on the other hand, has taken a VERY stupid approach to app development for a company that is in last place.

To develop apps for the Windows Phone, you have to pay $99. To test an app on the actual Windows phone, you STILL have to pay $99. What about those people who just want to work through their idea on their own device before making a commitment. What about those people who don’t have $99, but have a great idea that they have developed?

When you look at company websites, most say two things about mobile apps - we have an Android app and an iPhone app. Most companies don’t mention Windows and with the way Microsoft is tight-fisting potential developers, I can see why. There are only a small number of applications available for the Windows Phone. I was given  a Windows Phone as a gift and I found the lack of apps to be troubling. With as many resources as Microsoft has, there should be far more apps. There should also be a lower barrier to the Microsoft marketplace development.

Microsoft was late to the mobile development game. They should realize that they are NOT Apple and are not even in Apple’s league in the mobile sphere. They should have done EVERYTHING they could do to make it super simple to create applications for the Windows Phone. Instead, they have chosen to be arrogant and stupid. I think that is an ill-thought out plan. When the Android platform came out, Google created the app developer website. You could drag and drop to create an application. If you knew more, you could use that information too. It was easy to develop on. Microsoft didn’t get that memo, I guess.

Microsoft, your barriers to app development and app development policies are VERY STUPID!