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Microsoft Announces New 'Surface' Tablet, New Hardware and Software Based on Windows 8
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I keep hearing people claiming they can finally get real work done on the Surface. What kind of tasks that you couldn't get done on an ipad before? 
No, I think it is recognition of the sad fact that however far tablets have come, there is just no substituting a physical laptop yet for some tasks. Like typing lengthy emails and forum posts. I have tried but just canot get used to typing on the virtual keyboard.
For me, ipad+BT = flexibility of having a tablet or a laptop when I want one, without having to bust my wallet getting both. It is a tablet for when I want to couch/bed surf/game/use it on the move. When the time comes to do something like word processing or take minutes, I pair it with my zaggfolio. When I need the tablet form factor, I just detach it from the keyboard.
A laptop wouldn't suit my needs because I use the tablet form like 70% of the time and the zaggfolio like only 30% (but it is still invaluable for the times I do need it).
No, I think it is recognition of the sad fact that however far tablets have come, there is just no substituting a physical laptop yet for some tasks. Like typing lengthy emails and forum posts. I have tried but just canot get used to typing on the virtual keyboard.
For me, ipad+BT = flexibility of having a tablet or a laptop when I want one, without having to bust my wallet getting both. It is a tablet for when I want to couch/bed surf/game/use it on the move. When the time comes to do something like word processing or take minutes, I pair it with my zaggfolio. When I need the tablet form factor, I just detach it from the keyboard.
A laptop wouldn't suit my needs because I use the tablet form like 70% of the time and the zaggfolio like only 30% (but it is still invaluable for the times I do need it).
$899 seems to be correct, but no way $399 - $499 at best. Even at that, the screen on the iPad 3 kills the surface.
I feel an iPad mini oming out to upend surface.
We've seen that before, didn't we...?
Someone is going to steal from Apple once again!
Buy the way, they have succeeded in that first case...
Someone is going to steal from Apple once again!
Buy the way, they have succeeded in that first case...
Metro is gross and should have died with the Zune, but otherwise this looks like a promising development in the tablet world.
As for competition, hopefully this will spur Apple to finally do a couple things they should have done with iOS since 2.0 - add support for external pointing devices and add real file system support. The former should require nothing more than adopting the iOS SDK simulator code for driving an external pointer and the later should be doable by adding Finder as an app. Shouldn't take more than a few weeks work and a point release to get it done. As for hardware, time to up iOS's I/O game and add Thunderbolt across the board. Should have happened already.
The big news is Microsoft making their own hardware. I can't believe it took them this long to get tired of Apple making all the profits and realize that vertical integration is the smart play. Better late than never. Hopefully they'll get really smart and do the same with PC's next. Maybe merge with HP or Dell? The death of the clone industry and and some decent competition to Apple once again can't come too soon. It's been too long (since the demise of Comodore and Atari) that Apple has been the only real computer company left in the PC world.
As for competition, hopefully this will spur Apple to finally do a couple things they should have done with iOS since 2.0 - add support for external pointing devices and add real file system support. The former should require nothing more than adopting the iOS SDK simulator code for driving an external pointer and the later should be doable by adding Finder as an app. Shouldn't take more than a few weeks work and a point release to get it done. As for hardware, time to up iOS's I/O game and add Thunderbolt across the board. Should have happened already.
The big news is Microsoft making their own hardware. I can't believe it took them this long to get tired of Apple making all the profits and realize that vertical integration is the smart play. Better late than never. Hopefully they'll get really smart and do the same with PC's next. Maybe merge with HP or Dell? The death of the clone industry and and some decent competition to Apple once again can't come too soon. It's been too long (since the demise of Comodore and Atari) that Apple has been the only real computer company left in the PC world.
Yeah, but how many of them would be comfortable to use?
Give me one example of how a tablet can look like a tablet without looking like a tablet?
It doesn't technically qualify for the term "vaporware" until it gets canceled without ever going on sale.
Right now it's a concept product.
