The most important lesson Microsoft can learn from the iPad event

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When Tim Cook invited us all to go to the hands on area and experience all of the new products for ourselves. I used the iPad mini, iPad 4, iMac, MacBook Pro — all of them. They weren’t behind glass, there were no PR people ready to grab them from me — I got to hold them and use them.

Do you understand what I’m saying Microsoft? If your product is ready for primetime, you’ll let people use them. If they suck balls, and you know they do, then you’ll protect them and hide them.



  • http://thesurfernerd.com/ The Surfer Nerd

    PRICE AND AVAILABILITY.

    Sorry for the screaming thing but it doesn’t look like it’s obvious enough, yet.

  • http://twitter.com/shycophante Shyco Phante

    Jim is definitely wasted as a tech blogger. He has all this incredible wisdom and expertise about how to run a large tech company, launch new products, innovate, the correct ways in which to differentiate from Apple, and how do marketing the right way too. I imagine he gets a dozen job offers every day from major corporations begging him to join their execute team.

    • rattyuk

      Let’s see how your comment works out over the weekend when punters will get their hands on a Surface RT that no-one has been able to try and write about.

      • DAB

        …and most people don’t realize it can’t run legacy windows applications!

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Vera-Comment/100002347335999 Vera Comment

      amazon did the same thing.. price and availability for the new kindles/Fires. by all accounts sales and reviews are good. http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/06/kindle-paperwhite/

      “The new top-of-the-line Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G is only $179. Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi + 3G is available for pre-order starting today at http://www.amazon.com/kindlepaperwhite3G and ships October 1.”

      you know who didn’t? RIM. With the Playbook.. and we all know how well that went. vague ship dates, no pricing, and no hands on:

      http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/27/rim-introduces-playbook-the-blackberry-tablet/

      The BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to be available in retail outlets and other channels in the United States in early 2011 with rollouts in other international markets beginning in (calendar) Q2.

      the HP Touchpad? same deal -

      announced Feb

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_TouchPad

      “The HP TouchPad was announced on February 9, 2011, at the HP webOS “Think Beyond” event held at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco alongside the HP Veer and HP Pre 3.[8]“

      Pricing? not until June

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/09/hp-touchpad-release-date-price_n_873791.html

      2 months later – HP killed it.

      you don’t have to be CEO to figure out what means more to the consumer. vague promises that never materialize or solid info.

  • http://twitter.com/neorants Nikolay Dyankov

    Even if we forget about Apple, Microsoft screwed up the Surface “launch” big time. I still don’t get why they did that. No price, no shipping date or any examples of what you could do with a Surface. Just a black brick with a screen on top. I won’t even start on the ad.

    • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

      You mean “ads”, right? Look up the ’8′ video. (not to go back over that)

      • http://twitter.com/neorants Nikolay Dyankov

        I just remember that ad with the alien music and bouncing metal balls. I didn’t realize there were others.

        • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

          No worries. There are a few thoughts and apparently they’ve made several more for launch.

  • Dave

    “sucks balls”

    This is very juvenile.

    • http://twitter.com/JordanIn140 Jordan A. Meyer

      If you aren’t used to Jim’s style by now, why are you here?

  • Mother Hydra

    Looks like there is little reason for FUD surrounding the surface. If the launch was botched it certainly didn’t affect their ability to sell through the first batch of tablets. Wired’s Matt Honan has his review up and offers a very fair review. Check it.

  • http://twitter.com/FlopTech FlopTech Engineering

    Beautifully stated, Jim. Surface is a premature baby, requiring careful incubation and intravenous feeding to stay alive. Microsoft rushed it out. And for what? To be damned with faint praise by the press and buried by iPad mini and iPad 4 news. Pitiful.

    • http://www.johncblandii.com John C. Bland II

      I take it you haven’t seen the reviews for the Surface? :)

      Faint praise would be a gross understatement. It is getting some pretty good reviews.