Slashdot Mirror
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."
From TFA: "When Microsoft first priced its Surface tablets, it made a colossal miscalculation, assuming that it could simply follow Apple into the high-margin device business."
Aim at the other foot, Microsoft.
Free Martian Whores!
but also to cash in on user interest in Windows 8.1
What user interest?
They don't need one tablet, let alone three. "Want" is the word I believe someone was looking for when writing this article.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
It takes BALLS the size of CANADA to TRIPLE-DOWN!
Lady and gentlemen, Microsoft is about to show you how it's done. This is like RIM, without the spending cap or reality check.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Microsoft is not Apple. People don't wait in line for Microsoft products just because they are Microsoft products. Apple built a cult following around top notch products. They repeatedly made good products. That didn't happen overnight, and it damn near killed apple. Microsoft has to stop producing garbage. Until *All* of Microsoft products are top tier for an extended period of time, no one will trust Microsoft enough to buy into the lock-in. Microsoft has had too many Zunes, and too many Bobs for people to shell out top dollar expecting a good user experience. Now they do the wait and see, and a wait and see product is never good enough to get the top of the market, no matter how good it is because those same customers bought the competitions product already.
Microsoft only has one hope of remaining relevant. They have to make awesome products repeatedly for a period of years to decades, and accept that their products will go unnoticed for a long time. Eventually, a core of loyal Microsoft customers will form, and if the top notch products continue to flow, the core will continue to grow. One piece of junk like windows 8 makes it onto the shelves, and Microsoft is back at square one again. This will be a long and expensive process for Microsoft, but the longer they wait, the more likely the process will kill them.
I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
1 - Landfills currently in danger of eroding, need rapid supplementary deposit.
2 - Microsoft execs have restriction period expire - and swapped for Intel stock last month. Now need to inflate H2 units shipped on CPUs.
3 - Three words: "BALLMER, BALLMER, BALLMER"!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
King of Swamp Castle: When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.
It must be mighty toasty at the Redmond campus.
So.... besides the ".1" in 8.1, we are anticipating this release ... why? I mean, I wasn't aware that the 8.1 release was a thing. You get a start button, which takes you directly to the already existing start screen. Shrug. Personally, I'm sticking with 7 until the start menu comes back or hell freezes over, whichever occurs first.
So, the RT didn't sell well, the Pro sold only slightly better... so the answer is to release more models, and the mistake they made was not timing it with the holidays?
Kidding, right?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Make sure the bootloader is available to be unlocked and the devices are compatible with Android.
People will buy them knowing that if they hate the Windows mobile experience, they can always load Android and be reasonably happy with the device.
I'm guessing that nobody really uses computers the way that MS thinks they do. Maybe if they stopped trying to build their devices to satisfy the whims of focus groups they could sell some products to real people.
That seems like a large inventory to me... ;-)
I think someone is trying to get Microsoft to go out of business by tricking them into doubling down on the Surface RT.
is to deep six RT tablets completely and focus on bringing light weight x86 compatible tablets to the market pronto. Fast, light weight, portable laptop replacements. Make them 1/2 the price of ultrabooks and then watch the tablet market crumble and fall back to pcs.
Unfortunately they went full retard with RT. If it came out at like 200$ maybe it would of survived, but even then it would of been crappy. Microsoft's main selling point is it's huge software suite in x86 land, not ARM. Leave that to Android and iOS. Whoever sold them the idea that they could half ass into a saturated market with no real offerings cost them a chunk of change. Then again investors can be fooled into thinking that "this time things will be different"(TM).
Microsoft for years has had "OS basic, OS Home, OS Home Premium, OS Business, OS Business Premium, OS Business Pro ...."
Give me one offering which does everything I need. Don't try to sell me one of 9 slightly different versions which are all variously crippled and limited.
This cash grab to sell a bunch of different version of the same thing is usually annoying, and periodically you disover that "Home Premium" is still missing some pretty basic features.
What Microsoft needs to do is understand what people want and why, not just come out with the latest "this is what we're giving you" and then scratch their heads when nobody gives a shit.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
What is hurting microsoft is not that many people need anything resembling a desktop computer. Most people are consumer's of content with the only content they create requiring little in the way of complicated interfacing (tweets, messages, pokes, likes, votes, and the occasional picture or even video). Thus a smart phone became many people's primary interface to the interwebs. What people are now seeing is that they want a better interface to the interwebs in their pocket so the larger screen sizes are becoming quite popular. But personally I think the happy size limit is at most an iPad mini or slightly smaller.
