Microsoft faces 'major dilemma' pricing Surface tablets against iPad - Page 5

 

This is not true at all.  It's a gross misuse of statistics to say this at best.  

 

It just shows that you don't understand math or statistics so why should anyone believe anything else you say?  

Apple should do the right thing and hold a funeral for this tablet with a kickstand. It would be the polite and proper thing to do. I don't even think that it deserves to be buried, just cremate it and get it done with.

Are you nuts, Apple is focused. Ms was the last of the competition to enter the battle.Now that all the competition are out of hiding its gonna be full force with the hammer from  Mr.Tim Cook.

 

and besides that's the same people who make the iPod killer. "the dead Zune" so no stepping up game for Apple, we the consumers would speak.

And regarding these currently non-available MS demo tablets, the iPad 4 is going to be out not long afterwards. By Q4, the iPad 4 will be right around the corner. :)

 

If I read between the lines, you seem to be basing Apple's *success* on market share by unit. That's not how they succeed. They succeed by delivering the best product they can with healthy margins. Tell me again how they are doing? ;)

 

What? Based on that presentation alone? That's one hell of an act of faith.

 

Microsoft will drag us kicking and screaming into the past...

 

You are correct... to an extent. The Surface Pro, like the MBA is not going to be a graphics whiz. It will likely even be slower then the MBA regarding graphics and CPU clock speed due to the heat handling capacity of each device. However, since the Intel-based Windows applications are still not designed for touch and gesture input, The MS Surface Pro will need the keyboard for mouse/trackpad for best content creation. The MBA has a great built-in back-lit keyboard and gesture-aware trackpad. The MS Surface Pro (like the RT version) is hard to use anywhere other then on a table. The kickstand makes it necessary to have more depth of space to set up than a MBA. Imagine trying to type on your lap with the pro... the kickstand makes you sit the screen back behind your knees and then the rubber keypad is drooping off the sides of your legs while the touchpad is somewhere up past your belt buckle. 

 

Anything ported over to the RT and not optimized for a touch/multi-touch input is just a slower gutless Surface Pro. So, Microsoft will debut with the RT, which will underwhelm everyone, so when the Pro versions arrives in 2013 (or if ever) the interest may be completely gone. Besides, by then, the hype will all be about the new Apple iPad and it will be, "MS who?"

 

 

Absolutely right!

 

It's gonna be interesting to watch how this pans out.  It's been a long time since Microsoft actually had to complete.  I wonder if they can do it?

Exactly! Bravo....Having an eco-system (Apple) and saying you have an eco-system (MS, Google) are two entirely different things! :)

 

And then add the qualifier "elegant" to describe said eco-system (again, Apple) differentiates eco-systems even more. I have never heard anything from either MS or Google described as "elegant!" :)

At least MS is presenting such an idea. 

 

Does Apple have one OS that can work as a computer and tablet depending on the situation? Nope. Got to have 2 devices and 2 OSes.

Does Apple have true handwriting recognition software? No. Got to buy a Windows machine.

 

And it isn't an act of faith. Currently, the Surface is the only device that will provide those capabilities. I am not tied to MS or Apple. IF Apple created such a device I would buy theirs. Same with any other manufacturer that created such a device. As it stands either MS or Apple are really the only two who can do this. BUT...MS has to deal with building hardware a massive scale...which is not something they are particularly skilled at doing. Apple doesn't have a handwriting recognition option on any of their devices. So....I might as well hope for MS to make the Surface. If it doesn't work out...my world won't fall apart.

 

It is interesting that so many Apple folks nay say the Surface, but if Apple were to make such a device that could act as a desktop/laptop/tablet all-in-one the Apple supporters would have a global orgasm. The only REAL problem with the Surface is that MS came up with it...not Apple.

 

 

The only real problem we have with it is that it doesn't exist.

 

Your bad experiences with software do not "doesn't have that software" make.

It must be a great feeling for competing OEM's to be subsidizing Microsoft's tablet line.

So torn here. There are lots of things I love about the Surface, Metro, Win8, and WinNT kernel across ARM/Intel and smartphone/tablet/PC, but there is so much lack of understanding about consumers that I think it's all going to fail miserably.

Yes, but Microsoft's OEM's do NOT have that advantage, which I think is the real point here.

That would be a mistake. Once you a attach a keyboard, trackpad, USB and run a full desktop OS, you have a laptop, not a tablet. And there's nothing wrong with a laptop. I like laptops. And if you really think a touchscreen makes a laptop better, then why don't you buy something like a touchscreen Lenovo ThinkPad X230 with Windows 7 today? Or for that matter, one of the Acer or Samsung x86 Windows 7 tablets? The fact that these things aren't a huge success (just ask HP and DELL) is an indicator that Microsoft isn't going to reverse its fortunes by slapping Metro and the number 8 on it.

As a former Newton user, I can say that Apple not only had true handwriting recognition, they had it before Windows CE got it. I know. I was there.

