Microsoft Releases Pricing on Surface Tablet, Ships October 26th

MH01 said:

Your kiddin yourself if you think iOS freed everyone. OS X was a fine alternative. iOS devices consume content, how exactly do you believe it's created ?!? The post pc era is about as realistic and close to being achieved as a global environmental policy....

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You are kidding yourself if you think a vast majority of consumers use their laptop and desktops mostly to create content. They get their email, store photos, surf the web. The only content created is their schedule, emails, YouTube videos and school term papers. Take a look at PC sales. They've been plummeting for the past couple of years. Coincidence? I think not.

This is a really nice advert. Looks like Microsoft has the right idea, unlike Samsung.

Wow Expensive!

Wow I am impressed that Microsoft seems destined to outdo itself in the failures column. How much expendable income do these guys have that they can continue to do this? I am very dissappointed as I was going to buy an RT model if it were $199. I guess I will give my money to the Google Nexus. Or Galaxy Tab. Or I suppose I should see what price the iPad Mini is going to be, but given the lack of competitiveness in the tablet market, I don't see the iPad mini being under $300 either. Sigh. Why are these things so damn expensive? Seriously?!?! You can get a Tegra 2 Android tablet for $150 now... why is the surface so expensive?!?

Great ad - doesn't show what it does. What it does do it make it look like some sort of expensive Lego.

Sadly not 199$ but still good pricing for a presumably nice tablet.

longofest said:

Apple introduced iPad at the exact same price.

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If you recall, all the analysts were predicting *starting* prices from $800 - $1100. The iPad blew those expectations out of the water, and forced several prospective competitors to restart the designs, by starting at $500.

longofest said:

At the time, it was also "unproven." People mocked the name and questioned whether there was a purpose for this kind of device. There were also a very limited amount of iPad-native apps (I do not count pixel-doubled iPhone apps).

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There were, at release of the first iPad, more iPad-native apps than there appear to be for Surface. It *also* had access to a thriving ecosystem of apps (those pixel-doubled iPhone apps). The experience through the iPhone apps wasn't anything special, but it could still 'get the job done' while you waited for the the iPad version.

That's a fall-back option the Surface doesn't seem to have.

longofest said:

The entry price for the current model iPad remains $500. The iPad was and continues to be a hit.

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No argument there.

longofest said:

The biggest thing MS has to do to get into the game is battle the notion that the only tablet worth buying is the iPad, which seems to be consumer sentiment. Microsoft has begun doing this with some decent-looking commercials as well as touting the Surface-exclusive features such as the admittedly slick cover/keyboard.

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I'll admit the keyboard/cover seems like a slick idea. I expect that, if the execution stacks up, we'll see third-party accessories similar to it made for the iPad. That said, execution on the mini keyboards on the market so far has been pretty lacking, so I'm not buying into the hype without seeing it for myself.

I'm really interested to try one of these out. I doubt I'll buy one as I'm not really a tablet guy (prefer a full computer experience and an iPhone for mobile), but any new innovation is a win in my book (Apple or otherwise).

Chupa Chupa said:

True, but under that scenario gaining marketshare isn't in M$'s hands. Apple would really have to rest on its laurels like Nintendo and Sony did for it to succeed. That's possible, absolutely, but unlikely in the next couple of years, so Surface Tab will wither on the vine.

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Apple continuing to play the game doesn't assure the Surface's failure. Even with them going whole hog, updating the iDevices with absolute must-have features, and trying their best to maintain their lead, MS can still at least carve a nice chunk of the market out for itself. They'll just have to try that much harder to do it.

MS does have enough money in the bank to play the long game. Victory is hardly an assured thing for them, but neither is failure.

One thing is for sure here. Even with the Surface currently being a little underwhelming (specially for the price), having MS officially in the scene will eventually make things interesting for everybody. Sure, MS has to work its ass off to gain a name for itself in the tablet space, but now everyone else has to do the same to gain or maintain what they have.

WilliamLondon said:

Yep. Like MS Phone 7 and the Zune and the Kin. They never were innovators, they just have always had a lot of money (made from copying others) which allowed them to do an even better job of copying still others (or acquiring them).

Don't look to MS for anything except a future business school case study.

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The iPhone wasn't exactly an original or innovative product either. It was just much more polished and well put together. Heck, it was even missing a ton of features other existing smartphones had. If you want to come up with a reason MS can't succeed in tablets, you'll need to find another one.

It's fun and a little different for MS. I'm happy for them to bring something that seems decent.

The ad makes the Surface come off as something squarely aimed at Glee fans.

Those clicks are familiar...

Oh right.

It's a lot more interesting than the commercials Apple has been putting out here recently.

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ipedro said:

Those clicks are familiar...

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Apple does have a patent on onomatopoeia. CLICK! OOPS! JUST GOT SUED FOR A BILLION!

This thing is just doomed.

