All I know or care about is that by the end of the year my windows work laptop will be due for a replacement and the Surface Pro looks like the #1 candidate. BTW just got my retina MBP so no windows fanboy name-calling allowed!
I think there's no way the Surface will have a battery life comparable to that of the iPad, and when we find out what the battery life is it will make the Surface look like a poor iPad competitor. It's amazing that the M$ presentation didn't once mention battery life. What do they take us for? Journalists?
Ha! I was monitoring the ARS live blog of the Surface event... While waiting to be admitted, someone came by and referred to those in line as "JournoJerks".
"All I know or care about is that by the end of the year my windows work laptop will be due for a replacement and the Surface Pro looks like the #1 candidate. BTW just got my retina MBP so no windows fanboy name-calling allowed!"
Good luck trying to run Windows Software on a 10" screen and typing on a flap.
If they wanted this to run Windows Software they should have had at least a 13" screen and that is to small.
I don't understand all the hate for "the Surface" tablets. Honestly, the RT model is lackluster, but the Pro version is a welcome addition to the slate world with its dimensions and full OS(not the usual mobile one which pretends to be full). When Apple releases an OSX tablet then look out Microsoft, but for now all these slates like the iPad(and mini iPad), Fire, and Playbook are still only companions to a PC.
I don't hate a smoke and mirrors product that I've never used.
What I hate is Windows and most things Microsoft makes, period. I put up with their software at work, and given the choice, I prefer Apple. Better integrated, more intuitive, better thought-out. Better overall experience.
You clearly don't want that, because you can't wait to get this Windows PC shaped like a tablet. If that's what you want, why don't you buy, say, the Samsung x86 tablet capable of running Windows 7 or Windows 8 preview? It's a very nice tablet. And that's a real product, as opposed this vapor. Why are you so defensive of this not-yet-real-tablet when there are plenty of real PC tablets for sale right now? Seriously, what are you waiting for?
I don't think that's really what you want, or you'd already have it.
Hi, I'm Steve Ballmer, and welcome to our "too little two years too late party". I'd like to give a special welcome to the employees here who make up a bulk of the audience, who's job it is to cheer and applaud at strategic moments.
In the last few years we here at Microsoft have realized that our business model is no longer working. For the past 35 or so years we have bullied, blackmailed, crushed into existence (Helloooooo Netscape!), and otherwise enjoyed a monopoly position, which until recently has been safe.
We now realize that our past monopolistic position has meant we could release half assed beta products without really giving a rat's ass.
However, we now see that we now need to "be like Apple". Apple has forced us to think about quality, and do actual R&D, which is hard for us, because we don't know how to do R&D.
I haven't actually used the product myself, because I don't involve myself in the product lines. That's not my job. Do you think I would want to use this product, to see if it actually works, or have possible feedback for changes? That's what focus groups are for.
But, we are now striving to copy Apple in every way, from our retail stores, to our products, to now naming Windows with a number, to our upcoming developers meet in San Francisco, to this product launch.
I'd like to introduce you to our new device. It needs to look like a tablet, but it still runs our shitty OS. We refuse to give up the idea of a PC, so we are going to include this unpractical keyboard, with this stupid little trackpad, because that's all we know. It's a really thin quasi-netbook, which needs to look like an iPad, since that seems to be the way things are going.
We have a stupid name for it, for which we could give it any other arbitrary name like 'dog' or 'pony'. It's doesn't really work yet, so we can't actually show it doing anything, so we will spend 45 minutes talking about how innovative the beveled design of the frame looks, or how it has TWO wifi antennae, and repeat over and over it's physical dimensions. It has an innovative STYLUS! We will gave the metal casing a name "Vapour", since right now the unit itself is "vapourware". We will add a stupid looking kickstand to it and talk about it's outdated USB port and show a video about how hard it was for us to make this product, which we already introduced ten years ago, which further demonstrates how useless our R&D team is.
There will be multiple models, because again, like our OS, that's what we do. We introduce multiple variations of a single product in order to maximize our dollars, and confuse the purchasers that we ultimately really don't care about. There will be no details about release dates, or prices, since, at this time, like I said, the product is vapourware right now.
