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3 Reasons Why Microsoft Needs 3 Surface Tablets
CowboyRobot writes "It's looking like Microsoft is planning to replace its underachieving Surface tablet with two new products, but it may need three to finally have success with the Surface. Three tablets would provide an entry point and an upgrade path. Multiple Surface RT models would help Windows RT survive OEM skepticism. Microsoft needs device fanfare to accompany Windows 8.1, and to coincide with enterprise hardware upgrades. If the company releases one of the models before the end of the year, the device would arrive in time not only for the holiday season, but also to cash in on user interest in Windows 8.1, which will be released later this fall. Surface devices released next year, meanwhile, could capitalize on enterprise hardware upgrades, which are expected to pick up as Windows XP's April 8, 2014 end-of-service date nears."
That's not likely to work. iOS and Android are too entrenched. No OEM is going to willingly walk into a new, untested OS.
I just finished outfitting the rest of my family with 7" Android tablets, each costing about $70. For Microsoft to be competitive, it needs to either come in under $100, or let me have one with Office for under $200 or so. Otherwise - I'm not sure my youngest kids will ever know what Microsoft is. (They do know what Apple is - it's who made the "old" tablets their friends parents used to buy 2-3 years ago.)
The Surface Pro with type keyboard was by far the best ultra-light device in its size. When it was released, with its 1920x1080 display, pen input, touch screen, etc. it blew past the now outdated 11" MacBook air and anything else in that size.
My only complaints was the glued down components and soldered RAM:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Microsoft+Surface+Pro+Teardown/12842/1
I hope that the next Surface Pro 2 has Haswell, and eliminates the component glue and soldered RAM, or at least offers a 6-8GB RAM option and 256-480HG mSATA drive option. Then it would be prefect for me. Hopefully with a newer Haswell chip, the fans can also be reduced or eliminated, and the battery life will increase.
I am also eyeing the Haswell based Samsung ATIV Q, but at 13" it is a bit too large for me.
I also love the thin but solid unibody construction of the Acer Aspire s7-191, but without a pen input (which is really needed for my graphic and CAD work), it does not meet my needs. Not to mention, that it appears that Acer is abandoning the 11" model, which did not yet get the Haswell refresh.
On the Apple side, it is sad that Apple refuses to make a retina MacBook Air, even though the iPad3/4 has a 2048x1536 display compared to 1440x900 on 13" Air & 1366x768 on 11" Air, and also support pen input. Even though I much prefer Unix based OSX, for the first time in 8 years, I am planning to buy a Windows based laptop/tablet this year, instead of a Mac.
I wonder if there is any Linux distribution in the works which might take full advantage of these new touch based ultralights/tablets?
Hopefully manufactories will start to reduce the size of the large bezels around the display. With small devices, the smaller the bezel, the better the display.
"Why would a company or a consumer go with Microsoft when Android already works well and is established in the market?"
Why would a company or a consumer go with Linux when Windows already works well and is established in the market?
Because your viewpoint is overly simplistic and meaningless.