But how much profit did that generate? I don't see any mention of profit in the article.
Since when does anyone on HN care about actual profits?
Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
61–70 of 84 posts
Re: Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are actually multiple lap modes that both work great. 1) Like a regular laptop. 2) Fold the keyboard back and open the stand so it makes a right angle. Place the right angle so that the keyboard is parallel with your stomach and the Surface is perpendicular. Now the Surface is floating above your lap near the bottom of your chest where it's easy to read and write on. 3) Completely remove the keyboard. I feel so…
Admittedly I haven't used one aside from once briefly in a store, but seeing people balance them on their laps using the keyboard just looks awkward. Like they are top heavy? Or just too small for that purpose, necessitating one to keep their knees close together.
Using a Surface in ones lap looks more awkward than actually is.
Re: Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why is it that when MS makes a "new" product and category, you put it in quotations, yet when Apple does it, you don't? Your approach to these companies is hypocritical at best. At least MS is trying to invent a new category these days. >>> had huge market share out of the gate That's just wrong.
> Why is it that when MS makes a "new" product and category, you put it in quotations, yet when Apple does it, you don't? Because one dominates and defines the market, as can be seen by any before and after, and the other is just putting out some products few people care about.
So is the iPad Pro a "new" product or a new product?
Re: Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
#64If I ever get a tablet, it will be a surface. Simply because so much of the work I do resides in spreadsheets, and Surface is optimized for excel and productivity.
IMO, tablets are consuming devices. And as a tablet, my Surface Pro 4 is not very good - it is a bit too heavy and has a too short battery life.
As a portable laptop with a pen and screen with an excellent sRGB colorspace support - and with a nice keyboard - it's awesome.
Re: Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
#65They certainly did something right, though I'm not quite sure what it was. A few years back, you couldn't step in front of an undergrad class here (Canada) without being subject to a wall of glowing bitten apples staring at you, now at least a quarter I'd estimate are those surface tablets. Who knew people would take a chance on laptop that doesn't work when on your lap.
My wife has an SP3. Not only does it work fine on a lap, but it has a very nice stylus. It runs Adobe Indesign just fine. It runs Steam just fine, along with many slightly older games. The builtin speakers are good, as is the keyboard cover. It's quite portable and has a battery life of several hours when running Word + browser. The Surface RT on the other hand remains kind of pointless.
Well, seeing as Windows RT is not receiving updates and the Surface 3 runs full Windows, isn't the "Surface RT" essentially dead?
Re: Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
#66iPad: 7.1B - doomed category Surface Pro/Books: 1.35B - super impressive, categories of the future!
I think it has to do with the trajectory. iPad = declining sales year over year Surface = increasing sales year over year The iPad was hyped to kill laptops/PCs and Surface's doom was also hyped, so the new data points are interesting because they look like a reversal of trend.
Not claiming that this is actually how things have worked out or how customers think, but in terms of strategy it's still interesting. The iPad sought to target usage cases where a "full" laptop or desktop wasn't ideal. In doing so, it also left out several laptop/desktop capabilities that people might want to keep and missed.
After the mobile-grade tablet market was established by iPad and, later, other brands of devices, the Surface seems intended to offer the things people liked about tablets versus laptops or desktops (extreme portability, multitouch, etc) and has at least attempted to add back the things many people might have missed when using those mobile-class tablets such as greater flexibility in file management, the ability to install software from multiple sources, choose your own defaults, and run more capable software packages.
It's certainly had its tradeoffs and the greater power and flexibility meant it couldn't be quite as portable as a tablet or work quite as well in certain cases as a traditional laptop but it's been interesting to see how these companies seem to target audiences that aren't happy with certain aspects of dominant products.
The end result (for me at least) is that I've learned there's no "perfect" device or form factor that has all the pros and none of the cons in all situations. That said, more options certainly does make it easier to find something closer to what you're looking for. I enjoyed the portability of my iPad but chafed under restrictions that required jailbreaking to work around.
The Surface line still is not the perfect device for me but whenever my Asus laptop dies, I'll seriously be considering one as a secondary computer after using one at work (primary will probably remain a desktop for the foreseeable future).
Re: Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've found the pen to be the one part of my Surface that I don't use all, maybe it's because I am left handed and it leaves OneNote registering a ton of false navigation gestures but it's basically unusable for me. Overall, I still like my Surface (non Pro) but it's mostly for web browsing and media consumption.
I am surprised it does not come with a "left handed" setting! (Even if not two pen container compartments)
It does. Hit the Windows button and type "pen" and go to "pen settings" and you can change it there.
Re: Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
#68> Microsoft pulls in an impressive $1.35B in revenue for Surface line Really? Impressive for whom? 1.3B is less than what Apple made with the iWatch -- and that's after decades of MS losing money and trying to go somewhere with their table OS and then tablet offerings.
Wait, where did you get Apple Watch numbers? Apple hasn't released those.
Re: Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
#69They certainly did something right, though I'm not quite sure what it was. A few years back, you couldn't step in front of an undergrad class here (Canada) without being subject to a wall of glowing bitten apples staring at you, now at least a quarter I'd estimate are those surface tablets. Who knew people would take a chance on laptop that doesn't work when on your lap.
Having a computer that wasn't super expensive to take handwritten notes with was a dream for my undergrad. And now the surface offers that. I think that is a more unique benefit for students than in other cases.
Re: Microsoft pulls in $1.35B in revenue for Surface line
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why is it that when MS makes a "new" product and category, you put it in quotations, yet when Apple does it, you don't? Because one dominates and defines the market, as can be seen by any before and after, and the other is just putting out some products few people care about.
So is the iPad Pro a "new" product or a new product?
iPad pro is a "new" product. The original iPad was a new product.