To appease its partners Microsoft could offer discounts to them if they produce their own tablet. They could give a slightly lesser discount to the ones making ultrabooks. That way the partners wouldn't be so angry. Of course I'm assuming they're angry because I haven't read any quotations from them.
Recently I've decided that I don't want a big tablet as a computer, even though I do believe Apple is working its way to creating a full line of office level tablets.
I've tried a Kindle Fire and a Barns & Nobel Nook Color. Each of those devices handles very basic tasks well. The Kindle Fire turns pages much faster than the old E-Ink models. Videos stream well on it. The same goes for the Nook. What I like about them is their small size. They're big enough for easy reading and small enough to remain comfortable to hold for long periods of time. They're also not designed for work. That frees me to do real work on a desktop or laptop computer.
I don't want to do work on a ten inch screen. Sending e-mail and browsing the web on the small e-books is plenty. The novelty of the touch screen has worn off on me. Having it on an e-book reader is just fine.
Microsoft is creating a very nice eco system, if they get a long term vision and not starting to make the windows 8 app signature bullshit and so on, maybe they have a chance, right now Android is the King, Apple is slowly loosing to Google, and the new OS Mountain Lion don't give much to already called Mac OS X Vista - Lion.
About the prices Microsoft has an advantage here, since Apple only knows expensive word, and Microsoft is know to Make 10 versions of the "same" operating system, so that will be the same with tablets, since Nokia will sell Windows 8 Tablets!!
I do think we are always thinking Apple is the best and greatest, but if we see the last numbers, stock markets and iPhones/Macs sell, things are not looking so good as once did.
I run a $500 quad core 3 Ghz desktop. I guess I'm to cheap to pay $2,000+ for something comparable from Apple.
Apple is just not competive in the desktop market so the smart (not cheap) money is with Windows whether you like it or not.
That said there is no way I would use a Surface as a desktop it would be just too underpowered. The only justification for tablets and reasonably priced(<$2000) laptops is portability. Apple is very competive in that market.
Do you have any interest in sharing where or how the rest of us can get a Quad Core 3Ghz computer for $500?
Apple will need to step up its game if it wants to compete with the Surface Pro. It should consider attaching a keyboard to the iPad, allow it to run a full desktop OS (OS X maybe?), provide USB and miniDisplay ports, a trackpad, and a swivel-like display. They should give it a name that connotes light weight, such as Oxygen or Feather, maybe even Air.
While we are at it, they could sacrifice some cost to this Uber iPad by removing the touchscreen -- and have a mouse and a full speed processor. We'll call it something you can put on your lap that's really, really cool! A Laptop -- yeah, that's perfect for this iPad killer.
Now I'll need a bag for all those usb things I have to lug around for my better, faster, stronger Surface Laptop.
Oh, and if it can play some DVD's -- it's the killer package!
While we are at it, they could sacrifice some cost to this Uber iPad by removing the touchscreen -- and have a mouse and a full speed processor. We'll call it something you can put on your lap that's really, really cool! A Laptop -- yeah, that's perfect for this iPad killer.
Now I'll need a bag for all those usb things I have to lug around for my better, faster, stronger Surface Laptop.
Oh, and if it can play some DVD's -- it's the killer package!
I have some old Syquest 44s and 88s. MS might just get me interested if...
Microsoft has to go all in here to compete in the tablet segment. They'll spare no expense but if the Surface is even good, they will sell a lot just because it is windows.
But they won't compete against Apple much early on. They'll compete with Android. The product doesn't have to be an iPad killer to be successful.
On the OEM side, the $90 price for RT Operating system will be discounted to $40 for the large manufacturers.
The reference 32 GB tablets will be more in the range of $499-549 for the 32 GB Version as the OEM's fight over thin margins.
