3 reasons Microsoft's Surface is no joke

Fortune ^ | June 22, 2012 | Don Sears

[SmokingJoe]

Many have scoffed at the idea that Redmond's tablet will succeed. But there are three crucial reasons to take the effort seriously. By Don Sears

FORTUNE -- Do not underestimate Microsoft's Surface tablet move. Its gambit to design and build its own hardware is a bold play to develop a thriving ecosystem of new products. It is centered on Microsoft's dominant property: the operating system. Monday's flashy Surface launch may have felt like an Apple event with its bright, pastel-colored keyboard, slick introductory videos and breathless hyping from little-known engineers. But, in fact, Microsoft's play is anything but Apple-like. The company is clearly trying to make tablets into hybrid PC-mobile devices, something its California rival has said is a bad idea. We don't yet know all of Surface's details -- battery life, pricing, official release dates are all to-be-determined for instance. But here are three important reasons Microsoft's Surface is likely to be anything but dead on arrival:

Reason #1: Microsoft can build an ecosystem

Microsoft (MSFT) has had success in the consumer market with the Xbox and most recently with the Kinect motion-control devices. The Xbox has become a household name with major brand extensions as an entertainment device. Microsoft disrupted gaming, and it can disrupt hardware.

Microsoft has serious engineering chops. Josh Topolosky, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge and not exactly a fanboy, was blown away by a visit to Microsoft's R&D in 2011. He wrote of that visit: "[MS] showed me a project … which would allow you to create a virtual window from one room to another, utilizing a variety of display, motion sensing, and 3D technologies… dubbed … the 'magic wall.' It was nuts. It was awesome. It was ambitious. The whole time, all I could think was: where has Microsoft been hiding guys like this?"

[SmokingJoe]

MS has always needed someone with the vision of a Steve Jobs at the helm

A dictatorial micro-manager at the helm?

“If they could find such a one then even at this late date they could move in a new and exciting direction”

Microsoft Research has come out with some of the greatest tech innovations in the past 20 years:

Microsoft Research celebrates 20 years of crazy innovation
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/28/microsoft-research-celebrates-20-years-of-crazy-innovation/

“I’d start by creating a new tablet design that ran a custom version of MS Linux”

Most idiotic idea I ever heard of. Windows 7 smokes Linux in every way, and Windows 8 is even better than Windows 7, and was furthermore designed from the ground up for tablets, so why would Microsoft ditch all that and go for some version of Linux? There are plenty of Linux based tablets around. Don't see any of them doing that great in sales.

[SmokingJoe]

Been reading the Microsoft haters on here. Same with all the articles in the other stories I read about the Surface and even Windows phone 8. I'm puzzled by the emotion people are attaching to their devices. If you don't like something, don't use it. But to declare and even wish/hope/fight for the failure of a product or company is just plain stupid

Applebots have always been that way..for as long as i can remember. The # 1 reason, I have never bought, and will never buy any Apple product is because of the sheer nastiness and evil mindedness of the fanatic Appplebots.

[SmokingJoe]

Microsoft can't necessarily build an ecosystem. Remember PlaysForSure for music? Yeah, those people got reamed when Microsoft dumped it. And not many besides Zune owners have heard of its incompatible successor, the Zune Marketplace.

I remember all that. But then I also remember XBOX Live, the best video game online system on the planet, which has been hugely successful, and not just for gaming either(at which it excels), but for all kinds of content delivery.

[SmokingJoe]

Apple fans love to feel superior; it’s just part of the Apple culture that Jobs encouraged. They get off on looking down on other people who don’t join their cool kids club.

Case in point:
iPhone Users Disgusted That Instagram Is Now On Android

http://www.androidpit.com/instagram-for-android-404116

Just read some of the utterly disgusting Twitter comments from our esteemed iPhone friends, just because Instagram dared to release their app(which had been an iOS exclusive before), on Android. Pathetic!

[null and void]

Don't you have anything better to do with your life?

Not really. You jump higher with smaller pokes than anyone else I've met.

Most likely, you're an Apple or Google fanatic

I refuse to use or even capitalize google. I Have an iMac and an iPhone, not sure how much of a fanatic that makes me.

Now that enough service packs have come out I run Win XP on my iMac, not sure what exactly that makes me in your tiny world.

Microsoft competition and Microsoft detractors, are running scared about how disruptive the Surface will be to the tablet market

Yeah, sure.

Keep thinking that if it makes you feel better.

I have no dog in the fight, and I could care less about who wins in the hardware/software wars, since, to me, they're all just tools to get the job done. I just don't go around, like a little boy, trying defend indefensible things that don't really matter.

[null and void]

Actually, according to most technology experts, the Zune was/is, technologically, a vastly superior MP3 player to the iPod. It failed

Just like BetaMax and 8-Track...

[null and void]

"That's not a fair comparison, people like the Apple."

[null and void]

But then I also remember XBOX

Yeah. My son was a beta tester.

Well, technically a paying beta tester as we bought one of the early ones.

Ever hear of red rings of death?

