To be honest it seems like a really nice, well-made tablet. If in a few minutes Ballmer says its gonna be $250 we might really have something here. But we all know that's not going to be anywhere close to the price...
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We may curse our bad luck that it's sounds like its; who's sounds like whose; they're sounds like their (and there); and you're sounds like your. But if we are grown-ups who have been through full-time education, we have no excuse for muddling them up.
To be honest it seems like a really nice, well-made tablet. If in a few minutes Ballmer says its gonna be $250 we might really have something here. But we all know that's not going to be anywhere close to the price...
If it's $250 I might have interest, but I really don't understand the fad with tablets myself. Certainly not enough to pay $500+.
Not watching the event, but can someone answer this question: how will this be any different than any other Windows RT (aka Windows 8 for ARM) tablets from third-party manufacturers?
Is this just Microsoft making a demo tablet to show what can be done with the OS, sort of like what Google did with the Nexus series of phones to showcase Android? Or does MS actually want to compete in the hardware space against Apple, RIM, all the Android tablets, and their own Windows RT partners?
Not watching the event, but can someone answer this question: how will this be any different than any other Windows RT (aka Windows 8 for ARM) tablets from third-party manufacturers?
Apparently there will be both ARM and Intel versions of this, with the Intel one "having better specs than any announced Ultrabook." For eleventy billion dollars...
If this thing has a version that is x86/x64 compatible then boom, they have an instant market from the corporate sector. There are a lot of companies issuing tablets, etc. like Playbooks (lol) and iPads and running things off the Cloud. If x86/x64 works natively then all your business/scientific/engineering apps will possibly work as well.
You know, I was wrong about the xbox, and maybe I'm wrong here... but did Microsoft not watch RIM take a bath on the playbook? Or HP lose it's shirt with the touchpad? Or any other manufacturer buy the farm on any tablet device not named iPad?
Honestly I'm happier with my xbox than I ever thought I'd be with an Microsoft product, but I can't help but look at this device and see Zune2012 again.
You know, I was wrong about the xbox, and maybe I'm wrong here... but did Microsoft not watch RIM take a bath on the playbook? Or HP lose it's shirt with the touchpad? Or any other manufacturer buy the farm on any tablet device not named iPad?
Honestly I'm happier with my xbox than I ever thought I'd be with an Microsoft product, but I can't help but look at this device and see Zune2012 again.
A look at the breakdown of which platform tablet users own, Android has actually caught up to Apple because of Kindle sales. In 2011, sales were skewed toward Apple, with 72 percent of tablet owners using some form of the iPad and only 32 percent on Android.
This year, about half of owners use an iOS tablet, while the other half use an Android tablet, with a small percentage using both.
And if you are, say, a student looking for new gear next year, do you want to buy a laptop and an iPad or other tablet, or just one Surface for Windows 8 Pro that handles both?
As long as Windows 8 isn't a dud, I think this will be a big player.
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And if you are, say, a student looking for new gear next year, do you want to buy a laptop and an iPad or other tablet, or just one Surface for Windows 8 Pro that handles both?
As long as Windows 8 isn't a dud, I think this will be a big player.
You know you might have me there, if they can provide a full OS experience with a decent tablet experience they may just have a winner here... but they'll need to compete on price. It would have to be "well why would I pay $50 more to use a mobile OS (iOS) when I get get Windows 8 for this price?"
You know you might have me there, if they can provide a full OS experience with a decent tablet experience they may just have a winner here... but they'll need to compete on price. It would have to be "well why would I pay $50 more to use a mobile OS (iOS) when I get get Windows 8 for this price?"
The two forms will have to compete on the two price points:
Why would I buy another tablet that is a strictly mobile OS when I could get a more fully featured Windows 8 RT Surface tablet for the same price as an iPad or Android tablet; and
Why would I buy a laptop/ultrabook that's strictly a desktop OS when I could get a tablet experience as well with a Windows 8 pro Surface for the same price as a laptop.
Neither of those will be compelling arguments if Windows 8 is clunky on launch, though.
Windows 8 will be a fail on desktops/laptops, meaning business, meaning general failure.
It looks like it'll be great on tablets, but who knows what it will be like on ARM tablets, which will be the reasonably priced ones. The Intel ones are supposed to be priced like an Ultrabook, meaning expensive for most typical users, and definitely more than an iPad. If Windows RT is decent, and the ARM tablet is under $400, I could see them selling a lot of those though.