I love my iPad, but I can see the pros of a Windows tablet. The value in the Pro is that it can replace both a laptop and a tablet since it essentially has 2 different interfaces (as long as battery life is decent). So $900 isn't that bad price if you are replacing two devices. Even an RT could replace both if your mainly use your laptop just to run a full version of Office. An RT version of Photoshop Elements would be 10x better for advanced photo editing than anything on the iPad simply because a mouse is much more accurate than a finger.
The value in the Pro is that it can replace both a laptop and a tablet since it essentially has 2 different interfaces (as long as battery life is decent). So $900 isn't that bad price if you are replacing two devices.
How can anyone even say this? We know nothing about these devices.
Even an RT could replace both if your mainly use your laptop just to run a full version of Office.
Of course you have to buy a brand new version of Office that only works on that tablet first.
An RT version of Photoshop Elements would be 10x better for advanced photo editing than anything on the iPad simply because a mouse is much more accurate than a finger.
BA HA HA HA HA! Using a mouse… with a tablet! AH HA HA HA HA!
Just because you know a few people who might have high end systems doesn't change the statistics. The vast majority of people using Windows are on crap machines. Apple owns the high end consumer market.
And no response in regards to those of use who use Mac Minis...(and even run...gasp...Windows on them). I guess we are all just cheap bastards.
The Surface has a USB port, so there's your solution to getting CD/DVD-based software onto it.
Um, how do you know this, Tim? Are you on the MS development team? Are you privy to the manufacturing specs actually submitted to a plant in China or South Korea? Please don't answer "I've read the website info" or "I saw the LA presentation." Microsoft is INFAMOUS for announcing/leaking products that never actually make it to market, so the actual name of the "Surface" should be "The Surface VW" (for "Vaporware"). Hope to hear more insider information.
The chart clearly says OEM Surface Style RT tablet. The chart is imagining the costs/profits for Dell or Acer to make a similar machine running Windows. The $90 is what the manufacturer will have to pay MS for the right to use Windows on their tablet (The $90 amount was rumored months ago). The explanation for the extra $12 in "other" is referring to Apple's economies of scale for all the little items that go into the tablet. Apple buys parts by the 10's of millions so they can command significantly better prices than the other manufacturers doing runs of 10s or 100s of thousands. That has been well documented for years.
The data is reasonable and valid as an estimate, think things through and read carefully before spouting off...
And yet AI's title is "Microsoft faces 'major dilemma' pricing Surface tablets against iPad" So why is this chart even in the article when it clearly is SUPPOSED to be focused on the Surface...which is NOT a 3rd party tablet. The chart states Surface style tablets....hmmmm
I don't get it either. A tablet is not supposed to have a keyboard. What they have designed is a terrible tablet and a terrible laptop combined together for a terrible user experience. We don't know how the software will work but they will probably sell quite a few to people like lamewing who don't care how much it sucks as long as it says Windows on it. It has to be better than that crappy Apple kit with all those crappy apps, music, books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and textbooks.
And yet MANY people use BT keyboards with tablets. And who made you grand PooBa regarding whether a tablet can accept input via a keyboard? Dude, screw you six ways to Sunday. We have both Mac Minis (one hooked up to our main TV the other in our office) and PCs in our home in addition to iPhones, Windows Phones, 2 iPods, 1 Zune, 1 imported Sony Walkman, Apple TVs and a Roku. Don't push the "lamewing is a Windows fan BS". It just doesn't fly. I will use whatever works and Windows 7 works just as well as OSX.
By the way, I want a Surface Pro so that I can use only one device instead of having to own a computer AND a tablet. Also, the handwriting recognition in Windows is a decade of anything Apple has developed. With the use of an optional stylus I can use the Surface as a REAL tablet where I can input note by writing...which is much faster than typing on an on screen keyboard. Also, I prefer a stylus (not a 3rd party stylus on an iOS device.) to enter Japanese naturally versus typing it.
Comments
To appease its partners Microsoft could offer discounts to them if they produce their own tablet. They could give a slightly lesser discount to the ones making ultrabooks. That way the partners wouldn't be so angry. Of course I'm assuming they're angry because I haven't read any quotations from them.