 

Ha! When I saw the Surface I didn't think of the Zune, I thought of the Newton. Great idea... bad implementation. The Newton never overcame its shortcomings. I see the same thing happening with the Surface. The Zune... bad idea... bad implementation.... imho.

 

I was there for the Newton as well... and the handwriting facet was between okay and great.

From my iPad

I run windows via parallel s 7 on the Mac
I wisely bought some Mac software to complement what Apple provides.

I still get the daily email from GAOTD with the free commercial software.

The reality is I have no need for all that ' free windows software' which often is a glorified KLUDGE. Mac software is so integrated it just turns out to be better in daily use.

This isn't fanboy ism but over 60 years of experience talking!

I have spent thousands and thousands over the years on Windows hardware and software only to begin looking at Apple integration after the first iPhone. I truly regret not making the switch much sooner.

And "Many people" have been oh so wrong so many times in the past because they believed the lies from Microsoft. That is just plain fact.

You bring up an interesting point. Touch is widely use in mobile.

What American car company just had JD POWERS dramatically lower their rating because their American Microsoft system software was such a poor experience?

I bought a Toyota Hybrid Camry instead of a competing Ford product simply because I didn't want my precious wife to experience 'the blue screen of DEATH' while driving cutting edge tech!

 

By the way, I want a Delorean Monstertruck so that I can drive only one vehicle instead of having to own a monster truck AND a sports car.

 

 

Steve Jobs was right, though: I can type on the iPad a lot faster than I could write on the Newton.

 

Bragging about the quality of handwriting on the Surface is like bragging about capacity of floppy disks. Sure, you can probably plug a floppy drive into the USB port of a Surface, and get mad at anyone who disagrees with how important you think it is. That's how these forums work.

Ha ha, yeah, they can bury it next to ol Steve-o. And in ten years, with no more true innovation like what Steve provided, you can bury Apple next to it.

I'll say it again ... this is Zune II
 

"Once this baby crushes 88 cars per hour…"

 

Unsportsmanlike conduct in the forums! No punches below the belt.

You've missed my point entirely. At this stage the Surface is no more than a concept, it does not exist as a useable product. The demonstration threw out some broad ideas - but did not address specifics. Would you still 'want one' if the battery life was only two hours for example? This would be Microsoft's first attempt at building a tablet - how do you know that build quality would be acceptable, what level of failure rate would be acceptable to you - of  the two demonstrated one stopped working, their record on the only vaguely similar device they have attempted, the X-Box, was very poor, at least initially. How practical will that keyboard be to use - we just don't know at this point.

If I am considering purchasing a device that is costing a grand or so I would read some reviews, try one out in a store, check out some forums where people have bought them to hear of their experiences with the device and not just lay down the cash because a salesman tells me it's the best thing since sliced bread and the answer to all my woes.

 

You are wasting your breath. I can almost guarantee you that Apple threw around the same idea, having full OSX run on a tablet, but came to the conclusion that a tablet and a desktop were two distinctly different animals and, rightly so, decided to move forward into the future of computing where, at some point, the two, tablet and desktop, would merge and propagate in a way that isn't quite visible at this point in time. I just wonder what the reaction would have been from the other side of the fence had Apple said everything that Microsoft said last week and didn't have a working sample and wouldn't have one for almost a year in the future. Oh, the cat calls, the screaming, the shouting...

 

As I've said before... Microsoft will drag us kicking and screaming into the past.

you are correct sir. (in case you ever need to install win 7 on someone elses computer) to installing vista, windows 7, on the cheap is to buy the upgrade version, install it and whenit asks you to enter the license key, do not; just skip the step. then when the install has completed, rerun the win7 install disk, and then enter the win 7 key... works!...

Tigerdirect

Are you kidding me? It says right on the Surface website that a full-sized USB port is on the device. Saying not to believe what the website says is completely ridiculous.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/about.aspx

thoroughly ninjaed

Microsoft has never lied about anything. And anything on their website must be true. I've got a great deal on a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you.

No, he's correct. The existence of a USB port does not imply what has been said.

I don't think anyone has fully addressed your comment yet. Having a USB port does not mean that the OS has the drivers and other software to understand what you wish to do with it.

One thing MS (and Android) has infamously done over the years is state one thing, which is factual, with an implication of something else.

I assume you remember the issue with 32-bit and 64-bit Windows drivers. Now consider that the ARM-based Surface will be another architecture that will require new drivers for it. That means that everything you've ever plugged into WinPC that worked right away with Plug-n-Play will not work unless it the appropriate drivers. Again, just the existence of a USB port means nothing in and of itself.

I noticed someone above said TigerDirect but thought no way. Surprisingly you can, an i5 CPU Lenovo including 6GB DDR and 1TB HDD!

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3163417&CatId=4928

You're incorrect, the title clearly states Surface cost. Microsoft is the only one making ghe surface not OEM's. So either the title is wrong or the data is.