Yeah too bad no one has touched one.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6016/microsoft-surface-we-go-hands-on
Yes, people *touched* them, but were they able to use it?
http://marketingland.com/hands-off-microsoft-surface-tablet-review-15146
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Tablets Windows 8 Tablet vs iPad
- Thread starter Ay_Zimmy
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Yes, people *touched* them, but were they able to use it?
http://marketingland.com/hands-off-microsoft-surface-tablet-review-15146
I'm sure they used them. But it was probably a bunch of older people who needed a tutorial and probably had zero clue on how to use it.
I'm very glad Microsoft is jumping in (though they still seem to lack focus with this everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach to Windows 8). And I'm looking forward to seeing how the Surface turns out.
But it seems wishy-washy to expect great things of it at this stage. They wouldn't let anyone interact with it in meaningful ways and we still know very little about the hardware. It needs to become far more substantial before it is worthy of meaningful discussion.
I disagree about the iPad. It is a large iPad only in that it shares an OS, but applications optimized for the iPad create an incredible experience very much unlike what may be offered on the iPhone, and both have extremely distinct strengths and weaknesses (iPhone for camera, phone, portability, convenience; iPad for more work space, far more immersive reading and consumption, larger canvas for creation and complex interfaces, etc.).
But it seems wishy-washy to expect great things of it at this stage. They wouldn't let anyone interact with it in meaningful ways and we still know very little about the hardware. It needs to become far more substantial before it is worthy of meaningful discussion.
I disagree about the iPad. It is a large iPad only in that it shares an OS, but applications optimized for the iPad create an incredible experience very much unlike what may be offered on the iPhone, and both have extremely distinct strengths and weaknesses (iPhone for camera, phone, portability, convenience; iPad for more work space, far more immersive reading and consumption, larger canvas for creation and complex interfaces, etc.).
Nobody got to use them for anything worthwhile. Nobody got to do anything worthwhile with the keyboard.
Yeah too bad no one has touched one.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6016/microsoft-surface-we-go-hands-on
"Post-announcement, Microsoft took us to a backroom in Milk Studios to give us hands on experience with the Surface. They weren't lying, even the preproduction units feel awesome in hand."
Microsoft Surface - We Go Hands On [UPDATE: Detailed Impressions]
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Have they touched a unit that actual turns on? First "hands on" I ever read where they didn't actual use a working unit.
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Maybe that is because it is the truth? Is there anything you can do on and iPad that cannot be done on an iPhone?
The only thing they have in common is the OS. The iPad is a different experience. There are Apps are designed specifically for it.
You install "Wonders of the Universe" and tell me you would get the same experience on the iPhone.
If you see no difference then you're not using it to its full potential and therefore you probably don't need it.
The Windows 8 RT slate doesn't offer anything better than what's available now, and the market for the Windows 8 Pro slate is just a niche. I'm sure it'll sell, but not very well. I on the other hand would love to see Windows Phone 8 designed for a tablet and not this weird Windows 8 Slate/Desktop hybrid.
Windows Phone 8 doesn't have a desktop, or a file system, or anything like that afaik. It's like Windows Phone 7 or 7.5, whereas Windows 8 RT is basically Windows 8 but with support for only ARM apps.
I'm all happy with my iPad, but when I talk to friends who are considering buying a tablet, all of them consider the Microsoft Office question because they work in Windows environment. So, that kind of compatibility will pull a few people, I think, as will a USB port.
Well of course it's a different experience in some ways, such as the apps due to coding.. But like I said, I web browse, watch Netflix, and stream my cablevision account.. So it isn't all that different. I personally stated I want something more foriegn, something new and fresh, no I would never buy a nexus tablet, but Microsoft has a good enough track record to give them the respect and wait to see the entire thing in full throttle
Well if you remove the implied slam the phrase is accurate. The only real difference is the larger screen and the removal of the phone app/hardware. The only thing an iPad really has over the phone is enough screen real estate to make certain classes of apps usable.
I worked for MS for about 5 years doing video drivers (Win2k to Vista). I've now moved on to do network security stuff but my bro in law still works there and is one of the Direct Draw architects. He's done LOTS of work on Win8 and the Surface tablets. I just spoke with him about the tablet at a family reunion last week (I was bummed he didn't bring one. He had Win8 on a netbook though). Here are a few thoughts.