Right. It has nothing to do with owning an apple product. It has everything to owning a product that makes a difference. The only stereotype you are talking about is the one who buys Microsoft products. I call those stereotypes dumbf*cks
What the f is derp? Vaporware as in nothing is released to market. As in there is no product to by for the next 3 months. As in you can't own one, play with one, or see one at a store.
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YouTube people and some Minecraft players who seem to take the whole "respect your elders" thing too far go all nuts if they find anyone who is still in school. It's especially dumb when they get mad at kids playing a rated "E" game.
Having heard the music of today, I don't blame people for suspecting us of having bad taste in music though. I listen to 70s stuff despite classmates making fun of me until Led Zeppelin came out on iTunes
Anybody that likes Zeppelin can't be all bad.
What good are those apps if they don't appeal to me? Who said I was buying it without testing? Buy the hand-on reviews from the tech journalists are at least impressed with the build quality. I am one of the pickiest buyer. I always read reviews. I almost always try it before buying it.
Their Windows Phone platform is actually doing well, beating out blackberry in developer interest and ranking ~1% behind Apple for users who are satisfied or very satisfied with the platform.
But the Surface doesn't run Windows Phone, it runs Windows 8, it'll be the same OS that's on
I'm not a fan of the iPad and keyboard combo, but I don't think the air 11 inch does really beg the question. First the iPad screen is retina now. And it only costs $500. The Brookstone keyboard case adds another $80. Still beats any Air by hundreds of dollars and you get a retina screen that is touch receptive.
Second, you can get built in cell service (if you spend a bit more) if you want the cell service. This is a much more elegant solution to connection than any Air.
I don't think the millimeter difference on this keyboard makes any difference. I think it comes down to the OS. If Windows 8 bombs, then everything associated with it bombs. But if it is stable, fast and useful, then it will succeed. This is the device it was built for though. I thing that is clear. I'm looking forward to seeing it in action myself.
It's a bold move, to say the least. Microsoft at least is trying something different. The Windows fanboys have already written off the iPad, but I think Apple has something up its sleeve. Microsoft is the one with something to prove right now, not Apple.
It's a question of resources, the usefulness of the feature, and adding a feature like that to the majority of ios devices being sold.
I keep hearing people claiming they can finally get real work done on the Surface. What kind of tasks that you couldn't get done on an ipad before?
No, I think it is recognition of the sad fact that however far tablets have come, there is just no substituting a physical laptop yet for some tasks. Like typing lengthy emails and forum posts. I have tried but just canot get used to typing on the virtual keyboard.
For me, ipad+BT = flexibility of having a tablet or a laptop when I want one, without having to bust my wallet getting both. It is a tablet for when I want to couch/bed surf/game/use it on the move. When the time comes to do something like word processing or take minutes, I pair it with my zaggfolio. When I need the tablet form factor, I just detach it from the keyboard.
A laptop wouldn't suit my needs because I use the tablet form like 70% of the time and the zaggfolio like only 30% (but it is still invaluable for the times I do need it).
Getting real work done is done from a laptop or desktop. That's how it is now. This pc tablet is not going to change that. Sure you can pretend to attach a keyboard and call it a laptop replacement. It's still not gonna work.
Aside from the bluetooth keyboard, using dictation is also very good. It has come a long long way since then when you can speak the words and have it work so great. You don't have to TRAIN YOUR VOICE like you did in windows to get this to work at all. Love it. No need to type anything.
True, but many apps are already adding those extra keys to the iPad keyboard. Iit's more up to the App developer to customize the keyboard depending on the app's and user's needs.
Windows Phone looks like a flop. Nokia was struggling with Symbian. It dropped from $40/share to $10/share from 2007 to 2011. Under Windows Phone, it is dying, and is now at $2.50/share.
Whether Windows 8 is the next XP or the next Vista remains to be seen. I give Microsoft credit, though. They are at least trying to be different. We need more than Apple. Windows 8 has the best shot at gaining traction, but I wouldn't write off Apple just yet.