Recently I've decided that I don't want a big tablet as a computer, even though I do believe Apple is working its way to creating a full line of office level tablets.
I've tried a Kindle Fire and a Barns & Nobel Nook Color. Each of those devices handles very basic tasks well. The Kindle Fire turns pages much faster than the old E-Ink models. Videos stream well on it. The same goes for the Nook. What I like about them is their small size. They're big enough for easy reading and small enough to remain comfortable to hold for long periods of time. They're also not designed for work. That frees me to do real work on a desktop or laptop computer.
I don't want to do work on a ten inch screen. Sending e-mail and browsing the web on the small e-books is plenty. The novelty of the touch screen has worn off on me. Having it on an e-book reader is just fine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaltWater
Microsoft is creating a very nice eco system, if they get a long term vision and not starting to make the windows 8 app signature bullshit and so on, maybe they have a chance, right now Android is the King, Apple is slowly loosing to Google, and the new OS Mountain Lion don't give much to already called Mac OS X Vista - Lion.
About the prices Microsoft has an advantage here, since Apple only knows expensive word, and Microsoft is know to Make 10 versions of the "same" operating system, so that will be the same with tablets, since Nokia will sell Windows 8 Tablets!!
I do think we are always thinking Apple is the best and greatest, but if we see the last numbers, stock markets and iPhones/Macs sell, things are not looking so good as once did.
And they call us "Fanboys"....
Quote:
Originally Posted by sflocal
And they call us "Fanboys"....
I wear that name like a badge of honor!
I think I'll have a black t-shirt made with a white Apple logo and Fanboy written underneath.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sflocal
And they call us "Fanboys"....
I HAD TO have been a joke. No one with their eyes on the market and quarterly reports would post such inanity.
Do you have any interest in sharing where or how the rest of us can get a Quad Core 3Ghz computer for $500?
Buy four 3GHz Pentium 4 towers. That leaves $400 for the equipment needed to hook them together. Boom, quad core!
Despite all studies showing otherwise in every category.
Quote:
Originally Posted by macinthe408
Apple will need to step up its game if it wants to compete with the Surface Pro. It should consider attaching a keyboard to the iPad, allow it to run a full desktop OS (OS X maybe?), provide USB and miniDisplay ports, a trackpad, and a swivel-like display. They should give it a name that connotes light weight, such as Oxygen or Feather, maybe even Air.
While we are at it, they could sacrifice some cost to this Uber iPad by removing the touchscreen -- and have a mouse and a full speed processor. We'll call it something you can put on your lap that's really, really cool! A Laptop -- yeah, that's perfect for this iPad killer.
Now I'll need a bag for all those usb things I have to lug around for my better, faster, stronger Surface Laptop.
Oh, and if it can play some DVD's -- it's the killer package!
The i5 purported to going into the Windows 8 high end tablet isn't $30.
Good response, lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kent909
Do you have any interest in sharing where or how the rest of us can get a Quad Core 3Ghz computer for $500?
$500 seems a stretch but Newegg is my friend. Every computer I build, I use them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fake_William_Shatner
While we are at it, they could sacrifice some cost to this Uber iPad by removing the touchscreen -- and have a mouse and a full speed processor. We'll call it something you can put on your lap that's really, really cool! A Laptop -- yeah, that's perfect for this iPad killer.
Now I'll need a bag for all those usb things I have to lug around for my better, faster, stronger Surface Laptop.
Oh, and if it can play some DVD's -- it's the killer package!
I have some old Syquest 44s and 88s. MS might just get me interested if...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quadra 610
I HAD TO have been a joke.....
Are you??
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer
The i5 purported to going into the Windows 8 high end tablet isn't $30.
By the time the Pro actually launches, it may be cheaper than that....
Microsoft has to go all in here to compete in the tablet segment. They'll spare no expense but if the Surface is even good, they will sell a lot just because it is windows.
