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Microsoft: No Tablets Until It's Distinctive

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the build-up-them-forearms dept.

BogenDorpher pointed us in the direction of a pocket-lint story saying "Microsoft’s UK managing director and ex-BBC man Ashley Highfield has exclusively told Pocket-lint that the company won’t produce a tablet device, and therefore follow in the footsteps of Apple and Google, until it's got something to shout about. 'We won't do anything in the tablet market unless we can be distinctive,' he told us." Have you considered making it light enough that your arm doesn't ache after 5 minutes?

38 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. In other words... by Nimloth · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We're looking for an idea but we ain't got squat.

    1. Re:In other words... by Kinwolf · · Score: 2

      Nothing innovative about bringing a locked PC that kept overheating to the console market. But I'll grant that XBox live is the part that was truly well done, and even today I think it's still the best online service.

    2. Re:In other words... by CharlyFoxtrot · · Score: 5, Informative

      They already released their "slate" with HP with Balmer being on stage to introduce it:

      "press images of the HP Slate just hit the web, right as Ballmer showed it off during his CES keynote. The prototype device is said to be coming later this year, and it's running Windows -- Ballmer showed it running the PC Kindle app."

      Fortunately for them it has bombed so badly they actaully have a chance of people buying this shit about them not wanting in the tablet market yet.

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    3. Re:In other words... by 517714 · · Score: 2

      WP7? Yeah, cut and paste is for pussies.

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    4. Re:In other words... by nschubach · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Shouldn't it be:

      We are waiting for another company to come up with something cool so we can buy it and put our name on it.

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    5. Re:In other words... by ProppaT · · Score: 2, Insightful

      For once? They've done that twice recently, once with the Zune and again with Windows Phone 7. Their biggest problem is having a piss poor marketing department. The Zune was a great player, yet the marketing made it look very unattractive for most. Windows Phone 7 is just suffering from a lack of any kind of decent marketing at all.

      IMO, the Microsoft of today is not the Microsoft of yesterday. Windows 7, Windows Phone 7, and Zune are all fantastic platforms that are extremely stable and show a lot of forward thinking with the user interfaces. The tablet market is about to get really stiff with iOS, Honeycomb, and WebOS making a solid splash. If Microsoft can't bring something unique to the table, why lose money trying? They've already learned their lesson on bringing hardware (Xbox 360) and software (Windows Vista) to the market before they're ready for prime time.

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    6. Re:In other words... by tripleevenfall · · Score: 2

      I wouldn't call Windows Phone 7 "innovation". It's a low-rent copy of the Apple model that also tries to leverage Office lock-in to push into the business space.

    7. Re:In other words... by Nethemas+the+Great · · Score: 3, Funny

      Either they did a lousy port to the PC, or Windows is imposing massive overheads which don't apply on the Xbox.

      Yes.

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    8. Re:In other words... by h4rr4r · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Different size controllers?
      Those things were unusable for all but sasquatch. I would not call killing off online play for Halo2 robust and stable. I and many others still play the original counterstrike online for a timeline comparison. DLC has existed in computer gaming for a lot longer than the xbox existsed same with online market places and online play. Microsoft copied from the pc gaming market and brought that to consoles.

    9. Re:In other words... by h4rr4r · · Score: 2

      So other than nationalism got anything to offer?
      Cross development is nothing new.

      "online-capabilities in an offline world"
      What does that nonsense even mean? Online PC gaming was quite popular when the xbox came out. The PS2 had online games as well.

    10. Re:In other words... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

      While marketing was poor for Zune products, that was not the whole reason why the Zune failed. While the Zune was a decent product, it offered little advantage over the Apple ecosystem. The original Zune had a small advantage over the classic. The problem for MS was Apple didn't stop updating their products. Apple then released the Touch and it wasn't until the HD that MS could match it hardware wise. However Apple by then had a whole library of apps that transformed the Touch from a simple media player to a PDA, casual gaming player, etc. MS spent most of the time catching up and consumers largely ignored it.

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    11. Re:In other words... by spire3661 · · Score: 2

      This shit pisses me off, we should be moving AWAY from having to be tethered to a fucking desktop. So tired of my computing being forced to be shackled. ITs getting even worse with places like Steam, facebook etc bitching everytime you log on with proper credentials but from another machine. My logins should be hardware agnostic. Hell i expected my windows phone 5 to be completely self standing.