MS is not stupid. The tablet market is pretty well defined now vs when they tried before. They know the bar is the iPad. They know that you can't release something that sucks at the same price as Apple. The big difference he's seen at MS with regards to the Surface tablet is that the WHOLE company is focused on this. It's not like the little Zune group that wanted to make a mp3 player and no one else at MS cared. EVERYONE cares about this. Every group. Office. Games. Dev. Everyone. They are all optimizing their stuff for it.
For this reason, I think the Surface will be a very competitive table. My vision of tablet computing is to have a single tablet that replaces your home computer. When your home, you drop it in a dock and it connects to your multiple monitors, printer, keyboard, mouse, etc. and you have a full on machine. When you leave your office, you pop it out of the dock and you have a nice touch interface with an iPad like experience but you still have access to all your desktop apps and data.
It seems to me, MS is going to make this happen sooner than Apple. I see no evidence of Apple combining their desktop OS with mobile devices. Instead, to combine desktop and mobile, they appear to be putting their eggs in the cloud basket. MS with their Surface Pro version on the other hand, is making this happen now. Granted, with this first release, it doesn't have the horsepower to replace my home photoshop machine but at least it's a start.
I am defiantly looking at getting the pro version. I'm not expecting it to have the battery life of my iPad 3 and I think it's going to be expensive but if Metro delivers like I think it will (my wife has a windows phone), I think it will be worth it. Combined with the ability to run any windows app as well as Metro apps, install printer drivers, have multiple user accounts for my kids etc, I think this is going to be a real contender. My only reservation is giving up my killer Retina screen. Since that was the sole reason I upgraded from my iPad2 to the iPad3, I'm going to have to get some hands on with the Surface tablet before I make my decision.
Now, the flipside to all this is that his wife wanted a tablet for Mothers day so he bought her an iPad 3
MS is not stupid. The tablet market is pretty well defined now vs when they tried before. They know the bar is the iPad. They know that you can't release something that sucks at the same price as Apple. The big difference he's seen at MS with regards to the Surface tablet is that the WHOLE company is focused on this. It's not like the little Zune group that wanted to make a mp3 player and no one else at MS cared. EVERYONE cares about this. Every group. Office. Games. Dev. Everyone. They are all optimizing their stuff for it.
For this reason, I think the Surface will be a very competitive table. My vision of tablet computing is to have a single tablet that replaces your home computer. When your home, you drop it in a dock and it connects to your multiple monitors, printer, keyboard, mouse, etc. and you have a full on machine. When you leave your office, you pop it out of the dock and you have a nice touch interface with an iPad like experience but you still have access to all your desktop apps and data.
It seems to me, MS is going to make this happen sooner than Apple. I see no evidence of Apple combining their desktop OS with mobile devices. Instead, to combine desktop and mobile, they appear to be putting their eggs in the cloud basket. MS with their Surface Pro version on the other hand, is making this happen now. Granted, with this first release, it doesn't have the horsepower to replace my home photoshop machine but at least it's a start.
I am defiantly looking at getting the pro version. I'm not expecting it to have the battery life of my iPad 3 and I think it's going to be expensive but if Metro delivers like I think it will (my wife has a windows phone), I think it will be worth it. Combined with the ability to run any windows app as well as Metro apps, install printer drivers, have multiple user accounts for my kids etc, I think this is going to be a real contender. My only reservation is giving up my killer Retina screen. Since that was the sole reason I upgraded from my iPad2 to the iPad3, I'm going to have to get some hands on with the Surface tablet before I make my decision.
Now, the flipside to all this is that his wife wanted a tablet for Mothers day so he bought her an iPad 3
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^^^^ Thank you for this post. Very interesting.
I can see, as you say there is a gigantic difference between one corner of an organisation creating a single product to run along side the companies main product/s, and having the whole massive company, with all it's separate divisions focussed behind this one objective.
Whatever happens it's going to be interesting, and only a fool would dismiss Microsoft out of hand when they are fully determined to make something succeed.
It's going to be fun watching it all happen
I can see, as you say there is a gigantic difference between one corner of an organisation creating a single product to run along side the companies main product/s, and having the whole massive company, with all it's separate divisions focussed behind this one objective.
Whatever happens it's going to be interesting, and only a fool would dismiss Microsoft out of hand when they are fully determined to make something succeed.
It's going to be fun watching it all happen
I worked for MS for about 5 years doing video drivers (Win2k to Vista). I've now moved on to do network security stuff but my bro in law still works there and is one of the Direct Draw architects. He's done LOTS of work on Win8 and the Surface tablets. I just spoke with him about the tablet at a family reunion last week (I was bummed he didn't bring one. He had Win8 on a netbook though). Here are a few thoughts.