But instead MS goes and creates the surface which is basically a laptop with a keyboard that you will misplace. What? Who wants that? If I want a laptop, I want a trackpad, a keyboard, and a proper sized screen. If I want a tablet or larger smartphone that is what I want. Not some hybrid that isn't that great at being either when for the same or less money I can do better.
The reality is that there is a great product sitting right in this area. The product is a keyboard, trackpad, and monitor from a laptop that uses your phone as the computer. Not just one phone that is proprietary to the keyboard/monitor but something that will talk to your entire lineup of phones now and into the future. We know that smartphones are going to get smarter and smarter but a good keyboard and monitor could last through generations of smartphones. This way you can do all your phone stuff quite nicely with your choice of MS phone but then when you need to do some content creation (spreadsheet, video editing, resume polishing, etc) you have a proper keyboard monitor combo. This matches people's common usage pattern where they have a cool new smartphone but a 4 year old laptop (who's battery lasts 8 minutes) mostly gathering dust. But when they need the laptop they really need it.
This would also be nearly perfect for the road warrior. They effectively travel with one device. Also the keyboard/monitor thingy could be insanely thin with no HD, little circuitry, and potentially no cooling needs. Just one large thin battery, the keys, and the screen.
I disagree - I've been using a Surface Pro since launch, and I love it. It has replaced my desktop computer and my Apple laptop that I had kept for reasons I've completely forgotten now. It may not be for you, but for my needs (mobile IT consultant for medium-sized businesses), it's perfect. Windows on a tablet DOES work, most assuredly. (Note, I don't mean RT, since that's mostly a reply to iOS anyway and not a target for desktop replacement)
To be fair, Windows 8 doesn't work on desktops either.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
Because 3(Crap) == AWESOME!
No, what MS needs is to focus on the 2-3 products they do fairly well, and make them great.
Ooh, and support the ReactOS project, especially since they're giving a big ol' middle finger to most of their business customers come 2014.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Needs 3 tablet versions? I guess we could then officially them Moe, Larry and Curly then. "I'm pressing Start but nothing happens, nyuk, nyuk!!"
Fuck that.
Triple down.
ok....you seem to be the exception. everyone I know seems to say it is quite poor. sales are tanking.
Slow-news-day....very slow, apparently.
Not three. Make it the Surface Pro and then pulverize the tablet market.
For those who seek perfection there can be no rest on this side of the grave.
From TFA:
This assumes that Microsoft is willing to give away Windows to hit the price point. This in turn means buying in on the "sell cheap razors, make money selling razor blades" idea, which Microsoft did actually try with the XBox, but would represent a change in strategy with respect to mobile.
Can Microsoft make that decision quickly? I can imagine endless bickering among the multiple layers of middle management about whether that's a good idea or not.
Also, Windows needs a more powerful device to run compared to Android, which drives up device costs.
This is just fantasy. The OEMs are not happy about any aspect of the Surface situation (Microsoft making its own hardware in direct competition with the OEMs, lousy sales, etc.) and this sort of abstract reassurance is worthless.
Again, just fantasy. Microsoft has completely failed to gin up any excitement around the current crop of Surface products and it's silly to just assume they can do better with a new product.
Also, TFA suggests that "excitement over Windows 8.1" would help sell Surface tablets, and I don't think there will be enough excitement there to help anything.
Wow. Just, wow. Traveling executives who likely already have a Macbook Air and an iPad are going to get rid of them in favor of a Surface Pro and a baby Surface RT?
Oh wait, I forgot, the new tablets will have Outlook so it's totally plausible! Yeah, no.
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
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.)
Pope: Yes, one! Now will you please tell me what in God's name possessed you to paint this with three Christs in it?
Michaelangelo: It works, mate!
Pope: It does not work!
Michaelangelo: It does, it looks great! The fat one balances the two skinny ones!
Why Microsoft Needs 3 Surface Tablets
Ooh, I know this one: Because that's how many they sold.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
Microsoft needs to discover a reason to exist. It needs to find problems and then work to deliver products that solve those problems. These Windows Tablets don't need to exist. They don't bring something to the market that is not there. Microsoft should exit the phone and tablet market.
Ballmer doesn't understand that the Windows brand represents one of two things:
1.) That super locked down computer at work which forces me to use Excel and blocks Facebook and Youtube.
