Microsoft usually begs for attention. On this day, it played the cool maestro. In fact, the company played the Apple (AAPL)
role, using pomp, circumstance, and constructed anticipation to make us
believe that something really fantastic would appear. Perhaps the whole
thing worked: Something that did seem rather fantastic arrived at about
4:20 p.m. It was the Surface tablet—a computer that had all its
software and hardware made by Microsoft. In that moment, Microsoft
became not just a competitor to Apple but also a rival to such longtime
PC manufacturing partners as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL), and Acer (2353:TT).
I'm sorry the Surface tablet is not "fantastic" at least by my estimation. It pretty much looks like a slightly bigger IPad with a keyboard etched into its cover sleeve. It also seems to cost a few hundred more than the IPad.
Suggested retail pricing will be announced closer to availability and is
expected to be competitive with a comparable ARM tablet or Intel
Ultrabook-class PC. OEMs will have cost and feature parity on Windows 8
and Windows RT.
So an Ultrabook-class PC costs about $800 to $1000 which is pretty damn steep when compared to the $500 to $700 that an IPad costs. So you are pretty much paying $300 for a keyboard and Windows 8? Sounds about par for the course for Microsoft. Late to the party, too expensive, and it is pretty much a "me too" product. I suspect that the Surface will be thrown right on top of all the Zunes that are taking up space on store shelves.
I'm sorry it just looks kind of like a kids toy and not something that you would use for actual work. I just can't picture it as an "IPad Killer" no matter how I slice it. Maybe Microsoft should make that keyboard attachment compatible with the IPad. That way they can make some money before this thing goes the way of the Kin.
No comments:
Post a Comment