MS is not stupid. The tablet market is pretty well defined now vs when they tried before. They know the bar is the iPad. They know that you can't release something that sucks at the same price as Apple. The big difference he's seen at MS with regards to the Surface tablet is that the WHOLE company is focused on this. It's not like the little Zune group that wanted to make a mp3 player and no one else at MS cared. EVERYONE cares about this. Every group. Office. Games. Dev. Everyone. They are all optimizing their stuff for it.
For this reason, I think the Surface will be a very competitive table. My vision of tablet computing is to have a single tablet that replaces your home computer. When your home, you drop it in a dock and it connects to your multiple monitors, printer, keyboard, mouse, etc. and you have a full on machine. When you leave your office, you pop it out of the dock and you have a nice touch interface with an iPad like experience but you still have access to all your desktop apps and data.
It seems to me, MS is going to make this happen sooner than Apple. I see no evidence of Apple combining their desktop OS with mobile devices. Instead, to combine desktop and mobile, they appear to be putting their eggs in the cloud basket. MS with their Surface Pro version on the other hand, is making this happen now. Granted, with this first release, it doesn't have the horsepower to replace my home photoshop machine but at least it's a start.
I am defiantly looking at getting the pro version. I'm not expecting it to have the battery life of my iPad 3 and I think it's going to be expensive but if Metro delivers like I think it will (my wife has a windows phone), I think it will be worth it. Combined with the ability to run any windows app as well as Metro apps, install printer drivers, have multiple user accounts for my kids etc, I think this is going to be a real contender. My only reservation is giving up my killer Retina screen. Since that was the sole reason I upgraded from my iPad2 to the iPad3, I'm going to have to get some hands on with the Surface tablet before I make my decision.
Now, the flipside to all this is that his wife wanted a tablet for Mothers day so he bought her an iPad 3
This is the kind of post I've been looking for. Microsoft as a company knows that the tablet is their product INTO this market. It can't be crappy by any means. It has to be a product that gets hype and respect the day it hits the shelves. I'm sure Microsoft played this correctly and I trust them that they really have something going right now. It's features stand out tremendously and if it runs like a tablet then this thing could be amazing.
How? One Tablet runs the latest flavor of Android which up until the Kindle Fire was released had little OS traction. The other runs off of Windows which has the largest market-share for desktops and laptops.
This is exactly the vision I've always had in terms of a "tablet" computer. The ipad just does not, and probably won't ever do this. Don't get me wrong I have loved my ipads (have bought all 3 versions) and what they do over the years, but I've always always had that feeling that I was settling. I think the phrase "it's just a giant iphone" is pretty appropriate, which isn't a bad thing, but it does describe how it falls short of a full desktop.
This isn't an us versus them discussion IMO, ie Win8 Pro versus iOS. I think there will continue to be plenty of consumers who find iOS to fulfill what they want in a "tablet", email, light web browsing, content/music/video consumption, etc. But I also think there is quite a large market for those of us who want a full OS on our tablets, consumers who were just biding time and settling with iOS until the market caught up and gave us a true desktop OS.
I hope the Surface is a smashing success and even outsells the iPad for the remainder of the year.
Why?
I don't care to own one, I just want someone to light a fire under Apple's ass. Over the last couple of years Apple has become far too comfortable with its position, and they're content pushing out these incremental updates full of beta software and fluff.
Why?
I don't care to own one, I just want someone to light a fire under Apple's ass. Over the last couple of years Apple has become far too comfortable with its position, and they're content pushing out these incremental updates full of beta software and fluff.
I think it is technology that needs to catch up, not the market. For instance, it's obvious that the Surface Pro must run hotter than an iPad, since Microsoft had to create a cooling system for it. It's also yet unknown how good the battery life is on a Surface Pro, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was considerably shorter than the iPad's. I have a feeling that Apple isn't unaware that there is a market for a tablet-sized device capable of running a full desktop operating system, but they are waiting until the technology is there to create a tablet device that can run a full desktop OS while staying as cool and with a 10-hour battery life like the iPad.
You are exactly right here. Can you just imagine how backwards we'd be now if the PC war never existed and Apple on it's own was making computers for the world with no-one to compete against.
Even the most loyal Apple fan should be smart enough to understand, giving Apple some real competition will do nothing, but make Apple products better. And anyone who thinks Apple will do what they like regardless of competition is living in a dream world.
Apple, like any business have to stay competitive and offer customers things they feel are better then the opposition. If there is no opposition then they have zero need to push very hard at all, and can milk each tiny upgrade for all the money they can. Just like most other businesses would do given the chance.