2.) That super virus infested computer in the living room that the kids use to type up their reports.
Neither of these are the kinds of experiences people want associated with their tablet experience; it's among the reasons why so many people have opted for them for casual use. If Microsoft is trying to make inroads into a market other than the desktop, then they need to use branding to their advantage by distancing itself from the desktop experience. As much as Ballmer believes that people want Windows everywhere, the spec sheet of Windows RT, almost by definition, ensures that its ONLY resemblance to the familiar desktop experience (even if we assume the positive aspects thereof) is the Windows name. No use of their iTunes library, and tricky-at-best use of Gmail and Dropbox.
If Microsoft wants to compete in the tablet space, then it's not a matter of their lack of an entry-level device like the Nexus 7 - it's the lack of an entry POINT. Apple's entry point was the iPod, whose entry point was the fact that it played MP3s from both Napster and MusicMatch. Apple then established iTunes, which was the entry point for the iPhone, and then the iPad built upon that. Microsoft requires an Outlook.com account, Skydrive, Zune Music (or Xbox Music?), and rebuying the apps you already bought on your iPhone or Galaxy S2. Even if they gave away the entry level Surface, that's still far too much change for far too many people.
Microsoft, here's my business plan for your next tablet...
1.) Do what they say - make a 7", $199 entry level unit and a $499 extended unit. Call it the xTab, and the Pocket xTab. Have no Microsoft branding on it at all, and never once use the term "Windows".
2.) Sell it (at the very least the Pocket xTab) wherever you can - Best Buy, Microcenter, Amazon, even Walgreens or Rite Aid. Make it as easy as possible to acquire one.
3.) Do some sort of cross licensing deal - Office for Android in exchange for official Gmail for the xTab. Offer some free Azure space to Dropbox in exchange for an official client. Do the same for Facebook in exchange for an Instagram client.
4.) Offer crossgrade app reimbursement - if a paid app from your iTunes account or Google Play account exists in the Microsoft Store, give it to the customer for free...then pay the developer what they would have gotten as a result of the sale. This will encourage developers on other platforms to develop the same app for the Windows Store. Similarly, provide copies of movies, TV episodes, and eBooks to people making the jump.
5.) Get the Chevron team back in the game - your system hackers are your platform evangelists, and you need all the help you can get.
6.) 16GB versions include 16GB of space available to the user.
7.) Add the Start Menu back to Windows 8 as an option. It won't do squat on the tablet OS, but it will help get some good will from the people who are avoiding Windows 8 because it comes across as trying to force a tablet UI where it doesn't belong.
8.) Free phone upgrades (to an xPhone, btw) to anyone still stuck on Windows Phone 7. Again, it's expensive, but Apple gets good will from giving older handsets software updates. Want to one-up them? You'll need a stack of Lumias to do it.
Think it's too drastic or too expensive? I can't possibly see it costing more than the hit that Steve Ballmer's way of doing things cost the company.
In my view, the problem with Microsoft's Surface is not really the product lineup. The problem is that, once again, Microsoft has a poor marketing vision, i.e. they're selling a product without a real place in the market.
You might think I'm crazy, but iPads and Android tablets have a more clear place in the market. They're not full computers, we all know they're not full computers, but they allow us to do the things we'd do on our phones if our phones had bigger screens. There are enough people who want that kind of casual device.
There might also be a market for a full-computer tablets, but that's a bit trickier. The problem is that, as we've seen, a good desktop UI won't work well on a small-screen touch device. Likewise, a good UI for a small-screen touch-device won't work well for a full desktop computer.
Microsoft tried to meld the two, and in my opinion, they screwed up. The result looked pretty but wasn't good, and people don't like it. Meanwhile, Android users are basically happy with Android. iOS users are happy with iOS. Not many people really want to jump ship for a half-assed bastard child of desktop and tablet computing. Microsoft just needs to rethink the direction they took with Windows.
Chant it with me. RT! Should not be!
It serves no purpose at all except to fragment the market. If you go with Apple or Android, both of your portable devices are on the same basic level. I run mostly the same programs on my phone and tablet. Some run better on one than the other but very few apps that I use are not compatible with both devices.
The Surface Pro gives users the option of putting their desktop and tablet on the same footing. This is awesome! It's an area that's been woefully underserved. There have been a handful of "full windows" tablets but they were heavy and thick and expensive. The Pro finally gives people a sleek tablet that runs their desktop apps.
