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Acer Pulls Back From Windows To Focus On Android and Chromebook
SmartAboutThings writes "More bad news for Microsoft: Acer is apparently rethinking their Windows strategy, planning to offer fewer Microsoft products and focus more on products delivered by Redmond's rival Google, in the form of Chromebooks and Android devices. This comes after Acer's second-quarter earnings call, where the Taiwanese company posted a surprise second-quarter loss, having unexpected lower sales and rising expenses. Acer's change of plans comes not long after Asus' CEO announced that the company would no longer make Windows RT products until Microsoft proves there's real demand."
Microsoft really dropped the ball with RT. That is the problem. They really should have added some PC Compatibility for some legacy systems. Sure you don't need to go back to windows 95 apps. But being able to run any .NET applications may have made it useful.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Considering they were profitable with those, they have learned.
I just bought an Acer C7 Chromebook for my 5-year old son. He uses it to watch YouTube videos. My wife liked it so much, she has taken it over and I'm buying another one.
99% of what she does in through the browser. Actually, make that 100%. There isn't anything she uses the computer for that doesn't have a web interface. Stick AdBlock Plus in Chrome and you have a machine that boots from cold to fully ready in 7 seconds, with a fast, clean browsing experience w/Flash and PDF support. (And the only time it boots from cold is when there is a full Chrome update that requires a restart.)
Chromebooks are fantastic devices for what 80% of the population does with computers. For $199 it was by far and away the best thing out there.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
One of Microsoft's biggest fears from the late 90s was that the web browser would become more important than Windows and instead of just being an application, it would become the platform. If only Microsoft had been nimble enough to change their strategy in the past 15 to 20 years...
Every time I read a story about the failure of win8\RT I am greeted by an involuntary image in my mind of Balmer piloting the Hindenburg, and the disaster that followed. It amazes me that he is still in charge.
Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
So they are pulling out of one pointless OS (WinRT) and focus an another even more pointless OS (ChromeBook).
When will they ever learn?
The reason why they are focussing on the chromebook is because its selling. In fact its the fastest growing part of an otherwise lackluster PC Market. The fact that it loosens Microsoft Grip on them is a massive bonus.
....Microsoft employees were spotted moving chairs out of CEO Steve Ballmer's office.
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
For reasons most of us don't understand (myself included) the Chromebook is apparently selling like hot cakes, with some manufacturers finding they sell more Chromebooks than all their Windows laptops put together.
And if you think that doesn't make sense, you're in good company, but you only have to look at sales of a device of an even more crippled laptop*, one that doesn't even have a keyboard and requires use only of applications (themselves even more stripped down than normal) that the manufacturer approves of, that costs more than many regular, full sized, full spec'd, laptops, to understand that the market doesn't always produce winners that nerds like you and me see as obvious.
* Four letters, first is lowercase. Rhymes with "Sad".
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Most people don't need fully kitted out laptops any more than you need an amphibious tank, or your own private GPS satellite network..
which is totally what she said
Why?
You can put the thing in dev mode and do whatever you want. You can even install another OS. So you get a $199 laptop meaning no great loss if it gets dropped or destroyed by the kid and he gets a great first computer.
Having just bought a (Samsung) Chromebook, I think you ought to try one. It's considerably cheaper than either a real laptop or a (full size) tablet. Unlike cheap laptops, it has an 8 hour battery life, can't get a virus and boots in 10 seconds. Unlike a tablet, it has a 13 inch screen and a typeable keyboard. It has a ton of hidden functionality if you figure out how to access it. Yes, it only runs a browser, but I can get my email in a browser, edit documents/spreadsheets/presentations in a browser, access Evernote and similar services, etc. It won't replace my main computer, but it works great as a travel device.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
Isn't it slightly breathtaking how Microsoft has put more than a decade into CLR/CIL and all the .NET framework stuff, theoretically putting themselves in a surprisingly good position for multi-architecture support (given a software ecosystem dominated by proprietary applications from loads of independent vendors and substantial demand for legacy support: Linux and BSD do multi-architecture better; but only for situations where 'just ship the source, stupid' is considered viable, and Apple's 'if it were legal, we'd personally execute anybody who produces software compatible with OS versions older than the one we currently ship' approach allows them to bludgeon the ecosystem into compliance; but isn't a matter of technical sophistication), and then utterly fucked up their foray into ARM?
