In a feature published last week entitled Don't count Microsoft out yet, Know Your Cell's Marin Perez shared his belief that Microsoft is ready, willing and able to rejoin the fray and get back into helping create smartphones that people want to buy and use.

I think he's giving Microsoft way too much credit.

Let's go back three years, when everyone and their grandmothers knew that Apple was working on and about to release the first iPhone. Instead of kicking into high gear and being ready for the competition, Microsoft sat back thinking its main competition was BlackBerry.

BlackBerry phones could handle Exchange mail but only Microsoft's Windows Mobile phones could also handle Exchange calendars and contacts.

Little did Microsoft know that the cell phone buying public was ready for a spectacular non-business oriented smartphone. It was ready for something other than a BlackBerry or a Windows Mobile device. Something made for consumers. Apple understood that, and it's now running away with the market.

Now, Microsoft is playing catch-up.

For 12 years I worked for a news website that was half owned by Microsoft (and half owned by NBC). The main newsroom is actually located on the Microsoft "campus" in Redmond, Washington.

On a visit there, eight or nine years ago, I met with a number of my news bosses, their bosses, and some representatives from Microsoft's Windows Mobile phone division. I tried to explain to them that not everyone on the planet could afford to purchase PCs, but a far greater number could afford to buy cell phones. I told them that within 10 years, cell phones would begin to replace PCs as people's number one computing devices.

I suggested (strongly) that my news organization should consider providing our news via special applications for Windows Mobile devices, BlackBerrys and Nokia devices. I suggested that this would be the way that most people got their news in years to come, and that we should be on the cutting edge (like we were with a news website in 1996).

I looked around the meeting room. All I saw were blank stares. That said it all.

Now, I'm not saying that if the meeting attendees had listened to me they'd be on top. What I am saying is that Microsoft didn't listen to me -- or possibly dozens of other people telling their bosses the same thing. Microsoft took the safe, corporate route and just continued making incremental changes to its mobile OS.

That kept Windows Mobile phone sales high...until Apple released the iPhone. At that point Microsoft was caught short. It's still short.

From what I've witnessed, Microsoft's new OS, Windows Phone 7, looks interesting. But, even if it is the best mobile operating system ever created by mankind, Microsoft is now competing with four generations of iPhones and dozens of ever-improving Android smartphone models. And the new BlackBerry OS 6 is about to be released. And who knows what HP is going to do with their terrific, newly acquired Palm webOS?

The main reason people bought Windows Mobile phones in the past was because those devices handled all Exchange functions better than the others. Today, that is no longer a differentiating factor.

Last but not least, office politics come into play here as well. Alongside news of the recent KIN phone debacle (this is exactly what happens when Microsoft waits too long to play catch-up) came reports of bosses making decisions for political as well as financial reasons. It looks like Microsoft is still bogged down by its own corporate weight.

Under the best circumstances, Microsoft might finally be trying to compete in the 21st Century (not the 1980's) with Windows Phone 7. In that case, good luck. It has plenty of talented people working there.

But, as for Windows Phone 7 devices, it's probably way too little, way too late. How many people do you know who own Zunes?

Contact Gary Krakow via email or follow @GaryKrakow on Twitter