But WTF is RT supposed to do? It doesn't run the same apps as the desktop. It doesn't run the same apps as the phone. Unless developers completely re-write their apps to the Metro standard, there's no commonality.
Aside from that they really need to drive a stake through the heart of RT. I doubt it would be successful even on 7" devices. Just kill the fucking thing and work on some decent Windows 8 based devices based on Atom chips.
Do one thing well. :-)
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
I had seriously been looking at the Surface line and have evaluated them in person. First, I would like to state how surprised I was at how well the touchscreen interface works. It's not typical for Microsoft to get a technology right on the first try. On the other hand I recommend against the Surface RT in this respect. The Surface RT's touchscreen is sluggish, laggy, and choppy. Also, the keyboard add-on to the Surface RT has a very non-responsive feel to it, but the Surface Pro's keyboard does not have that issue. Second, I was impressed by how well these machines perform (not running any third-party applications) considering how little RAM they have in them. Windows Vista/7 famously chews through multi-gigs of RAM (not counting prefetch cache) and I wouldn't put less than 8Gigs of RAM in a Windows 7 computer. Windows 8 on the Surface Pro uses only about 1Gig of RAM which leaves around 3Gig remaining for apps. Regardless, I am continuously disappointed with hardware manufacturers and their continued pattern of building laptops and tablets with < 8Gig of Memory. Especially with i5/i7 CPUs there is really no excuse since the memory controller is in the processor, so no additional chips are needed. I decided against the Surface Pro due to the paltry 4Gig of RAM. If Microsoft can up that to a preferable 16Gig+ of RAM I would buy one immediately and would buy one at 8Gig depending on the price.
This is what retail has come to? I worked at Radio Shack back in '04 and we would easily have 100 SKUs on a single mobile pegboard at the back. Maybe 8-10K in the store on display and 25K in the catalog/website mix.
- In Soviet Korea, only old people loose all their bases to Natalie Portman's petrified hot grits overlords.
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.
That just means they will have to come up with 3 reasons on why they failed.
I suppose that 4G is paltry for a Microsoft OS...
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
nothing wrong with having a tattoo or something discretely hidden, but when you get tattoos on your face, neck, lower arms, lower legs, then wear tshirt and shorts, it says something about you and is the first thing to introduce yourself. so you have to be ready for people to judge you based on your tattoos, and I think it shows poor judgement and life decisions.
I would have to say that going to Microsoft Store instead of the Apple Store makes me want to stab people with sharp objects less
actually I fibbed, because I'm a little embarrassed about it. i dropped $300 on a time capsule, and I still feel not sure about it. it works great with my macs and I like having effortless backups. Srsly, what percentage of people do hourly backups? but honestly it's about $100 too expensive. I already have an apple tv so I don't need another one. it's an awesome device and it works well and plugs into itunes. i rent an itunes movie every week or two.
that being said, the apple store was still super dodgy. big dissapointment and they hsould really consider their strategy after ron johnson left. For the MS store, I think there's a huge benefit for product education. i learned a lot. i dare you to call me a shill, but if I didn't have an iPhone and apple ecosystem i'd probably get a lumia windows 8.
it's the showroom approach, more of an education opportunity than trying to sell stuff. to be fair, both stores have a wall with phone cases, etc. but for the core products there are very few.
It might be that you are a tribesmen of the Picts. They probably would think that noh8rz10 is no real man with his naked face. Deal with it - tattoos are everyone's personal business, and to judge people by their tattoos is in the literal sense of the word superficial.
The problem with Windows RT tablets is not "OEM skepticism." It's the poor sales numbers and utter lack of market share by a public who doesn't want a crippled machine that can do little besides surf and read emails.
The OEMs were willing to give it a shot. Reality soon kicked in and now they're dumping their RT product plans in droves.
RT is a complete and utter failure.
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
They are really missing the bus. A couple points stand out:
1) Microsoft needs device fanfare to accompany Windows 8.1
What, and 8.1 won't stand on its own? There has typically been two, maybe three primary reasons to upgrade Windows to a newer version (or replace the old) for 99% of everyone:
1) A new device is acquired and hardware support is lacking for the version you've already got
2) Planned obsolescence of software - you need the newer version of some program, which isn't available on the older version.
