I just saw the news that Microsoft has halted selling Kin. The Kin has got to be one of the shortest life product in Microsoft's company history and it reminds of of the Microsoft Bob. I thought only bad television shows have such short life.
I have not paid much attention to the Kin because they look like toys, especially the square shape Kin 1. It looks like something you would give to a 5-year old. Microsoft wanted to market the Kin as a social networking device to 15 to 30 years olds. Kin is the wrong product for that market segment. The 15 to 30 years olds are the 'multi-tasking generation'. Yes, they want to connect to friends via facebook, tweet to tell the world what they are doing, surf the web, listen to music, have 10 instant messenger windows going, texting, talking on the phone, checking emails and chew gums, all at the same time if they can. They don't want a 'dump-down' device specialized in social networking though.
Well, Microsoft has the courage to stop the Kin rather than to pour more R&D and marketing money into a dead-end product. Let's see if the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 can put up a good fight against the iPhone, Android phone and Blackberry in the smartphone market.
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