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Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

arstechnica.com

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Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#11

Post by rayiner »

methodin wrote: post #3

Was it the device itself that caused such poor sales? I assumed all along it was a marketing/image problem which remains unsolved. Has relentlessness by a company ever overcome this issue in the past?

Surface marketing was everywhere. I don't think it was particularly bad marketing at that.

The devices were definitely to blame. Surface RT squandered Microsoft's ace in the whole in this space: Office + Outlook + Windows network integration. Not only did Office RT not ship in Metro form, but the product that shipped initially was a buggy pre-release. It was disastrous execution. Besides that, Surface RT sold for an iPad/Nexus 10 price without comparable specs (Tegra 3 and low-resolution screen).

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#12

Post by CodeCube »

gum_ina_package wrote: post #7
philliphaydon wrote: post #2

Surface Pro with 512gb of space and 8gb ram, if I decide to move country again next year I'm replacing my desktop with a Surface.

I'm a college student studying engineering. I can say that replacing my laptop with my Surface Pro has been amazing. I'm virtually 100% paperless, with all my notes being taken with OneNote (seriously amazing!) and textbooks saved as PDFs. It's also awesome that the Pro has enough power for me to do real dev work on it. So make the switch! You won't be disappointed!

OneNote (+ digitizer) is indeed amazing ... I don't have a surface, but I do have a series 7 slate, and I have to say that the writing/drawing experience on win8 is really really nice. Considering upgrading it to the pro 2 now.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#13

Post by tonydiv »

Better performance might help this sell, but the second I saw the "Surface Music Kit," I got excited.

As a DJ, I need to carry around an expensive laptop to perform. The iPad does not have any impressive apps to DJ (at least not professionally), so I'd be VERY interested if they focused on the niche music market here. Surface 2 + Kinect/Leap + superb DJing app + Spotify-esque music supply = very happy musicians.

Unfortunately, I don't think anyone is going to spend the time to develop a quality DJing app.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#14

Post by bhauer »

As a Surface Pro owner [1], I like:

* Surface 2 loses the low-density screen. I enjoy that low-density has been deprecated.

* The names are right. Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2. No "Surface with Windows RT 8.1" nonsense.

* Haswell, yes please. Longer battery life may assuage some popular criticism.

* Backlit type cover. I hope this is compatible with my Surface Pro.

* Two-position kick stand. I will be envious of this.

* Surface 2 is smaller than Surface RT.

* More memory in the Pro 2.

* Docking station. Depending on the price of that and whether it's compatible with my Surface Pro, I may pick one up. However, I'd prefer to have an inductive charging plate as I have with my Nokia phone. I love the idea of just dropping wireless devices on a plate with no cables, no alignment, no fuss.

I am disappointed by:

* I personally would have preferred a Surface 2 Pro that leveraged Haswell to reduce the form factor to roughly the same as the original Surface RT. But I've never actually drained my Pro's battery, so I'd take lighter-weight versus increased battery lifespan. I'm usually near an AC outlet when I am out and about.

* I would have liked a purely x86 lineup. Bay Trail Atom (or Haswell i3) on the low-end, Haswell i5 on the high-end.

* Windows RT needs help. Remove its artificial limitations.

Overall, I am fairly satisfied. I may want to replace my wife's netbook with a 2 Pro.

[1] http://tiamat.tsotech.com/microsoft

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#15

Post by untog »

The Surface Pro 2 could make for a really interesting developer machine. Plug it into external keyboard/monitor when you're at your desk, then just pick it up and take it on the road when you want to. I'm tempted, but part of me can't shake the idea that I'd be replacing my laptop with a tablet, even know I know that's not quite true.

Also: Windows. I used to use it, but I've been working in OS X exclusively for a few years now, and going back to the Windows Command Prompt might kill me.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#16

Post by CodeCube »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #4
methodin wrote: post #3

Was it the device itself that caused such poor sales? I assumed all along it was a marketing/image problem which remains unsolved. Has relentlessness by a company ever overcome this issue in the past?

For the RT, it's marketing (which was lame), confusion (it says it's Windows but it won't run any actual Windows apps), and a lack of any compelling apps. It's Microsoft trying to use their dominance in Windows to extend to the tablet. That's why we're all forced to use the half-assed Start Tiles on the desktop when running Windows 8, so they can put 'Modern' apps (which suck on a desktop) front and center.

If they would just make commercials that show artists using the surface as a portable digital easel, authors/students using it as a digital paper replacement, and even some of what they hinted to at the event earlier with someone editing footage on the go ... I think they'd do a heck of a lot better.

Focus on what this device does fantastically, rather than poking fun at what "siri can't do".

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#17

Post by JonFish85 »

rayiner wrote: post #11
methodin wrote: post #3

Was it the device itself that caused such poor sales? I assumed all along it was a marketing/image problem which remains unsolved. Has relentlessness by a company ever overcome this issue in the past?

Surface marketing was everywhere. I don't think it was particularly bad marketing at that. The devices were definitely to blame. Surface RT squandered Microsoft's ace in the whole in this space: Office + Outlook + Windows network integration. Not only did Office RT not ship in Metro form, but the product that shipped initially was a buggy pre-release. It was disastrous execution. Besides that, Surface RT sold for an…

> I don't think it was particularly bad marketing at that.

I think Microsoft marketing was definitely to blame for their failure to properly distinguish the two (Surface Pro vs. Surface RT). They really were two very different devices for different uses. Trying to call them both Surface tablets was a mis-step in my opinion because of their very different use-cases: one is a desktop replacement, the other is a tablet. To me, that's a marketing problem, not an engineering problem.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#18

Post by timthorn »

rayiner wrote: post #11
methodin wrote: post #3

Was it the device itself that caused such poor sales? I assumed all along it was a marketing/image problem which remains unsolved. Has relentlessness by a company ever overcome this issue in the past?

Surface marketing was everywhere. I don't think it was particularly bad marketing at that. The devices were definitely to blame. Surface RT squandered Microsoft's ace in the whole in this space: Office + Outlook + Windows network integration. Not only did Office RT not ship in Metro form, but the product that shipped initially was a buggy pre-release. It was disastrous execution. Besides that, Surface RT sold for an…

Office RT being a desktop app is as it should be - no learning curve, and each pixel works harder than in Metro. What was wrong was the lack of Outlook at launch, and then the other things like no AD integration, and the inability to run non-signed desktop apps.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#19

Post by kijin »

The docking station looks fantastic. We've finally reached the day when we can plug in the tablet when we get home and instantly transform it into a full-blown desktop PC!

Too bad the 512GB/8GB model will probably cost an arm and a leg, making it more economical for most people to simply buy two computers. But once the price comes down a bit, I can see this becoming a true drop-in replacement for the majority of Windows desktops and laptops out there.

Re: Microsoft’s Hardware, Round 2: Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2

#20

Post by CodeCube »

untog wrote: post #15

The Surface Pro 2 could make for a really interesting developer machine. Plug it into external keyboard/monitor when you're at your desk, then just pick it up and take it on the road when you want to. I'm tempted, but part of me can't shake the idea that I'd be replacing my laptop with a tablet, even know I know that's not quite true. Also: Windows. I used to use it, but I've been working in OS X exclusively for a fe…

powershell ... seriously, it's really good. And Cygwin if you really want that unix shell experience :)
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