In summary, welcome to our desperation event, and I hope the first demo goes without a hitch!
Sincerely, Steve Jobs, I mean Ballmer.
PS, why I haven't been fired yet, is a complete mystery.
Where's the reporting on the sense of betrayal pro users felt by getting two year old CPU and even older gpu on the "updated" Mac Pro? Cue in the gaziolionth Nokia and rim are about to fail articles next...
Where's the reporting on the sense of betrayal pro users felt by getting two year old CPU and even older gpu on the "updated" Mac Pro? Cue in the gaziolionth Nokia and rim are about to fail articles next…
Huge, HUGE mistake not having a working product that consumers can buy TODAY.
Now the announcement will slowly fade into the background as Apple news and rumours continue to capture hearts and minds. MS showed their hand with nothing concrete to offer.
Where's the reporting on the sense of betrayal pro users felt by getting two year old CPU and even older gpu on the "updated" Mac Pro? Cue in the gaziolionth Nokia and rim are about to fail articles next...
That isn't really relevant in the grand scheme of things. MS ditching OEMs is a significant news item that gets attention industry-wide.
Disgruntled "Pro" users are free to voice their displeasure by switching to a Dell, or this "Surface" thing.
And what happens if you want to use the keyboard in portrait mode? Will it go in portrait mode with the kickstand?
What makes you think it will seriously even support portrait mode?
Did you notice the home button is located below the screen for landscape mode, whereas the iPad home button is below the screen in portrait mode? That the keyboard cover is designed to be used in landscape mode only, whereas you can use wireless ipad keyboards in portrait or landscape? I think it says something about Windows 8: portrait mode, if it is even supported, is an afterthought. In other words, hold your 16:9 Windows tablet the way you would view a PC monitor, not the way you would hold a book.
The thing is, one OEM gets a $85 discount on the OS. That amounts to about a 10-20% discount on a $500-$1000 device, which is a huge amount of money. That's money Microsoft can use to give it a better case, and a nicer screen, maybe a larger battery.
So, just to match Microsoft's offering, other OEMs have to really squeeze the supply chain or sell for no profit [while MS makes a profit both on their own tablets AND all the OEMs]. And then, as icing on the cake, Microsoft makes extra money selling apps and content for the tablets. And their tablets can have no-charge updates, so match what Apple does, while other OEMs can't afford to update older models...because they made no money on them...
Never mind that it also gives the MS hardware group a huge advantage over other OEMs for getting all the bugs fixed.
Has anybody done this kind of thing successfully in the past [as in both created their own software/hardware and licensed the software to others to make competing products]. It was a train wreck when Apple did it with PowerPC clones, and PalmOS licensing really went nowhere...and that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Good points.
Let's be honest though... this is Microsoft's attempt to grab some tablet market share. Whatever Windows 8 tablets Dell or HP are planning on producing... those tablets will be a tiny percentage of the products they sell. Laptops and desktops will still be the bulk of their sales.
If you think about it that way... it's not really that bad.
I mean... right now NOBODY is selling Windows 8 tablets... so everybody is even. And we don't even know how well these upcoming Windows 8 tablets will sell at all.
If this announcement was about Microsoft selling premium laptops... I could see these OEMs really starting to get worried.
Then again... laptops are pretty ubiquitous and there are already a million different laptops from many manufacturers. The PC OEMs deal with that every day.
In short... the Windows tablet market is still in the experimental stage at this point. Who knows what is gonna happen with Windows 8 tablets. The PC manufacturers should looking into tablets... but still focus on their laptop and desktops.
Lots of very valid, reasonable opinions about how MSFT is going about this and about the product itself. No matter what, at least at this time, it has had the intended effect. Lots of chatter on the street. As much as some may like or dislike the product as we know it right now, we are all still talking about it. That is a positive for MSFT. The question is whether the buzz will continue. Some of this will depend on when more information is forthcoming from MSFT.