3) Corporate management benefits
Sorry, MS has never benefited from the "new shiney" Apple benefits from with every release of hardware. Their products have had to stand on their own merit. If a tablet comes out running Windows and is a success, it will be due to the benefit of any features of the OS more so than the tablet hardware itself.
the device would arrive in time not only for the holiday season, but also to cash in on user interest in Windows 8.1
There is user interest in Windows 8.1? This is news to me. Presumably this interest comes from the 5 people who bought Windows 8 laptops or desktops? Everyone, from corporations to home users, is trying brazenly to stay on Windows 7 or migrate from XP to Windows 7 (still, sadly), not to mention avoid Windows Server 2012 and the parasitic changes made to other Server 2012 products (Exchange 2012, here's lookin' at you, kid) which have overwhelmingly gimped their capabilities, management, and general functionality (though all reports of performance seem positive).
Regardless of why there isn't interest in 8.x, there simply isn't (just like Vista was/is hated, regardless of the merit of said hatred).
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."
Companies will not be replacing their plain-jane XP desktops and laptops with Surface tablets, sorry. They're going to be buying plain-jane desktops and upgrading them to Windows 7, and sinking their teeth in for the long term (or simply upgrading the assets they have today). The software ecology is entirely too disruptive in 8 to allow for a clean "enterprise" migration - and the reliance on old versions of IE for corporate sites is still significant here.
I don't see Surface tablets succeeding if they a) ship with hard drives, or b) come with a price point more than 20% lower than capable but not-name-brand Android tablets: in terms of desirability, that's roughly where Surface sits. People have gmail, they use google for searching, and mostly watch youtube videos with their time. Surface isn't going there, in any regards - and most people don't have a Live account.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Saying the Apple Store only stocks 10 SKU's is an exaggeration, even granting that they'll use a single SKU to stand in for multiple, physically identical SKU's on their sales floor. For example, they'll have only 5 different MacBook's on display, but that's because there's only 5 Apple laptop form factors. In reality there are 15-20 SKU's for each "stock" configuration, all of which are stocked in-store. The same concept applies in one way or another to the entirety of their product line. Given the diversity of their product offerings, the Microsoft Store has to pack a much larger number of floor models (and presumably stock fewer variations of each) to adequately represent what is probably a comparable number of product SKU's.
You are lying to yourself. It is common among people that want to be 'edgy'. Tattoos are a persons personal business. When you take your personal business and publicly display it, you are in a literal sense, asking people to judge you personally. If I wear a T-Shirt with a picture on it, I am fully aware that people will make judgements about me based on that. In fact, I am aware that it is intentional. If I wear my T-Shirt with Pac-Man on it, I am telling the world that I like old school arcade games. Conversely, if I wear underwear with Pac-Man on it, I am telling only a select few something about myself.
The same goes for tattoos, except, choosing a T-Shirt and underwear is less a sign of deep commitment to the subject and/or bad life choices.
Yep, that's why people get tattoo's to start with; they want to make a statement about themselves. Some want that statement made before anyone has a chance to do a meet and greet, hence wearing clothing so they will be exposed.
My karma is not a Chameleon.
..Why Microsoft Needs 3 Surface Tablets: ...to cash in on user interest in Windows 8.1, which will be released later this fall.
Yeah you're right. 3 Tablets should about do it. There probably won't be as many as 4 people with "user interest" in Windows 8.1.
The Surface RT is very popular in my house. In terms of hours-per-day of usage, my wife uses it more than her mac desktop. My older son also likes playing games on it. I use it occasionally. Having a device with separate accounts/profiles, and user-switching, is essential.
I find that it is a more "social" way of using a computer than actually sitting somewhere to use a desktop or a laptop. It's easier to context switch back and forth between interacting and computing when using a tablet, and I think the RT is a great tablet.
Having the keyboard always there is nice. Sometimes you realize that you're going to do more typing than you had planned (like when writing an FB post) and unfolding the keyboard and getting to work is handy.
My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
They can name it YART: Yet Another RT.
Have gnu, will travel.
What do you do for these 'medium sized businesses', desktop support? I can't even conceive of using a tablet exclusively with as much typing, etc. I have to do on a daily basis, let alone one that's as software crippled as Windows tablets.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
It is great that it replaces your laptop and desktop, but does it replace your iPad? My iPad doesn't replace my laptop or desktop, but it does do some things that I used to attempt to do on them, which it wasn't really suited for. Mainly the ability to pick it up and read whatever it is I want to read within a few seconds.
