It has taken many years but I have finally converted my entire immediate and extended family as well as most of my friends to Apple products. My cousin had a 4 year old Dell that recently died. Turns out it was a bad power supply and a bad monitor. She was concerned about a lot of Microsoft office documents she wanted to save, many of which were important family medical, tax, financial records. They bought a 27" iMac. After the Delll was repaired she asked me about Microsoft Office for the Mac and where to buy it. I told her before she does that to check out Open Office. It opened up all her MS Office documents fine and saved her around $200. We imported all her files over from the Dell with a flash drive and she was back in business in a few minutes.
Moral of the story is most people don't need MS Office. Open Office, Pages, and other alternatives exist that do the job fine. Once more people realize this the Surface and Windows Phone will be the least of their worries since Office has been their cash cow for decades.
What 'innovation' are we currently lacking in iPads?
Why do you think it's doing so well if 'innovation' is lacking?
The people who say that are probably the same kind of people who wish that they could hook up a mouse to an iPad, and the same kind of people who thinks that it should be just like a desktop OS.
Fact is consumers don't need Windows or Office. Microsoft still doesn't get that. Go watch the Surface event from last July. It was all Windows, Windows, Windows. Heck Microsoft's new logo is a Windows logo. The other thing Microsoft doesn't get is people are perfectly fine with tablets being mostly consumption devices. I think we're finding out that a large number of consumers were really using their PCs mostly for consumption purposes. Email, web surfing, watching movies, etc. Tablets now provide all those services in a much more convenient form factor. And since people are using PCs less frequently, the need to upgrade isn't really there. Google and Amazon don't help Microsoft's cause as they're pushing tablets as cheap consumption devices that they don't need to make any money on. Can Microsoft really afford to get in to a race to the bottom there?
Well said. Especially like...
"I think we're finding out that a large number of consumers were really using their PCs mostly for consumption purposes."
That mock funeral is silly and unnecessary. It does not sell! It just involved so many feelings of hate that so many consumers are tired of. Make and sell product that is proven useful, safe, good quality etc. avoid all unnecessary dongles the haters which most of them are inferior and do not know what they really need. And at worst they don't even really represent the real market. It's just amaze me how a high tech Microsoft giant could fall and buy into these inferior market demand?
Well technically, they go back a long long time, but most people accept that the Newton was a tablet and the first commercially viable mass market tablet (Wikipedia does for example), so … yeah, Apple actually.
One certainly can't make any rational argument that Microsoft thought of the tablet first or "invented" it, or even "popularised" it first if that's what you're saying. I would argue that Microsoft didn't even innovate in tablets. They added nothing that wasn't already there and done by others first.
Who are you Vadania? Daniel has been around for years and not only writes for AppleInsider but has his own website at http://roughlydrafted.com. CNET knows who he is, they also know how he feels and many times it's not what CNET wants to hear. It's also WWDC and trying to find anyone in that mass of bodies is impossible. I also have met Daniel and have actually talked to him when he presented at the company I retired from. His research and understanding of technology history is second to none. As for his sarcasm, I enjoyed it. If all you can handle is three sentences and two pictures you have a very short attention span, something that bothers me about people these days. All they can handle is a couple words before their brain turns off. Take a little time to understand what Daniel has to say so you're ready for Microsoft's next product release. CNET and almost every technology writer desperately wants something from Microsoft to sell, especially so they can keep their job writing about them, so they will do their best to promote them. Microsoft isn't helping by releasing garbage hardware and software.
Good job! I was going to respond, also. Thanks for doing it
Is there a point to this article? I can't find one, except that Microsoft sucks.
I thought the last paragraph brought the point home quite nicely...
Quote:
After getting its teeth kicked out by the iPod, the iPhone and now the iPad, you'd think the company would realize that it needs to stop repeating its me-too strategies that clearly don't work and try something new: focusing on what it's good at, rather than being a terrible copy of Apple.
How about Microsoft making simplified touch versions of Office and selling them on App Store and Google Play? Office is the product line that brings in the most revenue for Microsoft these days. Of course doing that would mean they're willing to screw Windows. But as it is right now people are buying iPads and Android tablets over Windows offerings. At least this way Microsoft could get some Office subscription revenue. Now they get nothing. Perhaps it will happen with this new org structure as Windows and Office will no longer be competing with each other.