Unfortunately MS has a well earned and frequently reenforced reputation for releasing products that aren't quire ready for prime time.

Having been burned enough times I would NEVER buy any MicroSoft product until the second service pack. After the paying early adopters have done all the testing MS should have done before releasing the product and the designed in flaws have been fixed or worked around, sure. I'll buy, use and be happy with them.

[SmokingJoe]

Yeah. My son was a beta tester.
Well, technically a paying beta tester as we bought one of the early ones.
Ever hear of red rings of death?

Chuckle!
The first(original) XBOX, which came out in 2011, was a very sturdy, pretty powerful(for it's time) video game console, and had no red rings of death. Plus it outsold the Nintendo Gamecube, which was released at around the same time, despite Nintendo having been in the video game console business for decades before Microsoft ever entered the fray.
Plus XBOX Live, which first started with the original XBOX is still unmatched as far as video game consoles go.

“Unfortunately MS has a well earned and frequently reenforced reputation for releasing products that aren't quire ready for prime time”

Microsoft has been one of the top computer mouse makers on the planet for decades, with no problem. In fact some of the best innovations in computer mouse technology have come from Microsoft.

“Having been burned enough times I would NEVER buy any MicroSoft product until the second service pack. After the paying early adopters have done all the testing MS should have done before releasing the product and the designed in flaws have been fixed or worked around, sure”

Bought a Windows 7 laptop at launch of Windows 7. Had no prtobles with the OS at all. Worked beautifully from the get-go.

[null and void]

I’m happy for you.

Still, I think I’ll wait before buying any new MS product.

[adorno]

Just like BetaMax and 8-Track...

That's proof positive that, you refuse to look at the real world, and instead, you have tunnel vision, and you can't see anything beyond your narrow scope of thought.

8-Track was popular for a bunch of years, just like the iPhones and iPads have been popular for a few years, and, just like the example you picked, they will have been popular for a few years, having been replaced by something superior, like the Windows 8 gadgets, namely WP8 cellphones and Surface tablets. But, like anything else in technology, even those will be popular for a few years, to be replaced by the next "big thing". But, you haven't been paying attention, apparently, to notice how that's the way of technology. Try to keep up.

[null and void]

Promise me you’ll check back with me in, say, three years on this?

[adorno]

Not really. You jump higher with smaller pokes than anyone else I've met.

You remind me of a poster on ZDNet, who, when he has already lost the argument a long time ago, insists on prolonging his agony by becoming childish with his comments and behavior.

Fact is that, you're arguing about technology and about preferences, and you're even arguing against a product which hasn't even been touched by you or anyone else outside of Microsoft's engineers. That's a pathetic course of argument, especially when, you're exhibitni fanatical behavior. Are you the same way with political topics, preferring to focus on the hypothetical and not on real matters of importance?

Two things:

Grow up! And then, get a life!

[RegulatorCountry]

... but it’s not a new thing, it’s old things shoehorned into someone else’s new thing for market diiferentiation.

It’s a netbook with a touchscreen, apparently, but that is yet to be seen in the wild. Of what utility is the redundancy in comparison to a netbook, ultrabook or Macbook Air? Particularly with the likely price premium.

Microsoft fans could just purchase a cheap Asus along with an Android tablet and come out ahead monetarily, without a garbled, bowdlerized half measure untried device.

[adorno]

Promise me you’ll check back with me in, say, three years on this?

Why 3 years?

It won't take more than 2 years to surpass the iPad in popularity, and it might be just a matter of a few months.

Let's wait 6 months from the launch of the Surface, and then see, because, by then, we'll know the general direction of the Surface, and the downhill slide of the iPad sales. ;)

[null and void]

you're even arguing against a product which hasn't even been touched by you or anyone else outside of Microsoft's engineers.

Precisely.

A product announcement with no actual product.

I've done that working for start-ups.

Show me the hardware, we're full up on hype.

[null and void]

I’m a reasonable man.

Tell you what, let’s check in in 6 months, 2 years and 3 years.

[adorno]

... but it’s not a new thing, it’s old things shoehorned into someone else’s new thing for market diiferentiation.

You must be new to this technological age.

Look, a device that becomes popular, no matter what the technology inside, is one that, if successful, everybody else is going to emulate and enter the market to compete. The fact is that, what Apple or Google have created, have also been done in the past, with smartphones and tablets. It's just that, making the technology "look" different and cool, is what sells, and so, the Apple and Google gadgets don't really create a new paradigm in technology, but, they do create a form of fanaticism which makes people think that, it's different and cool, and they must have it.

Besides, what's wrong with taking a mouse-trap, and improving upon it, to the point that, people might decide that, the newer mouse trap is "what they've been needing and wanting" all along?

It’s a netbook with a touchscreen, apparently, but that is yet to be seen in the wild. Of what utility is the redundancy in comparison to a netbook, ultrabook or Macbook Air? Particularly with the likely price premium.

