Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#301

Post by wittjeff » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 1:51 AM UTC

jmpeax wrote: post #234

mattiask wrote: post #33

I'm actually a Windows user (although I own an iPad), but you have to be a bit humored by all this. As usual where Apple has used a feather Microsoft have used the whole chicken with keyboards, screws, different versions, the whole enchilada. I'm only surprised there's no stickers. "ClearType display"? really, you felt you had to brand it just to compete with "Retina display". Despite all this the tablet might actual…

The moment Retina displays came out was the moment ClearType died. They're thrashing a dead horse.

It's an intriguing assertion, but there are too many variables. Which would really look better for rendering video or text at sub-optimal resolutions? 1920x1080 video or desktop stretched on the RD? Surface RT? It seems to me the safer bet would be that it depends on the task and the context. I'd bet money someone will do an appropriate comprehensive usability study within a year.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#302

Post by jonhendry » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 1:52 AM UTC

anthonyb wrote: post #139

bjg wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the about page: http://www.microsoft.com/global/surface/en/us/renderingasset...

Ha ha - on that sheet, the cover is listed as a "VaporMg Case". Well, at least they're honest...

That's not the cover, it's the metal enclosure of the tablet, and has something to do with how they mold the magnesium.

But yeah, a bold move to use Vapor in a product name.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#303

Post by bobsil1 » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 1:52 AM UTC

krashidov wrote: post #277

spiralpolitik wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the big takeaway from this. Microsoft knows that Windows 8 has to succeed. Clearly it does not trust Dell, HP, Lenovo et al to build machines that shows the OS in its best light to help it succeed. So long and thanks for all the fish OEMs. Right now Meg Whitman is probably regretting deep sixing WebOS.

"Clearly it does not trust Dell, HP, Lenovo et al to build machines that shows the OS in its best light to help it succeed." Who could blame them? Third party laptop vendors have been manufacturing crap for the last decade. The only exception is the thinkpad line(I own one), which mainstream consumers see as ugly. Hardware wise, every other laptop manufacturer has done little to impress or innovate, they're all about…

Samsung 900x is pretty sexy.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#304

Post by rbanffy » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 1:54 AM UTC

snowwrestler wrote: post #271

rbanffy wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What got me is the narrator. Eerily like Kevin Costner. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj2A0LybwPA

The Macbook Pro narrator is Peter Coyote, who also narrated Ken Burns' National Parks documentary on PBS.

Thanks. The voice was familiar, but I couldn't identify it.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#305

Post by commieneko » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 1:56 AM UTC

adriand wrote: post #256

commieneko wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I got was mercury, dust/particulates, fractured minerals, and the sense of invasive magnetic fields. I think they were going for power and ... something. Instead I get toxicity, contamination, brittleness.

You're right. Where Apple tends to emphasize family, connectedness, ease of use, utility, and general happiness, Microsoft has chosen to emphasize technology in a harsh, dominant manner that reminds me of the Borg.

The imagery is amazingly negative and oppressive. Especially considering the market they are trying to sell into. The most positive aspect (?) to it is maybe the sense of dominating as opposed to being dominated.

Definitely doesn't make me want to buy one for a child or other family member.

Edit: I could see an image piece like this working as part of an XBox or game machine marketing. But seriously, the thing it makes me think of is a hypothetical Ridely Scott version of The Andromeda Strain.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#306

Post by Produce » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 1:57 AM UTC

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #144

kulkarnic wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pen+touch+type seems like a great idea. It is something no other manufacturer has tried to do. I think the devil will be in the details, but this sure is interesting, because Apple's strategy is "people should buy multiple devices-- iPad, Macbook Air, Mac Pro...". MSFT wants one device that is a lot more versatile.

Pen+touch+type seems like a great idea. It is something no other manufacturer has tried to do. Apple Newton MessagePad, 1993. It had a stylus, handwriting recognition, you could use it with just your fingertips, and you could connect an external keyboard. http://www.flickr.com/photos/atow/4314242537/ That was almost twenty years a go. Newton was a very expensive experiment for Apple, and they have learned the hard wa…

For crying out loud. Ofcourse styluses are the way to go if you want any degree of accuracy. The difference between yesterday and today is the difference between resistive and capacitive touch screens. In other words, the new type is far more sensitive and doesn't require having to tap a spot ten times to get it to register. Fingers are still good if you're doing things where accuracy is not important - e.g. tapping the screen to pause/play a video.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#307

Post by rst » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 1:58 AM UTC

untog wrote: post #290

NormM wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would have been great a couple of years ago, but it's too late to bring out something that's almost as good as an iPad, but without the momentum or ecosystem. This was clearly designed by people who still don't understand why the iPad has been such a big success, and think the world is just waiting for an iPad running Windows. This is a desperation move, like the Zune, and will have the same effect on third part…

but it's too late to bring out something that's almost as good as an iPad, but without the momentum or ecosystem Are you suggesting that Windows doesn't have an ecosystem?

Desktop Windows does, but stock windows apps generally don't work well in tablet mode without adaptation. Metro (in the form of Windows Phone 7) is lagging. Windows 8 seems to be something like the two of them running on the same kernel, but unless there are apps on both "sides" that synergize well, the whole may be less than the sum of its parts.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#308

Post by greedo » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 2:00 AM UTC

dannyr wrote: post #79

ashbrahma wrote: post #67

Microsoft has a big event, announces new hardware and doesn’t announce price or availability?

This is why I'm very skeptical about this. They probably won't ship until the end of this year. HP & Microsoft announced the Windows Slate tablet back in 2010 & it never made it to market. http://gizmodo.com/5442200/hps-windows-7-slate-device-reveal...

If they don't ship before the holiday season, they'll be setting themselves up for failure. Apple will be releasing a new iPad in February, so the consumer market will be toast for them. Tablet growth continues to explode, and by the end of 2013, it's conceivable that tablet sales will outpace traditional PCs:

http://www.asymco.com/2012/03/02/when-will-the-tablet-market...

In a BYOD world, can enterprise sales provide enough traction for Microsoft to overcome their lack of appeal in the consumer market?

EDIT-

It appears the low end model will be out in October in time for the holiday season, and the Pro version 90 days later.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#309

Post by mrtron » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 2:00 AM UTC

runako wrote: post #62

"Unexpected error occurred." at http://www.microsoft.com/surface/ Not a good omen. (Edit: they fixed it.) Without having seen the product, I'd say that its fortunes will be based largely on its price point. They need to have a compelling offering in the $499 range, or this is going to be a blip on the iPad/Kindle Fire market.

I am getting the "Unexpected error occured." still.

Re: Microsoft Introduces New "Surface" Tablet

#310

Post by spiralpolitik » Tue, Jun 19, 2012, 2:00 AM UTC

forgotAgain wrote: post #148

Can anyone explain the timing and placement for this announcement? Why now and why outside of a major conference and on such short notice? Is it supposed to be a hip marketing ploy or is there something else happening they wanted to announce ahead of?

I'm wondering this as well. The only thing I can come up with is Google IO is next week. Maybe Microsoft got wind of something and wanted to get this out ahead as a spoiler.