DO you know how many people I know who is waiting to buy this?
--> 0

DO you know how many people I know who is waiting to buy an iPad mini?
---> 3

IMO it's the Surface with Windows 8 Pro (3rd gen Intel core i5 , 4gb ram, intel 4000 graphics) that can really change the tablet space. Unfortunately, based on the pricing for the RT - Pro will be expensive .

Chupa Chupa said:

Yes, but you make my point for me. Google had something compelling to offer that other search engines were not. Google is also innovative, M$ is mostly "me too" for over a decade. Google is also a "free" service, where consumers can go elsewhere without abandoning purchased product. Consumers have to abandon their purchased library to go Surface.

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My reference to Google was with respect to Android. They have certainly made an impact on the tablet market without having been the first mover in that market. As a consequence the tablet market is quite fluid and this situation provides an opportunity for other players to enter. Unlike some of the others who tried and failed, Microsoft has the ability to be very sticky, and they bring weapons to the table that the others did not. The Surface does not appear to be one of Microsoft's "me too" products. It may, or may not, succeed in leveraging off Windows and their equally powerful Office franchise, but for sure one thing Microsoft does know how to do is leverage. I have no idea whether this strategy will work for them but I certainly would not assume that it will fail.

GeekLawyer said:

Wow, Apple sure stole the tablet thunder today.

I would have also expected the RT version of the Surface to be more competitively priced. $500 seems like a high cost of entry for an unproven product with a limited app ecosystem.

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The same could have been said for the iPad 16 GB when it was announced.

EDIT: Nevermind. I see someone already pointed this out.

longofest said:

The biggest thing MS has to do to get into the game is battle the notion that the only tablet worth buying is the iPad, which seems to be consumer sentiment. Microsoft has begun doing this with some decent-looking commercials as well as touting the Surface-exclusive features such as the admittedly slick cover/keyboard.

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I would have to believe that at least one exec at Apple has said "why didn't we come up with that" regarding the keyboard cover. I know... Steve Jobs probably wouldn't have approved of it anyways.

Well... I'll be getting one because I prefer Windows 8 over iOS. And you get more for your money than you do with an iPad.

I wouldn't be so certain that an x86 Surface will be much more than a ARM version. It comes down to whether Microsoft will want to charge more for the x86 version of Windows 8 and/or if an ARM processor is actually cheaper than an x86 processor. I actually don't think Microsoft will care about the price of the operating system. I think it will come down to the cost of the processor. I have no idea which processor costs more for Microsoft.

VenusianSky said:

I wouldn't be so certain that an x86 Surface will be much more than a ARM version. It comes down to whether Microsoft will want to charge more for the x86 version of Windows 8 and/or if an ARM processor is actually cheaper than an x86 processor. I actually don't think Microsoft will care about the price of the operating system. I think it will come down to the cost of the processor. I have no idea which processor costs more for Microsoft.

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I hope so because x86 on a tablet for a reasonable price would interest me. Flash is back and many other things of course.. way more flexibility

What a stupid commercial...

IJ Reilly said:

My reference to Google was with respect to Android. They have certainly made an impact on the tablet market without having been the first mover in that market. As a consequence the tablet market is quite fluid and this situation provides an opportunity for other players to enter. Unlike some of the others who tried and failed, Microsoft has the ability to be very sticky, and they bring weapons to the table that the others did not. The Surface does not appear to be one of Microsoft's "me too" products. It may, or may not, succeed in leveraging off Windows and their equally powerful Office franchise, but for sure one thing Microsoft does know how to do is leverage. I have no idea whether this strategy will work for them but I certainly would not assume that it will fail.

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Nexus 7/Kindle Fire market is mostly on price + decent library of apps. Surface has neither, and if the iPad mini is competitively priced with the Android 7s, again I don't see where Surface fits. You haven't shown me why Surface is going to catch fire, and who is going to buy it to get it to 30+% marketshare.

Also I didn't say the Surface is "me too." Go back and read my previous posts. I said M$ has be "me too" for the past decade plus, not surface specifically. Surface does differentiate itself from Android and iOS. It's GUI is not "me too," but it's features are still on par with Android and iOS and that's not good enough to gain sway with consumers or enterprise already implementing iOS with their field iPad and iPhones or Android devices and their custom apps.

Anti-Lucifer said:

This thing is just doomed.

DO you know how many people I know who is waiting to buy this?
--> 0

DO you know how many people I know who is waiting to buy an iPad mini?
---> 3

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Because your sample of 3 people is enough to judge the popularity of a product...

Oh oh oh I know four people that are not going to buy the iPad mini, it must be doomed.

I'm just waiting for the parody some comedy show is likely to do, see how many of them break LOL

The price does seam high but on the upside I'm sure Apple will come out with something better next week to compete, I'm sure we'll see a new 'full size' iPad next week.

VenusianSky said:

The same could have been said for the iPad 16 GB when it was announced.

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Not really. iOS was already maturing at that point and had a good stable of developers.