Everyone I know who has a surface pro seems to agree with the GP that the machine is excellent and does everything they ask it to. Everyone I know who has a bad opinion about the surface pro, however, doesn't have one. I suspect you and most people you know fall into the latter category, as well.
I disagree - I've been using a Surface Pro since launch, and I love it. It has replaced my desktop computer and my Apple laptop that I had kept for reasons I've completely forgotten now. It may not be for you, but for my needs (mobile IT consultant for medium-sized businesses), it's perfect. Windows on a tablet DOES work, most assuredly. (Note, I don't mean RT, since that's mostly a reply to iOS anyway and not a target for desktop replacement)
As an IT consultant, I'm willing to bet that you also cart around a case/keyboard. That's really no different than a netbook.
With a keyboard, it really doesn't matter what the OS is. They all function admirably enough to get work done. But if you're relying solely on the on-screen keyboard, you're probably not nearly as productive as you think you are.
No, it's the "we're not making money on these, but we'll make it up in volume."
Oh, how Microsoft brings the complete morons out of the woodwork. Unlike Apple, Microsoft allows anyone to build surface tablets, so there are actually MANY surface tablets, both ARM and x86 based. Why the hell does Slashdot link to know-nothing cretins like Michael Endler?
Microsoft has many problems with its tablets, but 'variety' isn't one of them. Everyone with a brain knows that the Surface RT tablet needed a price point BELOW $250 to have any impact. Instead Microsoft chose to sell the 'razor' rather than the 'blades', and by 'blades', of course I mean their app store.
The Surface Pro was even worse, an Intel ULTRABOOK with the keyboard sawn off. Who the hell was in the market for such a hellishly expensive, hyper-crippled laptop/not-a-laptop?
Metro/RT/New UI apps are s**t, and can only appeal to people already perfectly satisfied with the software available on Android or iOS. This 'new' OS from Microsoft can never succeed. On the other hand, Microsoft has refused to provide an easy way for ordinary Windows apps to have an alternate tablet interface, robbing their tablets of the incredible back-library of Windows software.
It would be trivial to modify the windows shell to 'bias' itself to the expectation of tablet users, so the same DESKTOP apps could run in the same way on both tablets and desktops/laptops. Instead, Microsoft went in the opposite direction, and stated that desktop users should be FORCED to accept tablet apps on the desktop, both dumbing down the desktop below any useful functionality, and exposing Microsoft's terrible weakness in tablet apps anyway.
It's too late for Microsoft. No-one with vision remains at the company. Ballmer simply sez "clone Apple" and Gates is more concerned with assisting the US government, via NSA spying and his universal children's database, to usher in a new dark-age for Humanity. The tablet initiative (the fourth from MS) has once again failed, and perfectly decent commodity PCs can be built so cheaply, Windows is now the unacceptable dominant cost.
Companies with nowhere else to go (like Nvidia) will continue creeping to MS as 'partners'. Microsoft may overhaul RT to remove the full-blown Windows every RT device secretly contains, so the ARM RT OS can be provided for near zero cost in one last attempt to build demand for its app store (which is where the real money should be made, obviously). Future (very minor) success for Surface Pro tablets depends on price, and the demand for tablets that can run proper Windows. However, now MS and others are willing to place thin clients on Android tablets, to access proper Windows apps running in the 'cloud', is there even a theoretical need for x86 Windows tablets?
The author thinks MS should make a low-cost tablet, but I think that's just further suicide. The low-end is glutted with tablets, lead by sellers who are making next to nothing on hardware to push their marketplaces and followed by their OEMs. Microsoft is not going to be able to undercut them (would be lucky to just match, given the quantity discount disadvantage), and then they will be in the same fiasco as now. What's been proven, and what people have said since day one - the Surface Pro will sell, and RT will not. You don't enter markets where you don't have a differentiator or a price advantage. A cheaper Surface Pro on Intel's future mobile x86 chips might be a good route to take (even Samsung is buying into them). They won't make it big that way, but there's nothing wrong with just making lots of money.
Will Microsoft shareholders ever tolerate pruning for growth?
Split Microsoft into three companies and spin them off as seperate entities with perpetual cross-licensing agreements for all MS technologies released and planned for release in the next 3 years.
One, the business entity selling Office, SQL, Exchange, Windows.
