Slashdot Mirror
Get Real, Microsoft: If the New Surface Pro Is a Laptop, Bundle It With a Type Cover (pcworld.com)
An anonymous reader shares an article: If Microsoft sold cars like it's trying to sell its Surface Pro (2017), it would charge extra for wheels -- and would be laughed out of the market. But Microsoft's using this tactic to sell its new Windows tablet as a "laptop," and we're still trying to figure out why. Microsoft's Surface Pro is clearly a Windows tablet, just like its predecessor, the Surface Pro 4. Nevertheless, devices chief Panos Panay calls it a "laptop" no fewer than three times in his blog post, including the very first sentence. No "laptop" or notebook PC forgoes a keyboard, however, as the Surface Pro does. Long-time Surface fans may know that Microsoft charges $129 to $159 more for that accessory, but does the average buyer get it? That's where the confusion starts.
well.. maybe not.
but sure you're not using it as a laptop simply because it sucks balls as a laptop even with the keyboard cover.
thats the real point. not that it doesn't come with the keyboard. its that it doesn't have a laptop accessory that would make it usable for typing on a keyboard on your lap.
it's a pc tablet.. but the guy making the promo wants to call it a laptop, probably in his bracket it's a laptop because it has pc compatible components.
though, marketing wise, he wants to call it a laptop to underline that it is for real work that real men do, not a consumption tablet - even if normal laptops would be fine for typing(working) in a train or bus or whatever - because seriously osk sucks for coding big time.
mind you, a large portion of people you see around you would be just fine off with a tablet, a screen without a keyboard on a hinge - the surface type cover doesn't convert the surface itself into a true laptop either as I pointed out... because you really can't prop up the screen on your lap. heck you cannot even prop up the thing on a typical train or airplane seat table (because you need like 35cm flat surface due to the prop on the screen and the way the keyboard hinges).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
If you don't think that people are going to use the keyboard, then surely selling it separately, rather than bundling it, is the opposite of gouging?
The opinions stated herein do not necessarily represent those of anybody at all. Deal with it.
Apple didn't decide for "religious reasons" (whatever that means). They tried it in the labs and found people hated it. That's why Surface has sold like shit. Well that and Windows. But few use the Surface as a tablet while using the keyboard. Having to reach over to touch the screen is terrible. The MacBook has a touchpad that even today no other manufacturer can replicate and it works far better than a touchscreen. Also macOS, like Windows, is not optimized for touchscreen unlike Android and iOS.
If Microsoft had sold a significant number of Surface products it might change Apple's stance. But they have not and will not.