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Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

microsoft.com

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Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#571

Post by fleitz »

stcredzero wrote: post #437
sjwright wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Once Apple can get iOS working well on x86 I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that iOS already works well on x86 and has never not worked well on x86. After all, the core OS maintains ongoing heritage with an x86 OS, and every single app in the store has already been successfully compiled for x86...

Every app that has been run in the "simulator" has been compiled on x86. The simulator is not one. It's really a cross-compiling trick.

If you look at many iOS libs they are actually fat binaries, meaning they usually have x86, armv6, and armv7 executable code in them.

On iOS cross-compilation only occurs when you target an iOS device such as an iPhone which generates armv6 and armv7 code.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#573

Post by leothekim »

gvnonor wrote: post #487
leothekim wrote: post #334

From a marketing perspective, the video on the site is terrible compared to Apple's iPad site. If you go here: http://www.apple.com/ipad/ You see someone using an iPad, how big it is, how simple it is to use, what it's capable of doing, and you can immediately think the possibilities. Microsoft's video shows some dark crumbling rocks and dust, and this strange tablet device with different colored keyboards. There is…

I think they just wanted to get some excitement going, and it looks like they've met that goal.

Yeah I can see that. The Surface might even be a superior product, but my point is the marketing fails to demonstrate that.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#574

Post by jps359 »

leothekim wrote: post #573
gvnonor wrote: post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they just wanted to get some excitement going, and it looks like they've met that goal.

Yeah I can see that. The Surface might even be a superior product, but my point is the marketing fails to demonstrate that.

I think it's a little early in the game to be making statements like that.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#575

Post by nudded »

dsirijus wrote: post #510

Let's talk a little about 'kickstand'. Am I wrong in believing this hasn't got adjustable angle and is useless if the device isn't on an actual desk? Seems like the Achilles' heel of the entire device to me.

That seems to be true. It also seems to lack the ability to lay flat on a slightly elevated angle.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#576

Post by romaniv »

abrahamsen wrote: post #548
tylermenezes wrote: post #485

I don't understand the "OMG MICROSOFT MADE A TABLET IT IS CLEARLY COPYING THE IPAD" reaction Microsoft's getting here. They're absolutely ahead of the curve with the blending of mobile and desktop operating systems, something which I am extremely happy they are doing, and this is absolutely the logical design choices someone in that position would make. Yes, it's very similar to the iPad in many ways. But other than…

This is Microsoft's third or fourth attempt on a tablet PC, the earlier attempts all pre-date Apple's creation of the market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_for_Pen_Computing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XP_Tablet_PC_Edition#Tablet_PC_... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_PC

Good point, but why label those as "attempts"? A decade ago PDAs were pretty good devices with decent amount of free apps and an interesting range of possibilities. (For one, they were extensible via cards. Something that's not available in today smartphones I know of.) You could read books, play games, use internet via WiFi, plus there was a lot of business applications for them. Heck, my old Asus MyPal has better book reader and calendar apps than I have on my current smartphone.

Sure, there wasn't a marketing hysteria around PDAs, but they were a viable market of their own.

Tablet laptops were used by many people as well.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#577

Post by qxcv »

niels_olson wrote: post #464
uvTwitch wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft's traditional core market has been the enterprise, to which Borg Marketing is perfectly suited.

There are books worth of insight behind your comment. Why, IT, why u no let us have beauty in our work?

Beauty != profit. If it makes people productive enough to offset the additional purchase cost (and then some), then I'm sure businesses would consider purchasing prettier devices.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#578

Post by leothekim »

leothekim wrote: post #573
gvnonor wrote: post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they just wanted to get some excitement going, and it looks like they've met that goal.

Yeah I can see that. The Surface might even be a superior product, but my point is the marketing fails to demonstrate that.

Here's an article describing hands-on use: http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/18/technology/microsoft-surface...

FTFA:

Microsoft on Monday unveiled one of the most imaginative and intelligently designed PCs the world has ever seen. Or: Microsoft unveiled yet another iPad copycat, only with fewer apps and a lower screen resolution.

Which one is it? It's impossible to know. That's because it's not clear yet what Surface, Microsoft's self-designed tablet PC, truly wants to be.

This is problematic from a marketing and a product perspective. If you can't project the value of the device even when someone's using it, then it's hard to generate desire for it, and that spells trouble.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#579

Post by stitchy »

romaniv wrote: post #576
abrahamsen wrote: post #548

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is Microsoft's third or fourth attempt on a tablet PC, the earlier attempts all pre-date Apple's creation of the market. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_for_Pen_Computing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XP_Tablet_PC_Edition#Tablet_PC_... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_PC

Good point, but why label those as "attempts"? A decade ago PDAs were pretty good devices with decent amount of free apps and an interesting range of possibilities. (For one, they were extensible via cards. Something that's not available in today smartphones I know of.) You could read books, play games, use internet via WiFi, plus there was a lot of business applications for them. Heck, my old Asus MyPal has better b…

I loved my Toshiba M200 (http://reviews.cnet.com/Toshiba_Portege_M200_tablet_PC/4505-...) way back in 2004! I used to use it during my graduate classes to take handwritten notes. It's a little sluggish by today's standards, but lighter weight distributions of Linux still run pretty well.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#580

Post by s_henry_paulson »

Shivetya wrote: post #559

One word : Fail. They have gotten better at presentation, but they missed one key point of Apple presentations. Apple has learned that "Ships Today" is as important as the technology being sold. So who cares what it CAN do, its not available now. Its not even available tomorrow, its available soon. All they did was give Apple a bigger opportunity to undercut their buzz.

If you're marketing only to consumers. Corporations who tend to purchase this sort of thing typically plan their purchasing months in advance. I can almost guarantee many companies who might have been thinking about laptop purchases are going to wait a few months.

Also the release date for the device is tied to Windows 8, which is looking like October, and then the pro version will follow 3 months after.

Since product lifecycles are somewhat lengthy, this doesn't really give any competitor an advantage aside from using the products they already had in their pipeline.

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