Well, I think this is exactly why Surface RT has Office on it. The only other alternative is to make lite, clean versions of Office apps for ARM, and if they do that, then they would work on iOS and who would buy a Surface? I think it's the same pickle Blackberry is in. They always knew they could get a lot more revenue by making BBM available on iOS and Android, but it removes the reason to buy their hardware, thus, it's a last resort strategy (which I think they are doing now since they are circling the drain).
Word for iOS would sell like proverbial hotcakes. I would buy it even if it was twice the price of Pages and I hate Microsoft and don't really like using Word. I don't think it will ever happen though as they are already moving to the cloud. This is possibly why Pages for iCloud is rumoured to be free when it comes out of Beta. Why pay for a 360 subscription if Pages is free in the cloud and a $10.00 one time download on iOS?
What 'innovation' are we currently lacking in iPads?
Why do you think it's doing so well if 'innovation' is lacking?
Is it just me or is the word "innovate" getting overused to the point of meaninglessness. I think I'll go to the kitchen and innovate myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
What 'innovation' are we currently lacking in iPads?
Why do you think it's doing so well if 'innovation' is lacking?
Is it just me or is the word "innovate" getting overused to the point of meaninglessness. I think I'll go to the kitchen and innovate myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Agreed. Hence my use of the term in quotes..... ;-)
I think the Xbox 360 did good because their only real competitor botched their console with crazy pricing. I think Apple dominates because it's not priced too high. If Apple gets cocky and releases a product that's outside their consumers price point, consumer will look for alternatives.
No one thought Sony would lose on the console war when the Playstation was dominating for so long, but price is more important than people think. I know everyone keeps saying an iPhone Lite is un-Apple like, but Apple isn't any different than any other corporation. When they see an opportunity to create a feasibly usable product at a cheaper price point, why not? Apple waited this long for the technology to reach a point where they can offer a good quality product at a lesser price.
Comments
It has taken many years but I have finally converted my entire immediate and extended family as well as most of my friends to Apple products. My cousin had a 4 year old Dell that recently died. Turns out it was a bad power supply and a bad monitor. She was concerned about a lot of Microsoft office documents she wanted to save, many of which were important family medical, tax, financial records. They bought a 27" iMac. After the Delll was repaired she asked me about Microsoft Office for the Mac and where to buy it. I told her before she does that to check out Open Office. It opened up all her MS Office documents fine and saved her around $200. We imported all her files over from the Dell with a flash drive and she was back in business in a few minutes.
Moral of the story is most people don't need MS Office. Open Office, Pages, and other alternatives exist that do the job fine. Once more people realize this the Surface and Windows Phone will be the least of their worries since Office has been their cash cow for decades.
What 'innovation' are we currently lacking in iPads?
Why do you think it's doing so well if 'innovation' is lacking?
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
. . . Microsoft's Zune and KIN, two of the most embarrassing hardware product failures to occur outside of Google.
Best line of the entire article.
It's Microsoft under Ballmer.
The people who say that are probably the same kind of people who wish that they could hook up a mouse to an iPad, and the same kind of people who thinks that it should be just like a desktop OS.
Three words....baggage...baggage...baggage. Oh, and one more...Ballmer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
Fact is consumers don't need Windows or Office. Microsoft still doesn't get that. Go watch the Surface event from last July. It was all Windows, Windows, Windows. Heck Microsoft's new logo is a Windows logo. The other thing Microsoft doesn't get is people are perfectly fine with tablets being mostly consumption devices. I think we're finding out that a large number of consumers were really using their PCs mostly for consumption purposes. Email, web surfing, watching movies, etc. Tablets now provide all those services in a much more convenient form factor. And since people are using PCs less frequently, the need to upgrade isn't really there. Google and Amazon don't help Microsoft's cause as they're pushing tablets as cheap consumption devices that they don't need to make any money on. Can Microsoft really afford to get in to a race to the bottom there?
Well said. Especially like...
"I think we're finding out that a large number of consumers were really using their PCs mostly for consumption purposes."
Quote:
Originally Posted by QAMF
Yup, I'll gladly accept and agree with that.
Just not that Tablet's were first done by Apple.