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    12. Re:In other words... by spire3661 · · Score: 2

      The minimum spec for Halo 2 on PC is what it is because they forced DX10 and Vista only on it to force OS sales. Had nothing to do with innovation.

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    13. Re:In other words... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

      People seem to forget that in CES 2010, Ballmer was showing off all sorts of Windows tablets including the HP slate. It was the next big thing and there were going to be a slew of releases later that year. Well what happened? Apple announced the iPad and the pricing and it was be released 2 months later which sent many manufacturers back to the drawing boards. They could produce a Windows tablet but it was going to be more expensive and later than Apple.

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    14. Re:In other words... by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      So they have "high precision" full body tracking and aren't doing games that would benefit the most?

      In fairness to Microsoft, the Kinect can't detect any twist in your wrist, so apparently golf is something it won't really be able to support.

      At some point there might be an evolution that allows for it ... but I think right now the technology simply wouldn't work with a golf game since it can't read one of the aspects of a golf swing that is important.

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    15. Re:In other words... by HermMunster · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually, it's considerably like the Apple. It has a screen about the same size. It runs apps. It uses touch input to select icons. It's used to make phone calls. It's a personal information manager.

      If you mean it's not as good then fine. If you mean it doesn't have near the offerings then fine. If you mean it has problems with updates then fine. If you mean it doesn't have multitasking then fine. If you mean it is barely a smart phone then fine.

      But, I've seen it. My niece has one. I used it for a while to get the feel. It's pretty sharp. It's also confusing and quite a bit more primitive than most other phone OSes. I'd never buy one myself. I'm sure it's a competent phone, as far as being a phone.

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    16. Re:In other words... by PingSpike · · Score: 2

      Wait...so its innovation was being Dreamcast II?

    17. Re:In other words... by pyrbrand · · Score: 2

      I'd assume it's more that PC users expect more than 320x240 resolution graphics. (Original Xbox was for normal TV, not HD, so 480i resolution).

  2. M$ fired the guys who had already designed one by ehack · · Score: 4, Insightful

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Courier

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    1. Re:M$ fired the guys who had already designed one by Richard_at_work · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I think its pretty plainly clear why Courier got dumped, and the team suffered some form of punishment - they publicised something which pretty much looked exactly like the holy grail of tablet computing. Seriously, look at the hype storm that followed the revealing of the Courier, even on here quite a few people said "yes, I would buy that in an instant". It had dual screens, fast processors, contact charging, promised a fantastic interface and a tonne of other things.

      Basically, there was no way for the end device to live up to the dream that had risen around the publicised concept - or more correctly, no way for it to come in on time, in budget and fulfil everyones fantasies.

      Microsoft had two options - get rid of the project quickly, or fail to deliver to the standard of the hype and suffer the consequences. So they ditched the project, which is pretty much their only real option.

    2. Re:M$ fired the guys who had already designed one by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

      If they got rid of the team, it wasn't because they publicized the concept. MS has been releasing concepts for years. Some of the concepts make it into products; some don't. It has been the modus operandi for MS for many years to pre-announce their products to keep customers/developers from considering competitors' products. The problem was Apple launched and shipped before MS could even show a working demo prototype and when launched, the iPad had a sizeable library of apps. They were not optimized for the iPad but iPhone/iPod Touch apps would work.

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    3. Re:M$ fired the guys who had already designed one by RocketRabbit · · Score: 2

      I don't buy it. Microsoft's whole product strategy is to promise the moon and deliver a slice of swiss cheese. Every single one of their releases after Windows 3.0 has been hyped up to an incredible degree, features have been promised that will revolutionize computing, and then 95% of it gets dropped when the next version of the OS comes out. This they have done time and time again, so often that it's a standard joke among people who are familiar with computers.

      To suggest that they'd fire somebody who was sticking rigidly to the MS playbook is a little iffy. I simply don't buy it.

  3. Wow by dingen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So not only are they late to the party, they're not even sure what to bring and whether they'll come at all.

    That's some solid vision you're showing there, mister Ballmer.

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    1. Re:Wow by dingen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But that's not what TFA is about: there it talks about a tablet operating system. MS won't make one until they've got a clue on what to make, which apparently they haven't. For a software company like Microsoft, that's a pretty sad state to be in, given that fact tablets have been "the next big thing" for at least a year now.