But they won't compete against Apple much early on. They'll compete with Android. The product doesn't have to be an iPad killer to be successful.
On the OEM side, the $90 price for RT Operating system will be discounted to $40 for the large manufacturers.
The reference 32 GB tablets will be more in the range of $499-549 for the 32 GB Version as the OEM's fight over thin margins.
I love my iPad, but I can see the pros of a Windows tablet. The value in the Pro is that it can replace both a laptop and a tablet since it essentially has 2 different interfaces (as long as battery life is decent). So $900 isn't that bad price if you are replacing two devices. Even an RT could replace both if your mainly use your laptop just to run a full version of Office. An RT version of Photoshop Elements would be 10x better for advanced photo editing than anything on the iPad simply because a mouse is much more accurate than a finger.
How can anyone even say this? We know nothing about these devices.
Of course you have to buy a brand new version of Office that only works on that tablet first.
BA HA HA HA HA! Using a mouse… with a tablet! AH HA HA HA HA!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][
Just because you know a few people who might have high end systems doesn't change the statistics. The vast majority of people using Windows are on crap machines. Apple owns the high end consumer market.
And no response in regards to those of use who use Mac Minis...(and even run...gasp...Windows on them). I guess we are all just cheap bastards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimUSCA
The Surface has a USB port, so there's your solution to getting CD/DVD-based software onto it.
Um, how do you know this, Tim? Are you on the MS development team? Are you privy to the manufacturing specs actually submitted to a plant in China or South Korea? Please don't answer "I've read the website info" or "I saw the LA presentation." Microsoft is INFAMOUS for announcing/leaking products that never actually make it to market, so the actual name of the "Surface" should be "The Surface VW" (for "Vaporware"). Hope to hear more insider information.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregInPrague
The chart clearly says OEM Surface Style RT tablet. The chart is imagining the costs/profits for Dell or Acer to make a similar machine running Windows. The $90 is what the manufacturer will have to pay MS for the right to use Windows on their tablet (The $90 amount was rumored months ago). The explanation for the extra $12 in "other" is referring to Apple's economies of scale for all the little items that go into the tablet. Apple buys parts by the 10's of millions so they can command significantly better prices than the other manufacturers doing runs of 10s or 100s of thousands. That has been well documented for years.
The data is reasonable and valid as an estimate, think things through and read carefully before spouting off...
And yet AI's title is "Microsoft faces 'major dilemma' pricing Surface tablets against iPad" So why is this chart even in the article when it clearly is SUPPOSED to be focused on the Surface...which is NOT a 3rd party tablet. The chart states Surface style tablets....hmmmm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
I don't get it either. A tablet is not supposed to have a keyboard. What they have designed is a terrible tablet and a terrible laptop combined together for a terrible user experience. We don't know how the software will work but they will probably sell quite a few to people like lamewing who don't care how much it sucks as long as it says Windows on it. It has to be better than that crappy Apple kit with all those crappy apps, music, books, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and textbooks.
And yet MANY people use BT keyboards with tablets. And who made you grand PooBa regarding whether a tablet can accept input via a keyboard? Dude, screw you six ways to Sunday. We have both Mac Minis (one hooked up to our main TV the other in our office) and PCs in our home in addition to iPhones, Windows Phones, 2 iPods, 1 Zune, 1 imported Sony Walkman, Apple TVs and a Roku. Don't push the "lamewing is a Windows fan BS". It just doesn't fly. I will use whatever works and Windows 7 works just as well as OSX.
By the way, I want a Surface Pro so that I can use only one device instead of having to own a computer AND a tablet. Also, the handwriting recognition in Windows is a decade of anything Apple has developed. With the use of an optional stylus I can use the Surface as a REAL tablet where I can input note by writing...which is much faster than typing on an on screen keyboard. Also, I prefer a stylus (not a 3rd party stylus on an iOS device.) to enter Japanese naturally versus typing it.
Take your MS/Windows hatred and stick it.