Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Microsoft Forced to Slash Surface RT Prices Despite Vigorous Anti-iPad Ad Campaign

212rikanmofo said:
This reminds me of that other tablet that didn't do to well years ago. What was the name? I can't remember. They lowered prices too, and sold out and then never produced anymore. Lol
Click to expand...

And the most annoying thing, the OS on said other tablet was amazingly good. Really sucked that they couldn't do more for it.

MS's problem is the software sucks. HP's problem was that the hardware sucked (and they couldn't be arsed to invest any significant amount after it went on sale).
 
I am really surprised only 1.5Million have been sold. For that time frame those figures are a complete disaster. Once again Microsoft have badly misread the market and are being almost totally ignored by the consumer because of it. By and large the advertising has been a total embarrassment, I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised it failed but I am surprised it failed this badly.
 
Microsoft might as well give these things away for free at this point. I highly doubt the sale price will encourage an adoption rate that even resembles anything close to the iPad.
 
Microsoft is dead. Only desktop-based and middle-weight enterprise left. If Linux hadn't been so fragmented as a desktop OS Microsoft would have folded by now and Xbox flogged to the highest bidder.
 
parish said:
And that is an excellent example of the failings in UI design that are in Win8.

Despite having used Windows since Win3 I didn't know about Win+X until I read your post. It is so unintuitive as Win+X does nothing in Win7 and earlier so why would anyone automatically assume it would do anything useful in Win8? Sure, I could have Googled and found that Win+X reveals a really useful menu, but it shouldn't be necessary to do so.
Click to expand...

It's both the blessing and curse of Win8. You've got so many more nice options grouped together logically it's actually (at least to me) the fastest, easiest version of Windows to use.

...but MS doesn't tell you about any of them along with all the ways the new features have changed things you're normally used to. Because of that, your first couple of days are spent fumbling about in a UI that doesn't seem to be at all intuitive until you start picking up on everything.

It's no surprise that people who play with Windows 8 for an hour or two absolutely hate it. It's also not surprising that people who stick with it end up liking it (with caveats).
 
They need a Surface, but not with an i5, rather some Atom version. It is x86, but not as expensive. $500 for full W8 would be nice.
 
rgeneral said:
I have a surface pro right beside me. it is off 99% of the time.

I have the 128 gig version and i paid almost 1300 with the keyboard for it. I just found it to be only ok at best. it is too heavy to be tablet and not really a true laptop. it is like trying to be good at everything but failing.

overall, i don't like paying this much and getting only 80 gig of free space left. If i wanted a windows, i would just get an ultra book.

the funny part is this. The only time I use the surface is when I need a platform for my Ipad. Sometimes the ipad doesn't stand properly on the bed. The Ipad can finally stand properly on top of a surface.:D
Click to expand...

:lol: there a good advert for the Surface.

I agree there are a stack of PC ultra books with touch screens you can get for less, and with the savings get an iPad Mini. Or another brand if you don't want Apple.
 
Macist said:
Microsoft is dead. Only desktop-based and middle-weight enterprise left. If Linux hadn't been so fragmented as a desktop OS Microsoft would have folded by now and Xbox flogged to the highest bidder.
Click to expand...

That is, if there was some version of Linux like Android as a PC OS. I'm surprised Ubuntu and LinuxMint were the most "consumer" versions of Linux. Yeahhh, consumers love choosing between ZFS and HFS and HFS+ and FAT and...

Anyway, I wish that had happened because I like Linux a lot more than Windows. It would be nice for there to be Mac and Linux only, Linux as the OS you can install on anything. It would also be convenient for everyone for DirectX and freakin' Windows Media Player to be out of the picture.
 
Last edited:
Macist said:
Microsoft is dead. Only desktop-based and middle-weight enterprise left. If Linux hadn't been so fragmented as a desktop OS Microsoft would have folded by now and Xbox flogged to the highest bidder.
Click to expand...

Yup. Still making huge profits year over year, still selling tons of OS licenses for a supposedly dead OS on a supposedly dead medium, still riding pretty high on successes of a hugely popular console, and slowly but steadily gaining a foothold in the mobile sector.

Yeah. I'd say MS is about as dead as Apple right now.
 
The Surface would have likely fared better if the branding wasn't such a farce. If you just say "surface" to other people when discussing tablets, then they will literally have no idea what you're talking about unless they're clued up well on current technologies. And yet the conjunction of "Microsoft Surface" is not only a tongue-twister for most conversations, but it has negative connotations with Windows.

