Microsoft, the VW family sedan of IT, wants to be tech's new Rolls-Royce (Tech Business Analysis)

The Register ^ | Oct 7, 2015 | Iain Thomson

[dayglored]

If there's one message that stands out from Microsoft's big device day launch on Tuesday it's this: stop thinking about Redmond as the cheap option, because it wants to be seen as the premium brand.

For years Microsoft has sold itself as the dominant ecosystem for computing that won't cost you too much. The device day focus, however, shows that Microsoft is intent on going after the big spenders in the IT industry.

Take the Surface Book, for example. Again and again Microsoft hammered the message that this was the ultimate laptop, with no expense spared. That's reflected in the price – $1,500 will get you the base unit but you can spent nearly three grand on a top-of-the-range system with dual graphics chips and a terabyte of solid state storage.

That's a hell of a lot for a laptop. You can pick up a good-enough laptop for a tenth of the price of a top-of-the-range Surface Book running Windows. But there's a market for people willing to spend a fortune on top-spec hardware, both in the gaming market and also for the executive who likes to show off a bit.

... (fairly long, in-depth article) ...

[adorno]

Dude, the Surface Pros are tablets.

What I meant to say was that, "but NO!!!, they jumped right into creating LAPTOPS too." in reference to the Surface Book.