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    2. Re:Wow by 0123456 · · Score: 2

      For a software company like Microsoft, that's a pretty sad state to be in, given that fact tablets have been "the next big thing" for at least a year now.

      Bill Gates was telling me that Tablet PCs were "the next big thing" back in 2001. It's not like Microsoft haven't seen this coming.

    3. Re:Wow by dingen · · Score: 2

      I know, there even was a "Tablet Edition" of Windows XP, right? So where's the result of that now? I'm sure they must have researched the use of tablet computers and came up with something. How is it possible that Microsoft has no clue whatsoever on the subject of tablets?

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    4. Re:Wow by sootman · · Score: 3, Informative

      Mod parent up. The exact quote, and source:

      "The tablet takes cutting-edge PC technology and makes it available whenever you want it, which is why I'm already using a tablet as my everyday computer," Gates said. "It's a PC that is virtually without limits -- and within five years I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America."

      - Bill Gates, November 12, 2001 when Microsoft was introducing Windows XP for Tablet PCs.

      Alan Kay said The best way to predict the future is to invent it. I think it's clear that the current Apple under Steve Jobs is better than MS under Gates and Ballmer at delivering in this particular area.

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    5. Re:Wow by c · · Score: 3, Insightful

      > ... that's a pretty sad state to be in, given that fact tablets have
      > been "the next big thing" for at least a year now.

      Well, no.

      A sad state is to have been shipping tablet/touch/PDA operating systems on and off for almost 20 years, and suddenly admit you don't have a clue what to do when tablets suddenly take off.

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    6. Re:Wow by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2

      All the "Tablet Edition" features are built into regular Windows Vista and Windows 7.

      I installed Vista on my standard tablet, and as soon as it picked up it was on a tablet, it gave me my on-screen keyboard, handwriting recognition, etc. features. It even had that stupid game where you could use the pen to draw lines and bounce balls around.

      In short, it didn't go away, it just got rolled-in to the base product.

      And in response to your negativity, I know a lot of pharmacists and nurses who will let you take their Windows tablets when you pry them from their cold, dead fingers... they were insanely popular in healthcare, when I worked in healthcare. (Around 2007.) Microsoft was (and likely still is) definitely building a product that had customers.

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  4. I actually liked the idea behind courier by Shivetya · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A folding tablet design which allowed pen entry. I already have a BT keyboard for my iPad as I found that I as used it more that input became more and more of an issue. Voice recognition won't work in a meeting and the built in keyboard can be a pain. Hence I have a clam shell case with BT keyboard. I remember the old Palm days with their shorthand and such. Adapt that idea. Give me alternative methods of entering data. Tie it all together with One Note. The folding / split screen approach would allow easy separation of work as well let alone make it more compact to carry.

    Still the more I use my tablet the more I begin to wonder how long they will persist, they are good for presenting what I have, not so much for creating on, at least in the business environment

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  5. Not a problem by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Funny

    Have you considered making it light enough that your arm doesn't ache after 5 minutes?

    My arm gets plenty of exercise.

    1. Re:Not a problem by alexhs · · Score: 2

      Have you considered making it light enough that your arm doesn't ache after 5 minutes?

      My arm gets plenty of exercise.

      Doesn't it deplete the battery really fast ?

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  6. XP Tablet Edition by ElementOfDestruction · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_editions#Tablet_PC_Edition The old tablets were certainly a lot more functional than today's toys. It's a large phone, NOT a small laptop.

    1. Re:XP Tablet Edition by moderatorrater · · Score: 2

      I see it more as smart phones have been small tablets for a while. In many ways that iPhone was the first widely successful tablet, it also happened to do phone calls. It just makes sense to extend the same things that have worked on smart phones to tablets.

  7. Wont produce a tablet? correct... by Lumpy · · Score: 2

    Microsoft has been big on tablets cince 1992. Vista and 7 come with tablet functions in it and XP was the last good iteration with their tablet add on package.

    Plus why should they make a tablet? Fujitsu and others make tablet hardware that is 900X better than anything that Microsoft could ever make.

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  8. Re:Early adopter by Lumpy · · Score: 2

    It's already been several generations.

    I had a tablet running Windows for Workgroups 3.11 tablet edition back in the 90's on my Dauphin DTR-1

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  9. Re:One word by 517714 · · Score: 3, Funny
    Apple Elite

    Google Comic Sans

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  10. your arm aches after 5 minutes? by fishtorte · · Score: 2

    You're not masturbating nearly enough.