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Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

microsoft.com

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Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#11

Post by monkeyfacebag »

nirvana wrote: post #3

I applaud Microsoft for doing something new-- the new windows UI is very original. Further, they have managed to meet Apple in terms of pricing for a comparable iPad, something others have struggled with. But the big take-away innovation here, and the center of their marketing campaign, is that it has a keyboard cover. This seems to be about 5 years out of sync. 5 years ago, everyone expected the iPhone to fail becau…

> But after I got my first iPad, the original, I found that I could type at nearly the same speed

Speed is certainly one issue, but the ergonomics of typing for an extended period favor separate screen and keyboard components. I too use a table for typing and while I'm pretty quick at it, I can't find a comfortable position that lets me do this for more than half an hour at a time. For this reason alone, the inclusion of a keyboard has certainly made me take notice of Microsoft's offering.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#12

Post by cryptoz »

jtoeman wrote: post #9

I think this is the nail on the already-likely-dead coffin of MS Surface. What's the market they are going after??? "tablet market"? nope - already dominated by iPad "enterprise"? nope - 1) not a market, 2) already dominated by iPad "budget"? nope - priced on par with iPad seriously, how are they going to push this thing? they don't have a channel like Apple nor Amazon, so they need to rely on all their other paths.…

> they should've called this "XPad"

Can't. Apple owns all Pads.

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/steve-jobs-apple-owns-pad-tra...

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#13

Post by davidacoder »

ShabbyDoo wrote: post #8
davidacoder wrote: post #2

No 3G at all? Zune all over again.

I don't mind this so much presuming it can do Bluetooth tethering with my phone [vs WiFi due to power usage issues]. If I'm the device's user, I'll likely have my phone with me, so having a redundant radio in the device doesn't add value. And, if I let someone else use the device while I'm not around, the likelihood is that there will be an available WiFi source. I'd like it-just-works connectivity between my phone a…

I can get tethering to work, my mom: never. My parents both got iPads and a device that isn't just online all the time could never ever work for them. iPad really set the bar on that one.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#14

Post by gecko »

jtoeman wrote: post #9

I think this is the nail on the already-likely-dead coffin of MS Surface. What's the market they are going after??? "tablet market"? nope - already dominated by iPad "enterprise"? nope - 1) not a market, 2) already dominated by iPad "budget"? nope - priced on par with iPad seriously, how are they going to push this thing? they don't have a channel like Apple nor Amazon, so they need to rely on all their other paths.…

They have a couple of markets they can go after pretty easily.

  * Gaming.  It's fairly easy to port games between Xbox and Windows, and this
    device has been shown to integrate nicely with Xbox.  Whether that's enough
    is anyone's guess, but it hardly seems like a hail-mary pass at this point
    to me.
  * Enterprise.  I do not actually see what you're seeing, at least here in New
    York, that enterprise tablets either don't exist, or are dominated by iPad.
    I've seen mostly laptops still, plus some iPads, some Xooms and other Android
    tablets, and even some Blackberry PlayBooks.  This market is not exactly a
    done deal for anyone at this point, and the level to which Office is
    entrenched in the corporate space gives Windows RT a real chance.
I'm not saying that the Surface will nail these markets, but you're being odd to discount them so quickly.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#15

Post by freehunter »

tomrod wrote: post #5

I see that price point as being too high. I think 399 USD would be right in that sweet spot (especially considering this will be considered a poor Ipad substitute in the beginning).

What people in this thread are missing is that Microsoft isn't trying to capture the entire WinRT market with this device, they're not trying to outsell their partners, they're trying to set a benchmark. Something for their partners to compete against, and for those partners to compete against it (and the iPad) successfully.

The point of Surface is to keep Asus, HP, Samsung, etc from making a not-quite-iPad for $700 and blogs mocking the demise of the platform. Basically, if WinRT partners cannot outsell the Surface, they don't deserve to be selling Windows tablets. That is what Microsoft is implying with this release. Making it impossible to compete against would actively destroy that effort.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#16

Post by lukeschlather »

ShabbyDoo wrote: post #8
davidacoder wrote: post #2

No 3G at all? Zune all over again.

I don't mind this so much presuming it can do Bluetooth tethering with my phone [vs WiFi due to power usage issues]. If I'm the device's user, I'll likely have my phone with me, so having a redundant radio in the device doesn't add value. And, if I let someone else use the device while I'm not around, the likelihood is that there will be an available WiFi source. I'd like it-just-works connectivity between my phone a…

The thing about it-just-works connectivity is that it will generally halve battery life on a smartphone. You basically have to keep the radios constantly on and scanning for known connections.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#18

Post by freehunter »

jtoeman wrote: post #9

I think this is the nail on the already-likely-dead coffin of MS Surface. What's the market they are going after??? "tablet market"? nope - already dominated by iPad "enterprise"? nope - 1) not a market, 2) already dominated by iPad "budget"? nope - priced on par with iPad seriously, how are they going to push this thing? they don't have a channel like Apple nor Amazon, so they need to rely on all their other paths.…

Imagine if all other car makers said "Oh, the car market is already taken by Ford. We should do something else".

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#19

Post by stephengillie »

nirvana wrote: post #3

I applaud Microsoft for doing something new-- the new windows UI is very original. Further, they have managed to meet Apple in terms of pricing for a comparable iPad, something others have struggled with. But the big take-away innovation here, and the center of their marketing campaign, is that it has a keyboard cover. This seems to be about 5 years out of sync. 5 years ago, everyone expected the iPhone to fail becau…

This is the opposite of the selling the first laptop problem - some people won't take a device seriously unless it has a physical keyboard. It isn't about the quality of on-screen keyboards, it's about the perception of the accessory. These people see electronics as toys unless they have that one accessory.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#20

Post by sageikosa »

Bill_Dimm wrote: post #6
nirvana wrote: post #3

I applaud Microsoft for doing something new-- the new windows UI is very original. Further, they have managed to meet Apple in terms of pricing for a comparable iPad, something others have struggled with. But the big take-away innovation here, and the center of their marketing campaign, is that it has a keyboard cover. This seems to be about 5 years out of sync. 5 years ago, everyone expected the iPhone to fail becau…

I think this will sell well into markets that are heavily invested in microsoft infrastructure These are the Windows RT tablets (ARM-based). Presumably a lot of Windows x86 software won't have ARM versions, so I'm not sure these will be popular even among the Microsoft shops.

Corporate road warriors that need to access the same Office systems the rest of the home-base grunts use.
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