I also think one of the reasons for this announcement was to keep consumers/business from going with an iPad or an Android tablet. From a consumer standpoint, I am not sure that will be a success. I think when people want a tablet and have the money or reason to purchase a tablet, they will go ahead and do it. Business/enterprise might be another story. There might be enough in this announcement to freeze some plans to go with an iPad or Android tablet. The IT infrastructure may still have enough sway to try to force at least a consideration of a MSFT tablet with the promise of interactivity with the desktop not available on an iPad. This may also be a bit of a stretch because it will probably take a while for corporate infrastructure to cozy up to Windows 8 or will this be a bit of a carrot to get them to upgrade? Still lots of questions but not a lot of answers because of the vagueness of the MSFT offering at this time.
I am also of the camp that MSFT felt they had to do things this way. The questions I would have is did they try to sit down with Dell and HP and come up with some minimal specs and were rebuffed? Did MSFT let HP and Dell come up with plans of their own and decided they didn't like them and went their own way? Or did MSFT want to do this from the start, thinking they could do the best job and put their best foot forward with this tablet, realizing that if they don't hit a home run with this, it puts them deeper in the hole in their battle with Apple and Google? My guess is the last scenario. The feeling I get from the announcement is that there is a hint of desperation at MSFT right now. Maybe it is because Ballmer has a lot riding on this. If this fails, then I think he will be gone.
HP, Dell and the other PC makers were hung out to dry by this tablet. No doubt about it. I think they were all hoping to come up with the Windows tablet holy grail that would increase corporate profits, pride and visibility. But there is still a way for them to profit from this. If they can come up with a system that interacts with the tablet in a novel way that adds some unforeseen functionality that catches on, that could be a winner. Of course, it wouldn't take long for the copy machines at the other manufacturers to ramp up so the window of opportunity would be somewhat short lived.
Without a tablet to help drive increased profits for the PC makers, does that mean we will see a round of consolidations in the pc arena? Does Dell cozy up to someone that has their own operating system that they can call their own? Does HP quietly develop for WebOS? Does it make sense for HP and Dell to get together and try to drive WebOS as a secondary system and come up with an ecosystem that is outside of windows? I am invested in Apple and I want them to continue to succeed but I would like to see a company like HP get back to their roots and innovate something nice. My first programmable calculator was one of those HP handhelds many years ago in college and I do have a soft spot for them and would like to see them rise up again.
As always time will tell what will happen but until we see what unfolds, it is fun to speculate(or is it gossiping) around the old server rack.
How many times did they remind us that the sides were chamfered at 22 millimeters?
At least half a dozen times.
That the kick stand was as thin as a hotel room key?
At least 3.
The Surface may be engineering marvel. What did they make, like two of them for the demo? Hahaha.
Evolve or DIE?
Sure, Microsoft gets points for acknowledging the problem that they really have NO MOBILE STRATEGY that is congruent, realistic, or sustainable.
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot about Windows Phone 7.
But Microsoft has fallen sooooo far behind in the advancement of its mobile OS strategy that they created the Surface, rushed it to a half baked demo (anyone notice the crash at 14:36 of the YouTube version of the demo?), and expect us all to NOT see through them?
When will the Surface ship? Crickets.
Pricing? More crickets.
Ballmer is the WORST CEO ever! Fat and lazy-happy to continue to cash Windows licensing checks and let the rest of the world pass Microsoft by.
---Don't reply here saying you are a CIO and that the Surface by virtue of being a Windows platform is better for your corporate security. THAT just means you're a LAZY CIO---
Evolve or DIE.
The more I see circuses like this, the more I'm convinced Tim Cook IS the man for Apple --- at least right now anyway.
The signature feature—one that probably has some Apple product designers wondering “Why didn’t we think of that?”—is the magnetic cover that snaps firmly into place and doubles as a keyboard.
They probably did, Ed... and it had fail written all over it.
Does anyone seriously think Apple hasn't prototyped something similar? The touch cover for the RT device looks gimmicky and something that wouldn't work very well.
Didn't stop the guys over at Android from doing the same for mobile OS.
