Microsoft's Surface Tablet? Um so why will it succeed? (download, laptop, app)

[Tek_Freek]

If IBM sells the i5 version at a price point that is reasonable I would be very tempted. Mrs. Tek and I have been discussing what we want to have for computing when we start to travel for extended periods of time. The smaller the better, but will a tablet be sufficient?

This would (probably) fill the bill, but I have always refused getting ripped off when I buy anything. If it's too expensive for what I get I pass.

[Tek_Freek]

I found that Asus model on Amazon for $1300. Yeah, I'll buy that - not! Newegg has "deactivated" all of them on their site. Probably got tired of trying to sell them.

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by Miker2069

That's the thing, there is nothing really new here, nothing radical, nothing that would be like a meteor hitting the earth and changing life as we know it (like the iphone and ipad did). It's a "yeah we sorta look like the market leader" and "where Microsoft, that's why they will come"....Not going to work. I can get all the stuff I want (and I am sure Apple realized that the few thousand people who care about a usb and microsd slot are dwarfed by the millions who simply don't care about that).

I truly think if Bill were running MS things would be different and he would pull some sorta move like he did in the late 80s when he ciphned off all of Digital Equipments top OS devs in order to create what we now know as the Windows kernel. Brilliant and a totally imperialistic move. Tweaking features doesn't work. The Asus transformer was supposed to kill the ipad but where is it now (I have the transformer, it's cool, but nothing compared to my ipad 3, which I use daily- and I am an engineer/dev). It's a much more elegantly designed product, and I'm afraid Apple has been doing elegance since day one. Microsoft has been trying to do it for like 10 years (if you go back to the boxy Zune).

What's amazing is that you have an entire generation of people who don't care about Microsoft and consider it their parent's computer company- Apple is what's hot and seems to will be that way for some time.

Good post except for that one ridiculous statement.

[Miker2069]

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

Good post except for that one ridiculous statement.

well if you are making a car for example, and 10 people scream for the car in orange, and 10,000 don't care for orange and are fine with white, then does it make sense to go through the cost of adding that color, supporting, it,etc?

[CHIP72]

Originally Posted by Miker2069

well if you are making a car for example, and 10 people scream for the car in orange, and 10,000 don't care for orange and are fine with white, then does it make sense to go through the cost of adding that color, supporting, it,etc?

I tend to think most people think USB ports are a wee bit more important to them than car colors.

I personally think Microsoft's tablet will be a major hit, and in time relegate Apple to 2nd place. Everybody else (Android, RIM, etc.) will be bit players in the segment. I think many people want tablets that can become small notebooks/ultrabooks and are lightweight. Those people want work/play devices, rather than just a work device or just a play device. Microsoft Office, even on the RT version of the tablet, is Microsoft's Trojan Horse. If the RT version of MS Office has enough functionality to do core tasks (word documents, spreadsheets, and presentations), that version will sell well. The Pro version will also sell well (stealing market share from ultrabooks), particularly to enterprises that require employees to do a lot of field work.

[DinsdalePirahna]

I think its going to flop in the consumer market. Day late and a dollar short, just like the Zune (which I think had a better interface than the iPod when it came out.)

I see it mostly as a proof of concept piece to show the traditional PC manufacturers how it can be done, and probably as a professional model running the latest version of windows.

[Peregrine]

I agree with DInsdale. *gasp* That never happens.
Too little, too late.

But they are going to try. O yes. And they will get some market share by brute f------- force.

Get a new computer.. Welcome to Windows 8.

Guess what? You CANNOT login to it without creating a new Microsoft Account. And they will try to get you to create a Hotmail or Live email account. It's just going to be much easier.
Well damn... now you have Windows8... buy a Windows8 phone and all your stuff will be there, too? Great, right? Hell yes!
Buy a new Xbox! And look all your stuff is there, too?? This is great! What else? O... my tablet! Of course!
It's going to be a beautiful world where all your stuff is everywhere you are! Yay!


ANd MANY or you worry that Google or Facebook know too much about you??? Are spying on you??
Ha! HAHA!
O just wait my friends.
In 5-8 years??? MS will OWN you.

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

I found that Asus model on Amazon for $1300. Yeah, I'll buy that - not! Newegg has "deactivated" all of them on their site. Probably got tired of trying to sell them.

I know, right?
I think the cheapest one I have seen was from ... I forget the name of the compnay... it was a 7 inch Win7 tablet for like 800.
I mean seriously?
MS allows companies to build these things and then they charge TWICE what an iPad costs?
Even last year MS STILL DIDN'T GET IT.
F--- em.
I am SO done with them.

[hoffdano]

No way this is too little too late. The tablet market is dominated by Apple now, but overall the majority of technology buyers have zero tablets from anyone. Some of you act as if no one should even try to sell against Apple. My household has six or seven computers (depending on who is home) but just one tablet (Asus 300). There is no hurry to get another. But when the time comes, I have no idea which I'd pick.

Microsoft has a few things that can work it its favor in addition to any technology issues. One is that IT departments might reasonably expect that the Surface would be easier to integrate and support. I know lots of people with a PC/Mac and iPad. But I don't know any professionals who can do their entire job with an iPad. They just can't work with Excel or Powerpoint using a touch screen. And the accessory keyboards are just that - accessories.

Turnover in the tablet space, like phones, is relatively short. No one will keep theirs for much more than two years. Many iPhone owners have switched. There is no reason to believe some iPad owners won't switch when they need a new one.

[Houston3]

Originally Posted by dkf747

I like the included keyboard. With the iPad you have to pay a lot extra to get one. Same thing with the built-in stand. Have to pay a lot extra for a case for the iPad. If it runs regular Windows software then there will be plenty of apps. Sounds good to me. I love the iPad but my main beef with it is all the extra money I have to spend to use it.

How much is "a lot"?

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by Miker2069

well if you are making a car for example, and 10 people scream for the car in orange, and 10,000 don't care for orange and are fine with white, then does it make sense to go through the cost of adding that color, supporting, it,etc?

It does if you want me to buy one... And I'll wager the number of people with my attitude is far greater than your example. A man said to me (when I was starting out in sales), "Do you want to sell a thousand items and make a profit of one dollar on each or try to make 5 dollars on each and only sell twenty?"

One of the smartest men I've ever known.

How many iPad sales have been lost for want of a simple usb port?

Stupid decision no matter what logic you try to apply to it.