Go a little further in your dismissive-ness, and call "just computers" with different looks. That is what they are, after all. But, it's like when you purchase a car. You can buy a car for the basic purposes of transportation, and call it quits. Or, you buy a car that offers other comforts and will last longer and looks better, and performs better, with a few more functions on the side. That is what the Surface is offering to do with the tablet market; give you more of the same, but with a lot more functionality and additional tools to make them productive and attractive. What is wrong with that?

Me, personally, I'll be waiting a bit longer to get my hands on an ultrabook with at least a terabyte of storage, and super-duper processor capabilities, at least 8 gigabytes of main memory, and the features that scream "productivity", with a nice super-high-definition screen. I'll be looking for the Intel-based Surface, to use while on-the-road, because, it's a lot more than "just a tablet" meant for media consumption and for checking e-mail and for Facebook use. Oh, and they better have at least 8 hrs of battery life, and not bite too much into my budget; so around $800 is what I'll be willing to put out, which means that, I'll have to wait a bit for the Surface tablets to come down in price.

Microsoft fans could just purchase a cheap Asus along with an Android tablet and come out ahead monetarily, without a garbled, bowdlerized half measure untried device.

Yet, those wouldn't be the same, would they?

The Asus tablets are not optimized for touch, and they're still not using Windows 8, which is the OS for tablets. They're nice equipment, and nice as tablets, but, it's they're not good for replacing iPads or even the Android-based tablets. That's what Surfaces are intended to replace.

BTW, I wouldn't mind having iPads or Android tablets that could be used for productivity as the Surfaces devices will do. They're actually nice tablets, but, they're lacking a lot. Perhaps in another future update, they'll gain that kind of function.

BTW, I look at Android tablets as dead-end equipment, and they will go the same way as the Linux netbooks of a few years ago, which got destroyed once Microsoft put Windows XP in them.

BTW, I agree with you on one simple statement: the Surfaces are "untried devices". But, like anything that is new, they are all untried, and if anyone is going to base their purchasing decisions on only buying "the tried devices", then, technology would never move forward, and nothing new would ever get invented and would never see the light of day.

[adorno]

... but it’s not a new thing, it’s old things shoehorned into someone else’s new thing for market diiferentiation.

You must be new to this technological age.

Look, a device that becomes popular, no matter what the technology inside, is one that, if successful, everybody else is going to emulate and enter the market to compete. The fact is that, what Apple or Google have created, have also been done in the past, with smartphones and tablets. It's just that, making the technology "look" different and cool, is what sells, and so, the Apple and Google gadgets don't really create a new paradigm in technology, but, they do create a form of fanaticism which makes people think that, it's different and cool, and they must have it.

Besides, what's wrong with taking a mouse-trap, and improving upon it, to the point that, people might decide that, the newer mouse trap is "what they've been needing and wanting" all along?

It’s a netbook with a touchscreen, apparently, but that is yet to be seen in the wild. Of what utility is the redundancy in comparison to a netbook, ultrabook or Macbook Air? Particularly with the likely price premium.

Go a little further in your dismissive-ness, and call "just computers" with different looks. That is what they are, after all. But, it's like when you purchase a car. You can buy a car for the basic purposes of transportation, and call it quits. Or, you buy a car that offers other comforts and will last longer and looks better, and performs better, with a few more functions on the side. That is what the Surface is offering to do with the tablet market; give you more of the same, but with a lot more functionality and additional tools to make them productive and attractive. What is wrong with that?

Me, personally, I'll be waiting a bit longer to get my hands on an ultrabook with at least a terabyte of storage, and super-duper processor capabilities, at least 8 gigabytes of main memory, and the features that scream "productivity", with a nice super-high-definition screen. I'll be looking for the Intel-based Surface, to use while on-the-road, because, it's a lot more than "just a tablet" meant for media consumption and for checking e-mail and for Facebook use. Oh, and they better have at least 8 hrs of battery life, and not bite too much into my budget; so around $800 is what I'll be willing to put out, which means that, I'll have to wait a bit for the Surface tablets to come down in price.

Microsoft fans could just purchase a cheap Asus along with an Android tablet and come out ahead monetarily, without a garbled, bowdlerized half measure untried device.

Yet, those wouldn't be the same, would they?

The Asus tablets are not optimized for touch, and they're still not using Windows 8, which is the OS for tablets. They're nice equipment, and nice as tablets, but, it's they're not good for replacing iPads or even the Android-based tablets. That's what Surfaces are intended to replace.

BTW, I wouldn't mind having iPads or Android tablets that could be used for productivity as the Surfaces devices will do. They're actually nice tablets, but, they're lacking a lot. Perhaps in another future update, they'll gain that kind of function.

BTW, I look at Android tablets as dead-end equipment, and they will go the same way as the Linux netbooks of a few years ago, which got destroyed once Microsoft put Windows XP in them.

BTW, I agree with you on one simple statement: the Surfaces are "untried devices". But, like anything that is new, they are all untried, and if anyone is going to base their purchasing decisions on only buying "the tried devices", then, technology would never move forward, and nothing new would ever get invented and would never see the light of day.

[Alas Babylon!]

Microsoft has always been better at destroying their competition than they were at innovating anything.

That's pretty harsh. Why did you even go to TechEd if you feel they're that bad?