Most people don't need fully kitted out laptops any more than you need an amphibious tank, or your own private GPS satellite network..
An amphibious tank, connected to my own private GPS satellite network? Awesome, where do I sign up?
This is probably a troll, but I'll play along...
I thought the same thing until I checked Amazon and Best Buy. Search either one for Chromebooks and you'll turn up a bunch of products with thousands of reviews. This one's even listed as a #1 Best-Seller among laptops. Go ahead and do the same for Windows RT. It's okay, I'll wait here.
Now I'm not endorsing Chromebooks. I didn't even realize they were still available because I'm sure as hell not buying one... but that's two major retailers that have tons of models (including ones from Acer) that seems to be doing ok.
So I guess their "negotiation strategy" is going to be really really effective, because it also happens to be true.
I predict a new version of RT will soon be shipping which will deal with problems the initial tablet encountered.
From what I understand, the problems associated with Windows RT cannot really be fixed via a new version.
Marketing this product as "Windows", which confused the market place. A true lack of applications. A completely locked-down hardware device. Being extremely late to an already saturated market. These are all reasons that RT failed to gain much traction.
In fact, from what I understand, the hardware itself is not terrible though WinRT is a love or hate thing.
Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
It's right next to the Surface RT display.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Carewolf: "The Chromebook is a failure!"
Tupe: "No, the Chromebook sells quite well"
You: "No, they're not buing a Chromebook, they're buying 'that $199 laptop'"
Which would be the Chromebook right? So they're buying the Chromebook, which means that someone is selling it, right? Which means it's selling, right?
So what, exactly is the point of a tone that indicates that Tupe was wrong?
Or is your complaing "They are buying it wrong!!!!"?
For the last 20+ years, companies have made hardware for whatever Microsoft was making, because it was the gravy train.
Now all of a sudden they're realizing they're footing the bill to make products focused around Microsoft stuff, and that isn't always working for them if the stuff Microsoft is making nobody is interested in. In fact, it has become a liability in some instances.
The manufacturers have more options these days, and if the Microsoft products aren't selling, they can make more money by focusing on the Android and other stuff.
So Microsoft really needs to pay attention, and learn that they need to better understand what it is people want and why -- because there is increasingly not as much certainty that a MS product will sell, and if you're sitting on your laurels collecting revenue from OS and Office upgrades, you will get overtaken.
Their tablets aren't doing stellar, their phones aren't nearly as popular, nobody seems to like Windows 8, and they've pissed off everybody with the XBone -- and while they may be entrenched in corporate environments and likely to stay there, at the consumer level, they seem to be foundering.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Unless of course, they keep running with their blinders on.
Like refusing to reinstate the start menu on Windows 8.1 and forcing that metro crap instead of listening to their customers?
They could fix this so easy and fast, but they don't because they are bull-headed and know what their customer wants (or, at least, think they do.)
If there is a mouse / keyboard, use the Win7 UI.
If there is a touchscreen and no mouse, use the tiles.
Regardless of the above, put a radio button in the control panel to easily switch between the two.
I just fixed Windows 8.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Yeah, when you go from 0.1% to 0.3% of market share, that's 300% growth, which far outstrips everyone else. Ask Microsoft how they feel about being the "fastest growing part" of the smartphone business since Windows Phone 8 also shares that particular title.
Note: I am not disparaging ChromeOS or Chromebook with this post, I'm only pointing out how useless the term "fastest growing" is when applied to a platform that has been on the market for like 18 days (sarcasm).
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
Actually, as the people who found the first RT jailbreak noticed, the only thing keeping Windows RT from running ARM compiled applications (which you can create in Visual Studio, even!) is a policy that mandates that only Microsoft-signed executables can run outside of the WinRT environment. If Microsoft removed that restriction by changing a single registry key, all of that compatibility would suddenly appear. In fact, .NET apps distributed in PE form and compiled for Any CPU would be able to run without being recompiled at all.
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