Sam Grobart for The New York Times:
Microsoft’s answer to this question seems to be: “Of course you can!” The new Surface runs Windows — either a lightweight, tablet-friendly Windows RT version or the original gangster Windows 8. It has a keyboard. The Pro version has a stylus.
Usually with these stupid articles, I highlight a paragraph for the readers. With this one, I could have just put brackets around the whole thing.
Sam, Microsoft and its partners tried the tablet-as-a-PC-replacement thing for a decade and it didn’t work. Consumers didn’t like it because tablet computing is different than desktop computing.
Apple knows that it’s different and so do consumers — it’s time Sam and Microsoft faced that too.
Fortunately they also have Pogue in NYT to set things straight.
Jim, I think you’re being overly dismissive. Sure, tablet PCs didn’t work a decade ago but that’s no reason to assume they won’t work now. Hardware has changed, software has changed, user attitudes have changed. The Microsoft Surface looks really interesting and has some pretty cool ideas. Windows 8 is looking good, I’ve used all the betas released thus far and from what I’ve seen it has serious potential.
Give Microsoft a chance before writing their efforts off. At least they’re not copying Apple outright like Samsung and Android are. They’re doing something different, wait to see if it works first before declaring it stupid.
“original gangster Windows 8” tells you everything you need to know.
You’re right, there’s a lot of stupid in there.
I’m glad you highlighted it, because, really? The “original gangster Windows 8”?!
And the Times is wondering why they’re getting pounded?
Just because you have a lot of interesting parts doesn’t mean it is a compelling package (e.g. why is there a trackpad for a tablet when Windows 8 seems to be primarily designed for touch). Why didn’t we learn the price point or battery life? Why didn’t the reporters get to use the new keyboards? Why did they show off two vastly different price point tablets with different capabilities and not make much effort to distinguish them?
Surface 2 has so many unanswered questions it really makes you wonder why they showed it off now.
Well, I think you’re falling for the “feature” hoopla–again.
Way back at the iPad’s introduction, there was a chart up on the screen pointing out the gap between computers and smartphones. The iPad has filled it, and, evidenced by its healthy sales, Apple customers have resonated to it.
It’s not meant to replace computers or smartphones, but to complement them.
This MS monstrosity is trying to be too many things and seems to be a shotgun tactic.
And you can’t really dismiss it before having tried it. No one can.
There’s a lot of unanswered questions, yes. But if we just look at Microsoft’s “real” answer to the iPad (Windows RT – stupid name), it really has nothing to do with Windows, the legacy PC or the decade-old tablets. You’ll only be able to install touch (Metro) applications from the Windows Store.
While I think they’ve made some stupid branding decisions – the Metro interface looks genuinely innovative.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPad and it’s Retina display – but I really hope Microsoft manages to grab a fair share of Apple’s dominance – it will only push Apple further.
A new Microsoft milestone. They finally found a way to make vaporware out of vapor. I am a little bit impressed Sigh…
Windows 8 suffers from Microsoft’s particular brand of commitment issues. On Intel devices, Windows 8 supports both the Metro interface — which is primarily designed for touch — and the traditional Windows desktop that we all know and love (to hate).
ARM devices do not support the traditional Windows desktop but still support mouse input, again because Microsoft has trouble letting go.
But hey, they’re trying.
Funny how many keyboard cases are now available for the iPad, I’m pretty sure a lot of people want the iPad to replace their laptop and for some people it already has.
I agree though that Windows 8 is a shotgun tactic, my biggest criticism of Windows 8 is that it’s sitting on the fence, Microsoft needs to pick a direction and go all the way.
“And you can’t really dismiss it before having tried it. No one can.”
Actually, you can. You can dismiss it because it doesn’t really exist yet. MS provided so little details on this device and they kept the press from even trying out the keyboard on the cover. Why the secrecy? Why no pricing? When Apple announced the iPad, they showed its capabilities, they showed the price; you knew what it could do. MS is being overly secretive, as if they don’t have it all figured out yet. When they do, then we can judge it.
I vaguely remember reading an article on The Verge where they did a hands on and tried the keyboard as well, but I may be wrong.
Not so funny about the keyboard “accessories.” Some people don’t type at all. Some type occasionally. As an accessory, the physical keyboard is great for volume typing. Otherwise, the iPad is there in its simplicity for the majority of uses with its multitouch interface and OS.
Microsoft has a history of putting on great tech demos, particularly in response to perceived threats, and then under-delivering in a massive way when the actual product ships.
WinFS was one of the core pillars of Windows Vista, back when it was still codenamed Longhorn, and would’ve been really neat. It eventually got dropped from the release since it was holding up development, but it was promised for a service pack. It never came out.
A few weeks after Apple’s Magic Mouse shipped, Microsoft showed off six R&D mice that would supposedly blow away Apple’s offering. They were pretty cool, but it was clear some of them would cost hundreds of dollars while others were simply impractical. None of them ever shipped.
The original Surface tabletop? Really cool idea. Aside from one or two hotel chains that served as a test market, it really hasn’t gone anywhere. I haven’t exactly heard glowing reviews either.
Seadragon? Awesome tech. Appears to be dead after the tech demo they gave a few years back.
Photosynth? Same. A real shame that it only ever seemed to exist as a tech demo.
