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Microsoft recruits iPad owners for study on its Redmond campus - Page 2

post #41 of 57
7/13/10 at 6:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulSorensen View Post

There seems to be a verb missing in there somewhere.

It's still not correct. If uccoord is attempting to describe "item" an adjective would be appropriate, not another noun like "gratuity". "Gratuitous item" would have been grammatically correct, but would imply something worthless (A Zune, perhaps? How about a Kin?).

Perhaps it started out as "free gift", but the author's manager, or manager's manager, correctly pointed out the redundancy of that phrase. Somehow "preparing to stand by" slipped through the cracks though.

(What's up with "uccoord"? Can you come up with a more cryptic name? Sounds like MSFT is still fixated on an eight character name limitation.)
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post #42 of 57
7/13/10 at 7:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardustag View Post

interesting. I just got an e-mail yesterday from Microsoft on my college e-mail account about an one-hour phone survey, and one of the pre-screening question was "do you own an iPad?". Hmm, sounds like the same stuff here... except I got a personal invitation.

I'd feed them false information. If they ask if you would be willing to trade a thin & light tablet with a long battery life for a thick & chunky brick with a short battery life and a noisy fan, and software that requires pervasive right-clicking and function keys, say "yes"

"Can't innovate anymore my ass!" -- Phil Schiller

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post #43 of 57
7/13/10 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by antkm1 View Post

sounds like they want to push the "Courier" full speed ahead and add all the features that fanboys/girls are griping about in the current iPad.

If i were to take the study, I would suggest that whatever they produce, or propose to produce, they better make it feel as good as the ipad. It really does feel good to hold and the quality of the materials is top notch. That would be number two on the list of top features to emulate about the iPad. The number one would be User Interface. It has to be as easy to use as the iPad. Without those two, you don't even have a comparison, it will be doomed to fail, like the Zune.

I think the only other issue MS has if they are going to go ahead with the Courier is the marketplace. They need to tap into an existing MS environment. Like the XBox market for apps. Something people know and trust. That would be really smart and start to tap into the MS universe, rather than having consumers required to buy into some unknown marketplace they don't trust and have to learn all over. Could you image doing streaming live gaming from you courier or Faux-Pad to a friend's Xbox playing "insert-game-title-here"? Or, watch a netflix movie on the go in an airport waiting for a delayed flight? The current Xbox marketplace is the perfect way to launch a Faux-Pad. Google has already done it with Android too.

You do know the courier project has been dead for a while now? http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/29/m...ne-fell-swoop/
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post #44 of 57
7/13/10 at 10:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by macdanboy View Post

So Microsoft is going to run Windows 7 on a tablet like the iPAD. Given the CPU power, memory and energy consumption of Windows 7, the tablet they are looking at is going to be re-packaged laptops and a crappy touch interface and a 3-4 hour battery life. They really don't understand what Apple has created. On top of that, for the cost of a single program for Windows 7 you can get dozens of paid apps for the iPad and about 100,000 apps and games for free. Microsoft is grasping at thin air and broken straws at this point.

They will create something to appeal to all those people who criticized the iPad - it will have 2 cameras, front and rear with video, it will have USB, it will have a VGA connector, probably DVI and HDMI too, and they'll throw in a parallel port for people with old printers. Oh, and of course it will have to have an optical drive, preferably blu-ray to go with the ever-essential floppy drive. It will weigh about 3 - 4 pounds, run really hot on your lap and be about an inch thick to accommodate all the extra stuff.
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post #45 of 57
7/13/10 at 10:15pm
Unless the "gratuity item" is a million dollars, I'm not helping Microsoft. I need a minimum of seven figures before I help that Redmond-based corporation.
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http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp

Never argue with idiots, they'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. - a bumper sticker

Never quote idiots, they just clog up...
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post #46 of 57
7/13/10 at 11:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cvaldes1831 View Post

It's probably not a bad idea for Microsoft to see how people from a variety of walks of life use the iPad, not just Microsoft employees.

There are probably some unusual applications/uses for the device that might not be easily identifiable from a relatively homogeneous survey group such as your own employees.