Two, the consumer entity selling Xbox, Phone, Surface, Zune, and whatever else they are pushing at consumers.
Three, the nascent services entity selling web mail, hosted Exchange, Azure, all cloud-based products.
Company one remains Microsoft. It will probably shrink some as PC sales slide but it may become stronger (the way a tree does when pruned right) because it has a strong focus on products with a lot of history and near-universal buy-in in the business world. They can adapt without worrying about trying to be all things to all platforms and focus on what their specific market wants.
Company two can begin to truly innovate without old guard apparatchiks hobbling it. They may build on Winphone or Surface in ways that aren't tied to the old company and actually challenge Android or Apple.
Company three has the biggest uphill battle but also possibly the widest possible future/horizon as it represents services and products with a lot of growth potential.
I know MS wants to try to integrate all of this, but I wonder if maybe it's just not possible to coordinate that much technology across so many platforms. Even the military has trouble doing that and they have even MORE money than MS and, well, military discipline and force behind them.
Showing off tattoos is much like wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals: you may feel comfortable that way, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable in a business environment (depends on the business, of course, but retail is often conservative) . Dressing up shows respect for those you meet, and in particular showing respect for customers you meet is often a good plan. Not always, of course: in some businesses, your customers might be insulted if you imply that they are "respectable".
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
fair enough, but you get the point. disregarding options:
* ipad
*ipad mini
*iphone
*macbook air 11"
*macbook air 13"
*macbook 13"
*macbook retina 13"
*macbook 15"
*macbook retina 15"
*mac mini
*imac (do these have different sizes?)
*apple TV
*cinema display (do these have different sizes?)
*mac pro
anything else that I"m missing? all software is at the mac app store and not sold on site. there's an accessory wall where I'm going to lump in the wireless stuff since it sits there. I listed 14 items, generously breaking out the screen sizes.
I think the confusion between the Surface Pro and RT may go down as one of the biggest branding mistakes of the 21st century.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Wow, I'll be the first to admit that 6 million Surface tablets that Microsoft had to do write-offs on was bat-shit insane, but I do think Microsoft needs more than 3 units on hand.
My brother's girlfriend's cousin from Canada wants to buy one, that would be 33% of their inventory right there.
Seriously though, what is this guy thinking? Being a bigger failure is somehow going to result in people wanting to buy more? It's not like the lack of apps, being ridiculously late to market, and being over-priced had anything to do with it.
Nah... Triple-down!!!
The two people I know that have the Surface Pro love them. One uses it at work a lot, taking notes and then synching to her desktop. The other uses it as a laptop, only much smaller. He runs Steam on it and can play many games (plugged in if for any period of time). The keyboards are outrageously priced, but they are quality (especially the mechanical version).
Myself, I'd fork over for a reasonable gaming laptop for a few hundred more, but as a powerful, functional tablet the Surface Pro seems like a reasonable solution (pricey though).
BlameBillCosby.com
If there's been a buzz over 8.1, I've missed it. "Sucks less than 8.0" isn't a great motivator.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
3 tablets, 5 tables...it doesn't matter. Microsoft is never going to be a big player in either the cellphone or tablet market. MS has been outflanked by both Apple and Google. Desktop computers are dying a slow death, at least in the consumer market. And that's where MS had it's competitive advantage. MS saw the tide change too late and are now left on the outside looking in at Apple and Google.
Sure, MS still has tons of money coming in from it's Windows/Office monopoly but you can see a quiet desperation at Microsoft. Even they must realize that they missed the boat on tablets and probably can't hope for more than a 10% market share.
Apple excels at UI design and marketing. Google excels at innovation. MS? They're still trying to find out.
It's really weird how Windows on the desktop has always reigned supreme and Linux could never make any head-way, but now it's Linux (in a form) which is co-dominating on mobile devices and Windows which can't make any head-way. Quite a weird reversal of fortunes. Also somewhat satisfying from a karmic point of view.
Only if their criteria for judgement measures against your own. Also, their judgement needs to matter to you.
well, if you're working retail, and you're trying to sell me something, I would hope that you're concerned about how your physical appearance affects your job!
chuckle, nice.
I have a SurfacePro and love it.
About two months ago I switched to using my SurfacePro as my sole work machine (I'm a compiler developer on Microsoft's VisualStudio team). And I switched to using one as my sole home machine (for mobile app development, browsing, drawing various home-improvement plans using the Pen, web-browsing, powering my home theater).