You think if Dell, HP, and other PC makers switched to Linux they will still sell millions of PCs? All those enterprise people will suddenly switch to Linux? what about software? yeah.. why not.
Remember when HP said they will put WebOS on their PCs? Remember what happened? yep.. nothing.
Does anyone seriously think Apple hasn't prototyped something similar? The touch cover for the RT device looks gimmicky and something that wouldn't work very well.
Huge, HUGE mistake not having a working product that consumers can buy TODAY.
Now the announcement will slowly fade into the background as Apple news and rumours continue to capture hearts and minds. MS showed their hand with nothing concrete to offer.
Won't this be debuting around the time of the new iPhone? I don't think there's any doubt which will get more attention and press ink.
Comments
All I know or care about is that by the end of the year my windows work laptop will be due for a replacement and the Surface Pro looks like the #1 candidate. BTW just got my retina MBP so no windows fanboy name-calling allowed!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SSquirrel
*COUGH* Red ring of death *COUGH*
I wouldn't hold up MS as a bastion of high quality hardware. The Intellimouse Explorer was great tho.
My Microsoft trackball optical worked great for three or so years before getting twitchy for me.
My Logitech Trackman Marble Wheel on the other hand is going into its seventh flawless year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DennyL
I think there's no way the Surface will have a battery life comparable to that of the iPad, and when we find out what the battery life is it will make the Surface look like a poor iPad competitor. It's amazing that the M$ presentation didn't once mention battery life. What do they take us for? Journalists?
Ha! I was monitoring the ARS live blog of the Surface event... While waiting to be admitted, someone came by and referred to those in line as "JournoJerks".
I think they called it the Surface because you have to have a flat surface to use the flap thingy they call a keyboard and the kickstand.
Can you imagine using that flap keyboard with the kick stand on your lap.
I think what they did is introduce a mini netbook with a flap for a keyboard.
Not once did they show it working in Portrait Mode, that is the way I use the iPad the most.
If it does work in Portrait mode that kick stand would just make it fall over, but it would make that "Click" as it falls.
Who would buy a desktop computer with a 16:9 Aspect ratio 10" screen to do any productive work on, that is what this is.
They skipped over all of the things that a tablet is good for and concentrated on using the thing as a Desktop computer.
QUOTE:
"All I know or care about is that by the end of the year my windows work laptop will be due for a replacement and the Surface Pro looks like the #1 candidate. BTW just got my retina MBP so no windows fanboy name-calling allowed!"
Good luck trying to run Windows Software on a 10" screen and typing on a flap.
If they wanted this to run Windows Software they should have had at least a 13" screen and that is to small.
I don't hate a smoke and mirrors product that I've never used.
What I hate is Windows and most things Microsoft makes, period. I put up with their software at work, and given the choice, I prefer Apple. Better integrated, more intuitive, better thought-out. Better overall experience.
You clearly don't want that, because you can't wait to get this Windows PC shaped like a tablet. If that's what you want, why don't you buy, say, the Samsung x86 tablet capable of running Windows 7 or Windows 8 preview? It's a very nice tablet. And that's a real product, as opposed this vapor. Why are you so defensive of this not-yet-real-tablet when there are plenty of real PC tablets for sale right now? Seriously, what are you waiting for?
I don't think that's really what you want, or you'd already have it.
Hi, I'm Steve Ballmer, and welcome to our "too little two years too late party". I'd like to give a special welcome to the employees here who make up a bulk of the audience, who's job it is to cheer and applaud at strategic moments.
In the last few years we here at Microsoft have realized that our business model is no longer working. For the past 35 or so years we have bullied, blackmailed, crushed into existence (Helloooooo Netscape!), and otherwise enjoyed a monopoly position, which until recently has been safe.
We now realize that our past monopolistic position has meant we could release half assed beta products without really giving a rat's ass.
However, we now see that we now need to "be like Apple". Apple has forced us to think about quality, and do actual R&D, which is hard for us, because we don't know how to do R&D.
I haven't actually used the product myself, because I don't involve myself in the product lines. That's not my job. Do you think I would want to use this product, to see if it actually works, or have possible feedback for changes? That's what focus groups are for.