That's an understatement. It's not only not a bad idea it's their only hope. That or hire someone with a sufficient vision for such a large company. I think surveying their own employees is a mistake unless that is their target audience. Sort of a snake eating it's tail. I'm sure they have smart employees that can contribute good ideas though.
What Microsoft lacks is vision and balls and that can and will prevent them from effectively using their smart employees ideas.
The iPad broke new ground with no effective predecessor to study, except what not to do. Apple is very good at this. Microsoft is not.
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post #47 of 57
7/14/10 at 12:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Underhill View Post



Yep looking good.

I think something is still missing here, like two hundred small buttons with obscure looking symbols on them and one very large button labelled "HELP!".
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post #48 of 57
7/14/10 at 12:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ezye1313 View Post

You do know the courier project has been dead for a while now? http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/29/m...ne-fell-swoop/

well, thanks for the update. however i do mention "whatever they produce" since it's just speculation that this research has anything to do with a new product by MS in the first place.
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post #49 of 57
7/14/10 at 2:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pauldfullerton View Post

I think something is still missing here, like two hundred small buttons with obscure looking symbols on them and one very large button labelled "HELP!".

Where are the Ctrl Alt Del keys? For that matter where is the ON/OFF button. Need to restart....where are these damn keys! <Ov@>
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post #50 of 57
7/14/10 at 4:54am
MS can't seem to figure out that less is more. Even if MS does get good information from this type of research they will screw it up by trying to put ALL of it into a product. I think that a big part of the appeal of Apple products comes from what they are willing to leave out.
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post #51 of 57
7/14/10 at 7:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

Microsoft recently offered owners of Apple's iPad a "gratuity item" in exchange for participating in a survey later this month ...The original posting, from the Microsoft User Research group, noted that the Windows maker wanted to talk to iPad owners for two hours, to find out how they use the device. Specifically, Microsoft was interested in speaking with students who own an iPad...


Sounds like one of those real estate schemes.
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post #52 of 57
7/14/10 at 7:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Underhill View Post



Yep looking good.



>> Heh, I couldn't help myself.

The fanboy clip cartoon that I put on the chalkboard comes from here;
http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/07/11/f...rgue-about-it/

>> But seriously, I think that there are SOME fanboys for Apple -- but mostly those are NEW fans. The people who get defensive were people who got picked on by the Herd of MS fanboys for years. That trait of "not listening" seems to be widespread.


I wish Microsoft good luck -- because competition is good for consumers. However, like always, they announce the "great new product" before they've got a working one -- and use their reputation to make people hold off so they can get almost as good from Microsoft -- unfortunately, their Halo in the consumer/education space isn't that useful.


The iPad is letting Apple back into the school rooms -- because schools like the easy to manage device that can look at their servers for updates -- and NO KEYBOARD is actually a plus in environments where you pass things around.

A STERILE interface has GOT to be the Killer Application for hospitals. Where this iPad will reign supreme before a real competitor can get in the market. And while they play catchup -- Apple is going to be integrating more really useful things. Interesting times.
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post #53 of 57
7/14/10 at 8:34am
Full-blown Win 7 OS = poor battery performance. Multiple manufacturing partners = clunky, obtrusive hardware. Ballmer's comment that some will have keyboards = no longer a tablet device.

Apple's plusses in this category...keep it simple, keep it affordable, keep it easily expandable.
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post #54 of 57
7/14/10 at 9:08am
There could be more to this story than what one might suspect--

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...lol::lol::lol:
無心 The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders., Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit__Edward Abbey
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無心 The idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders., Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit__Edward Abbey
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post #55 of 57
7/14/10 at 6:44pm
I'm really looking forward a MS tablet product.
Mainly because I could use a good laugh.

They're so desperately not getting what a tablet is all about, it's almost touching.
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post #56 of 57
7/15/10 at 6:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan King View Post

They're so desperately not getting what a tablet is all about, it's almost touching.

Like "point and click"?



...but more like "stuck on stupid". Not touching. Pathetic.
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post #57 of 57
6/22/11 at 5:38pm
They have the same problem with the iPad. They try to copy, but even their copies don't stack up.
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