...
Well technically, they go back a long long time, but most people accept that the Newton was a tablet and the first commercially viable mass market tablet (Wikipedia does for example), so … yeah, Apple actually.
One certainly can't make any rational argument that Microsoft thought of the tablet first or "invented" it, or even "popularised" it first if that's what you're saying. I would argue that Microsoft didn't even innovate in tablets. They added nothing that wasn't already there and done by others first.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rob53
Who are you Vadania? Daniel has been around for years and not only writes for AppleInsider but has his own website at http://roughlydrafted.com. CNET knows who he is, they also know how he feels and many times it's not what CNET wants to hear. It's also WWDC and trying to find anyone in that mass of bodies is impossible. I also have met Daniel and have actually talked to him when he presented at the company I retired from. His research and understanding of technology history is second to none. As for his sarcasm, I enjoyed it. If all you can handle is three sentences and two pictures you have a very short attention span, something that bothers me about people these days. All they can handle is a couple words before their brain turns off. Take a little time to understand what Daniel has to say so you're ready for Microsoft's next product release. CNET and almost every technology writer desperately wants something from Microsoft to sell, especially so they can keep their job writing about them, so they will do their best to promote them. Microsoft isn't helping by releasing garbage hardware and software.
Good job! I was going to respond, also. Thanks for doing it
Quote:
Originally Posted by anantksundaram
That has to be one of the great 'awkward moments of all time' in tech. Poor guy.
Didn't he get fired or some such thing?
Yep...I think it wasn't too long after the launch. I saw the presentation and he did look scared...and then that happened! Ugh!
Quote:
Originally Posted by alansky
Is there a point to this article? I can't find one, except that Microsoft sucks.
I thought the last paragraph brought the point home quite nicely...
Quote:
After getting its teeth kicked out by the iPod, the iPhone and now the iPad, you'd think the company would realize that it needs to stop repeating its me-too strategies that clearly don't work and try something new: focusing on what it's good at, rather than being a terrible copy of Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
How about Microsoft making simplified touch versions of Office and selling them on App Store and Google Play? Office is the product line that brings in the most revenue for Microsoft these days. Of course doing that would mean they're willing to screw Windows. But as it is right now people are buying iPads and Android tablets over Windows offerings. At least this way Microsoft could get some Office subscription revenue. Now they get nothing. Perhaps it will happen with this new org structure as Windows and Office will no longer be competing with each other.
Well, I think this is exactly why Surface RT has Office on it. The only other alternative is to make lite, clean versions of Office apps for ARM, and if they do that, then they would work on iOS and who would buy a Surface? I think it's the same pickle Blackberry is in. They always knew they could get a lot more revenue by making BBM available on iOS and Android, but it removes the reason to buy their hardware, thus, it's a last resort strategy (which I think they are doing now since they are circling the drain).
Word for iOS would sell like proverbial hotcakes. I would buy it even if it was twice the price of Pages and I hate Microsoft and don't really like using Word. I don't think it will ever happen though as they are already moving to the cloud. This is possibly why Pages for iCloud is rumoured to be free when it comes out of Beta. Why pay for a 360 subscription if Pages is free in the cloud and a $10.00 one time download on iOS?
Microsoft is doomed.
Is it just me or is the word "innovate" getting overused to the point of meaninglessness. I think I'll go to the kitchen and innovate myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
...... I think we should all cheer Microsoft on and encourage them to spend an absorbent amount of money researching what really does work.
Absorbent ??? Perhaps you meant to say exorbitant, as in excessive ?Is there a point to your post?
Agreed. Hence my use of the term in quotes..... ;-)
No one thought Sony would lose on the console war when the Playstation was dominating for so long, but price is more important than people think. I know everyone keeps saying an iPhone Lite is un-Apple like, but Apple isn't any different than any other corporation. When they see an opportunity to create a feasibly usable product at a cheaper price point, why not? Apple waited this long for the technology to reach a point where they can offer a good quality product at a lesser price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrrodriguez
I think the Xbox 360 did good because their only real competitor botched their console with crazy pricing.
No one thought Sony would lose on the console war .......
http://www.vgchartz.com/analysis/platform_totals/
Er, when exactly did "Sony lose the console wars"?