But, we are now striving to copy Apple in every way, from our retail stores, to our products, to now naming Windows with a number, to our upcoming developers meet in San Francisco, to this product launch.
I'd like to introduce you to our new device. It needs to look like a tablet, but it still runs our shitty OS. We refuse to give up the idea of a PC, so we are going to include this unpractical keyboard, with this stupid little trackpad, because that's all we know. It's a really thin quasi-netbook, which needs to look like an iPad, since that seems to be the way things are going.
We have a stupid name for it, for which we could give it any other arbitrary name like 'dog' or 'pony'. It's doesn't really work yet, so we can't actually show it doing anything, so we will spend 45 minutes talking about how innovative the beveled design of the frame looks, or how it has TWO wifi antennae, and repeat over and over it's physical dimensions. It has an innovative STYLUS! We will gave the metal casing a name "Vapour", since right now the unit itself is "vapourware". We will add a stupid looking kickstand to it and talk about it's outdated USB port and show a video about how hard it was for us to make this product, which we already introduced ten years ago, which further demonstrates how useless our R&D team is.
There will be multiple models, because again, like our OS, that's what we do. We introduce multiple variations of a single product in order to maximize our dollars, and confuse the purchasers that we ultimately really don't care about. There will be no details about release dates, or prices, since, at this time, like I said, the product is vapourware right now.
In summary, welcome to our desperation event, and I hope the first demo goes without a hitch!
Sincerely, Steve Jobs, I mean Ballmer.
PS, why I haven't been fired yet, is a complete mystery.
That was already reported. It has its own thread.
Huge, HUGE mistake not having a working product that consumers can buy TODAY.
Now the announcement will slowly fade into the background as Apple news and rumours continue to capture hearts and minds. MS showed their hand with nothing concrete to offer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by myapplelove
Where's the reporting on the sense of betrayal pro users felt by getting two year old CPU and even older gpu on the "updated" Mac Pro? Cue in the gaziolionth Nokia and rim are about to fail articles next...
That isn't really relevant in the grand scheme of things. MS ditching OEMs is a significant news item that gets attention industry-wide.
Disgruntled "Pro" users are free to voice their displeasure by switching to a Dell, or this "Surface" thing.
What makes you think it will seriously even support portrait mode?
Did you notice the home button is located below the screen for landscape mode, whereas the iPad home button is below the screen in portrait mode? That the keyboard cover is designed to be used in landscape mode only, whereas you can use wireless ipad keyboards in portrait or landscape? I think it says something about Windows 8: portrait mode, if it is even supported, is an afterthought. In other words, hold your 16:9 Windows tablet the way you would view a PC monitor, not the way you would hold a book.
Good points.
Let's be honest though... this is Microsoft's attempt to grab some tablet market share. Whatever Windows 8 tablets Dell or HP are planning on producing... those tablets will be a tiny percentage of the products they sell. Laptops and desktops will still be the bulk of their sales.
If you think about it that way... it's not really that bad.
I mean... right now NOBODY is selling Windows 8 tablets... so everybody is even. And we don't even know how well these upcoming Windows 8 tablets will sell at all.
If this announcement was about Microsoft selling premium laptops... I could see these OEMs really starting to get worried.
Then again... laptops are pretty ubiquitous and there are already a million different laptops from many manufacturers. The PC OEMs deal with that every day.
In short... the Windows tablet market is still in the experimental stage at this point. Who knows what is gonna happen with Windows 8 tablets. The PC manufacturers should looking into tablets... but still focus on their laptop and desktops.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nealg
Lots of very valid, reasonable opinions about how MSFT is going about this and about the product itself. No matter what, at least at this time, it has had the intended effect. Lots of chatter on the street. As much as some may like or dislike the product as we know it right now, we are all still talking about it. That is a positive for MSFT. The question is whether the buzz will continue. Some of this will depend on when more information is forthcoming from MSFT.