The tablet demo? I didn’t see the video, but from the images and descriptions, it sounded like they had to switch out tablets partway through since one wasn’t configured to do something they were demoing. That, coupled with the lack of details, tells me that this is another case of their standard technique of announcing now to try and hold off the loss of their supporters, even though it’s not anywhere close to being ready to ship.
Long story short, don’t hold your breath for Microsoft to come through on anything they announce. Wait until they ship and then do your comparison. They’ve proven themselves untrustworthy in their announcements.
Yeah, a product that hasn’t shipped copy one is an “original”.
<bAnd you can’t really dismiss it before having tried it. No one can.
I sure can. Unless and until it has a performance baseline, a price and a date for availability, it’s entirely pointless to speculate.
Best line in the article: “Sure, there are keyboards you can buy and other accessories that will sort of turn it into a Frankenbook, but you don’t get the impression that the company really buys into that sort of thinking.”
Seems like exactly what MS is buying into with this complicated, unnecessary netbook replacement.
I don’t deny they’re trying. I just think they should have waited until they had more specifics. The first iPad event had more specifics and even that one was a bit skimpy. Essentially, this is barely different from the Google Maps event just prior to WWDC. It is a defensive move to try to stay relevant in a market (probably enterprise market this time).
I had one of those tablet-as-a-PC replacement things way back when. It sucked because of poor battery life, a UI not designed for touch, and it was awkward to hold because of its weight.
Assuming this thing has a comparable battery life to an iPad, all of these issues might no longer be. As far as I can tell, Metro is great on a touch screen, and it looks to be at least as ergonomic as an iPad.
For basic things like reading email, calendaring, book reading and of course web browsing, I can’t imagine that the iOS experience would be significantly better than the equivalent Metro apps on Windows 8, if they’re anything like the apps on Win 7 phone.
However, there isn’t a week that goes by where I wish I could just open Lightroom on my iPad, or Photoshop, or Xcode. I like to pace when I work, and my 11″ MBA just doesn’t quite cut it when balancing it on my palm. Sometimes I VNC into my Mac from the IPad as a way to do this, but the solution is janky at best. Surface looks like it handles that nicely. Lightroom wouldn’t even have to run super fast, just fast enough to get basic stuff done. And what about the possibility of developing windows tablet apps right on a tablet? That’s exciting. Exciting enough to put my doubts aside and root for the product.
Yes, Microsoft has a history of putting out crap products, but they also have a history of putting out good but not necessarily best-in-class products like Zune. I’d trade a best-in-class UX experience for a merely good one if that meant I could also run a full-fledged pro app on it.
Battery life: If it was comparable to the iPad’s or better why did they never mention it?
Assuming battery life is reasonable is a pretty bold decision on your part not just because of history but because they failed to say what the battery life was.
When a movie isn’t sent to reviewers you don’t say, “I’m sure it is a great movie and they just didn’t want to spoil people.”
When the iPhone came out I said to myself “provided that on-screen keyboard doesn’t suck that’ll be an awesome phone”. I am a big fan of technology so when I see something that is potentially groundbreaking I will give it the benefit of the doubt and even live with some of its limitations because I think it is moving in the right direction. I will support it in all its imperfection with my wallet. If its battery sucks a little, it’s not a deal killer. The class of computing device it represent is way more important to me.
I did this for iPhone, I did this for iPad. It would be hippocritical of me to not do the same for this product because I believe it’s a step in the right direction. Not doing so would make me nothing more than an Apple zealot.
When the iPhone came out I said to myself “provided that on-screen keyboard doesn’t suck that’ll be an awesome phone”. I am a big fan of technology so when I see something that is potentially groundbreaking I will give it the benefit of the doubt and even live with some of its limitations because I think it is moving in the right direction. I will support it in all its imperfection with my wallet. If its battery sucks a little, it’s not a deal killer. The class of computing device it represent is way more important to me.
I did this for iPhone, I did this for iPad. It would be hippocritical of me to not do the same for this product because I believe it’s a step in the right direction. Not doing so would make me nothing more than an Apple zealot.
Besides, I’m not reviewing the product. I am merely stating that if the battery life is good, then they have a winner. This statement is true whether the battery life is good or not.
I’m willing to be proven wrong, but to me, the Intel version sounds like a swiss army knife — can do lots of things, but none of them very well.
The ARM version avoids all the legacy baggage, but then it doesn’t get to take advantage of it either.
When it comes down to it, Microsoft needs to put-up or shut-up. It might all be awesome, but I’m still months away from being able to see that for myself. In the meantime, the fact that they can’t give prices or battery life makes me think that awesomeness is not yet in hand, in which case, they should shut up until they can deliver.
Yup, Microsoft didn’t invent FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), but its been part of their MO for years.
This announcement isn’t about actually competing, its about buying time with enterprise customers in the hopes of getting them to delay any more iPad deployments while re-up for another couple of years of software assurance.
Yup. If they were anywhere within spitting distance of the iPad’s battery life, they would have said something about it.
My guess is that the ARM Windows 8 RT version might come close to the iPad’s battery life, but the already heavier Intel version, with its Intel CPU and higher resolution display will, at best, last 75% as long (and more likely 2/3rds). That might be enough, maybe, but there will be no confusing it with an iPad’s battery life.