Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) tried to encourage employees to buy their own products when they instituted a policy that said only those who use Windows Phones will reimbursed for the monthly cellphone data plan. Now they are trying it Google’s way and giving all employees a Windows 7 Phone when they come out later this year.
Despite the reimbursement strategy, you can observe on campus any day of the week and see Microsoft employees pinching and zooming on the competitors’ product. Call it research if you want, but frankly even Microsoft’s own employees weren’t willing to drink the cool-aid.
Giving away free devices is Microsoft’s best shot at changing that mindset both internally and externally. Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has been very proactive in providing free devices to not only their own employees (for a gift on two occasions), but to developers as well. By getting the handsets into a larger population, Google hoped to encourage its tech-savvy employee base to build apps for its Android platform in their spare time, and to think “mobile first” no matter what division they worked in. UPDATE: A spokesman replied to a request for comment, and said: “While specific details are still being finalized, we have announced that a new Windows Phone 7 will be made available to every Microsoft employee as we launch in each market around the world. We

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