I also think one of the reasons for this announcement was to keep consumers/business from going with an iPad or an Android tablet. From a consumer standpoint, I am not sure that will be a success. I think when people want a tablet and have the money or reason to purchase a tablet, they will go ahead and do it. Business/enterprise might be another story. There might be enough in this announcement to freeze some plans to go with an iPad or Android tablet. The IT infrastructure may still have enough sway to try to force at least a consideration of a MSFT tablet with the promise of interactivity with the desktop not available on an iPad. This may also be a bit of a stretch because it will probably take a while for corporate infrastructure to cozy up to Windows 8 or will this be a bit of a carrot to get them to upgrade? Still lots of questions but not a lot of answers because of the vagueness of the MSFT offering at this time.
I am also of the camp that MSFT felt they had to do things this way. The questions I would have is did they try to sit down with Dell and HP and come up with some minimal specs and were rebuffed? Did MSFT let HP and Dell come up with plans of their own and decided they didn't like them and went their own way? Or did MSFT want to do this from the start, thinking they could do the best job and put their best foot forward with this tablet, realizing that if they don't hit a home run with this, it puts them deeper in the hole in their battle with Apple and Google? My guess is the last scenario. The feeling I get from the announcement is that there is a hint of desperation at MSFT right now. Maybe it is because Ballmer has a lot riding on this. If this fails, then I think he will be gone.
HP, Dell and the other PC makers were hung out to dry by this tablet. No doubt about it. I think they were all hoping to come up with the Windows tablet holy grail that would increase corporate profits, pride and visibility. But there is still a way for them to profit from this. If they can come up with a system that interacts with the tablet in a novel way that adds some unforeseen functionality that catches on, that could be a winner. Of course, it wouldn't take long for the copy machines at the other manufacturers to ramp up so the window of opportunity would be somewhat short lived.
Without a tablet to help drive increased profits for the PC makers, does that mean we will see a round of consolidations in the pc arena? Does Dell cozy up to someone that has their own operating system that they can call their own? Does HP quietly develop for WebOS? Does it make sense for HP and Dell to get together and try to drive WebOS as a secondary system and come up with an ecosystem that is outside of windows? I am invested in Apple and I want them to continue to succeed but I would like to see a company like HP get back to their roots and innovate something nice. My first programmable calculator was one of those HP handhelds many years ago in college and I do have a soft spot for them and would like to see them rise up again.
As always time will tell what will happen but until we see what unfolds, it is fun to speculate(or is it gossiping) around the old server rack.
Well reasoned, well said!
At least half a dozen times.
That the kick stand was as thin as a hotel room key?
At least 3.
The Surface may be engineering marvel. What did they make, like two of them for the demo? Hahaha.
Evolve or DIE?
Sure, Microsoft gets points for acknowledging the problem that they really have NO MOBILE STRATEGY that is congruent, realistic, or sustainable.
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot about Windows Phone 7.
But Microsoft has fallen sooooo far behind in the advancement of its mobile OS strategy that they created the Surface, rushed it to a half baked demo (anyone notice the crash at 14:36 of the YouTube version of the demo?), and expect us all to NOT see through them?
When will the Surface ship? Crickets.
Pricing? More crickets.
Ballmer is the WORST CEO ever! Fat and lazy-happy to continue to cash Windows licensing checks and let the rest of the world pass Microsoft by.
---Don't reply here saying you are a CIO and that the Surface by virtue of being a Windows platform is better for your corporate security. THAT just means you're a LAZY CIO---
Evolve or DIE.
The more I see circuses like this, the more I'm convinced Tim Cook IS the man for Apple --- at least right now anyway.
Evolve or DIE.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patranus
Why not?
Didn't stop the guys over at Android from doing the same for mobile OS.
You think if Dell, HP, and other PC makers switched to Linux they will still sell millions of PCs? All those enterprise people will suddenly switch to Linux? what about software? yeah.. why not.
Remember when HP said they will put WebOS on their PCs? Remember what happened? yep.. nothing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
Does anyone seriously think Apple hasn't prototyped something similar? The touch cover for the RT device looks gimmicky and something that wouldn't work very well.
As of now, it doesn't work at all.