Audio: Amazon, Microsoft, and the Mobile Wars on KUOW

The Seattle area is now home to the two big tech companies with a realistic shot at breaking up the Apple/Android duopoly in mobile computing: Amazon in tablets, and Microsoft in smartphones.

In a recent story, I laid out why I thought Amazon’s job was a bit easier than Microsoft’s, and why the e-commerce company’s vision was more in tune with what consumers will want.

Since then, Microsoft has peeled back some more layers of its digital services strategy—namely the new pricing of the Office software package, which will push consumer users to the online-based, subscription model and away from the old packaged software world (finally).

That makes this whole thing even more interesting, and puts the spotlight more intensely on the vital role that Seattle’s tech giants will play in the next few years.

I went on Seattle NPR affiliate KUOW yesterday to talk over all of this with Ross Reynolds, host of The Conversation. Here’s the clip of that interview:

You can listen to the entire show at the KUOW website. The Conversation is also available as a podcast on iTunes, of course. If you don’t listen to The Conversation, you should—Reynolds and crew put together a great mix of business, art, public affairs and more.

Author: Curt Woodward

Curt covered technology and innovation in the Boston area for Xconomy. He previously worked in Xconomy’s Seattle bureau and continued some coverage of Seattle-area tech companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. Curt joined Xconomy in February 2011 after nearly nine years with The Associated Press, the world's largest news organization. He worked in three states and covered a wide variety of beats for the AP, including business, law, politics, government, and general mayhem. A native Washingtonian, Curt earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. As a past president of the state's Capitol Correspondents Association, he led efforts to expand statehouse press credentialing to online news outlets for the first time.