No Clipboard in Windows Phone 7

Seriously, Microsoft? The newest version of the Windows mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7 Series, according to Microsoft sources, will not have clipboard functionality, meaning you will not be able to copy and paste text between applications. So if you need to copy some text from a web page to an email message, or copy an address into an existing contact, or copy a URL into your task list, or any of a hundred other copy/paste uses, you're out of luck, because Microsoft knows what's best for you. Their text-recognition logic is supposed to be an alternative to the clipboard, allowing you to perform standard tasks on phone numbers and email addresses, which they feel is what 80% of users actually think they need copy/paste for. While this may be useful, it's certainly no replacement.

Here's the conversation that must have taken place:

M$ Exec: So, a bunch of people have iPhones. Let's build something like that.
Engineer: What features do you want?
M$ Exec: I read somewhere that the first series of iPhone didn't have a clipboard. I know we had a clipboard in all previous Windows Mobile versions, but if we want to be successful like Apple, then we need to take the clipboard out.
Engineer: Did you also see that lots of people complained, and eventually they put a clipboard in?
M$ Exec: No, I can't be bothered to read entire articles. Besides, I already said to leave it out, and I can't change my mind now. That's called leadership.
Engineer: (mumbling) What a unbelievable tool.
M$ Exec: What was that?
Engineer: I said that was an unbelievably cool idea. I guess that's why you get paid the big bucks.
M$ Exec: That's right. I could squash you like a bug. Now go fetch me some coffee.
Engineer: (mumbling) Cretinous ogre.
M$ Exec: What?
Engineer: Cream and sugar?

Microsoft has recently gone to great lengths to build quality products, most notably Windows 7. Even Internet Exploder has improved in versions 7 and 8, to the point where IE9 might only kind of suck. Office 2010, .NET 4.0/Visual Studio 2010, Bing, XBox, and a series of other Microsoft products have all improved, adding features that people want and need, with a focus on integrating technologies together to make life more convenient. Taking a core feature like the clipboard out of an entire operating system and office suite just doesn't make any sense. It's a decision that's going to further alienate Microsoft-haters, and piss off people that don't realize there's no copy/paste until they need it.

Tags: rant microsoft tech mobile

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