I love it! It's plenty fast enough for my dev work. It's light enough to sling into my backpack for the cycle to work. It's neat to take to meetings. Even my wife, a die-hard Apple user, has started instinctively trying to touch the screen on her MacBook Pro after getting used to it on my SurfacePro.
The SurfacePro's touch screen is obviously great with the pen (for drawing plans for home-improvement projects, carpentry, garden remodeling &c). Also for business use (annotating Powerpoints and PDFs). But what surprised me is that I've come to prefer using finger-touch for lots of my programming development work - using it to navigate folders, or adjust properties of files, or scroll through source code.
Also, in those cases where an app has a functional Metro touch version (chiefly Lync and Mail) I've come to prefer those to the mouse+keyboard versions.
I'll bet in the Microsoft store, the screens don't scratch as easily.
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
This explains why Apple has design patents on mobile devices without sharp edges that you could use to hurt casual employees.
sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
One every three weeks might do the trick, if they're good. Who do they think they're competing against? Apple?
Help stamp out iliturcy.
We can talk all day, until the cows come home or we are blue in the face, but the only strategy that Microsoft had with Windows RT was the one they went against. The secret, after all, is the apps, stupid. Microsoft opted to neither upsize Windows Phone nor to downsize Windows 7 for a tablet-sized environment. That came with a price, because Windows RT never had an app market to speak of. And apps is what makes a mobile OS.
What did Apple do when it released the iPad? It based it on the iPhone's OS, iOS.
What did Google do when they released the Android Tablet OS? They based it on the Android Phone's OS.
What did Microsoft do when it released Windows RT? They based it on nothing they had done before.
The problem for Windows RT is apps. Granted Windows Phone has fewer apps than iOS or Android have, but it at least had some. They could have been leveraged for a Windows tablet OS based on the Windows Phone OS. They weren't and RT was released with little in the way of apps. And even now, almost a year later, RT still has little in the way of apps.
Microsoft doesn't need to double down on dumb. RT is dead, now and forever. But, if they want to do a new OS based on Windows Phone on a tablet platform, maybe they'll have a chance.
Whether they do or not, the issue with RT is a moot one. It's not a question of whether RT will die. It's a question of when it will do so.
You can't bend reality to meet your perceptions.
Well, you need to go back in time when IBM was negotiating with Bill about DOS, slap him hard, then tell him
Do one thing well.
And it better be "Writing your own software."
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Three tablets is just about right. I hope they don't even think to produce a fourth one out of the line since that will languish in stock. ... Sorry? What?
Mr. Watson must have got right: "I think there is a world market for maybe five Microsoft tables" but I think he's over egging it.
It is sure it won't sell that much.
You mean three new MODELS? They must be out of their thick mind!
My s4 really does everything my laptop dont. I cant wait for an s5 or s6. I aint saving my money for a MS tablet and the kids already have an ipad. If they want another they will be buying it themselves. There is the real competition.
to give some scale to this 100 skus may be oh 3 of the parts drawers in fact i think almost all of the 27? series has at least 100 skus the 15 series PARTS are more than that (same for the 42 series cables)
Thats not an inventory deck THIS is an inventory deck (sound of Phone Book sized stack hitting the desk)
btw Hi from a 1909 alumni.
personally i think MS is DOOMED unless they do some drastic things.
Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
That's 3 more than anyone else needs.
Microsoft has one Windows RT tablet. They sold about one million, have another six million in-stock and not selling (based on their write-down). So the solution to thie problem is to make MORE Windows RT tablets?
Ok, they have solved one problem already. In the original plan, there's no way Microsoft could sell a $200 Surface RT to compete with the Nexus 7, simply because of the $100 additional pricetag for Windows RT + Office. But since nearly all of the OEMs have dropped RT, and it's pretty likely Dell will as well once they've sold out their stock, it's now quite possible for Microsoft to stop worrying about protecting OEM's ability to deliver RT hardware (ok, sure, they could also price RT + Office at $20, but that's unlikely, too). That's an option, but only one presented out of the current failure.
What Microsoft needs is to really stress that RT isn't Windows. Consumers don't know. We techies, sure, but I have seen Surface ads out the wazoo -- $900 million ad budgets have that effect -- and nothing to tell me that I can't run Photoshop or other real Windows apps on an RT system. Next, they have to present a reason that regular consumers would actually want one of these. Office ain't it.
-Dave Haynie