Conversely, you say "iPad" and the likelihood is that the other person knows that the product is made by Apple and that it's a tablet. Not only this, but Apple practically invented the current market of 9/10" tablets, so they know better than anyone how to handle apps and online distribution.

But i'm not entirely suprised however that Microsoft oversaw this. The Surface hardware is actually pretty decent (perhaps even understated), and I'd bet that if one were to slap any other logo on the front of the device, then it would automagically compete with the iPad.
 
Renzatic said:
Yup. Still making huge profits year over year, still selling tons of OS licenses for a supposedly dead OS on a supposedly dead medium, still riding pretty high on successes of a hugely popular console, and slowly but steadily gaining a foothold in the mobile sector.

Yeah. I'd say MS is about as dead as Apple right now.
Click to expand...

Yes. MS is far from dead. Windows is on the decline and their phone/mobile OS is not gaining much traction but MS seems to be preparing for that. They are pushing Azure and Xbox as Windows and Office take their (slow) rides into the sunset.
 
I wonder if it could be anything to do with the fact that the anti-iPad advertising campaign just comes across as bitter and isn't actually convincing anyone that the Surface RT is a better alternative?

I'm not actually against the RT as such; it's not a bad tablet, but Windows RT just doesn't offer enough to usurp a tablet with such a thriving ecosystem as the iPad. Android tablets have far more to offer as well.

The Surface Pro is only slightly more compelling, but far too expensive for me to want one; especially since, again, it just doesn't have enough apps yet to really take off.

That's not to say that the two tablets couldn't do well, but the iPad succeeded because it offered a really easy way to just take existing iPhone/iPod Touch apps and increase the resolution for iPad; it offered a practically zero cost path to porting the existing app space to iPad, otherwise the iPad might well have floundered in a similar way, but from the moment it was announced it there was no doubt that most developers would update their apps with at least rudimentary iPad support.

Meanwhile the Surface… even though there are loads of Windows 8 devices, and there are at least some developers excited about Metro (or whatever it's called now) there just seems to be so much more uncertainty about what the platform will offer, which makes it hard for customers to buy into.

I think that refinements for a second generation, and a bigger push to get developers developing could see it gain some ground, but it would have been unrealistic for Microsoft to expect to do well with what they had for release.
 
donutbagel said:
That is, if there was some version of Linux like Android as a PC OS. I'm surprised Ubuntu and LinuxMint were the most "consumer" versions of Linux. Yeahhh, consumers love choosing between ZFS and HFS and HFS+ and FAT and...

Anyway, I wish that had happened because I like Linux a lot more than Windows. It would be nice for there to be Mac and Linux only, Linux as the OS you can install on anything. It would also be convenient for everyone for DirectX and freakin' Windows Media Player to be out of the picture.
Click to expand...

Perhaps Chrome will do it someday. I am not sure if monopoly of Google is better than monopoly of MS though.
 
peterdevries said:
Job success of a CEO in a publicly listed company is not measured by how happy people are on the Macrumors forum or elsewhere, but by the valuation of the company on the stock exchange. In that respect Ballmer is more sure of his job than Cook is.
Click to expand...

Neither are correct measurements of success for a CEO. Long term profit is. Tim Cook looks pretty good by that measure.
 
Renzatic said:
Yup. Still making huge profits year over year, still selling tons of OS licenses for a supposedly dead OS on a supposedly dead medium, still riding pretty high on successes of a hugely popular console, and slowly but steadily gaining a foothold in the mobile sector.

Yeah. I'd say MS is about as dead as Apple right now.
Click to expand...

January 2013: (would welcome more recent numbers)
MS: $6.38 billion profit on $21.5 billion revenue.
Apple: $13.1 billion profit on $54.5 in revenue
Samsung $6.6 billion of profit and $52.45 billion of revenue.

I'd say
  • MS is less than half of Apple or in other words, Apple is twice bigger than MS.
  • MS did have slightly higher profit margin, though Apple is also enjoying large profit margin. Samsun
g seems to be doing well in volume less in profits, though.

The thing is that Apple is big in fastest growing sectors such as mobile and tablets where MS is very weak, while MS is mostly where growth has stalled or negative such as desktops. We'll in some time (I guess second quarter numbers) how did both fare. MS is nor dead neither will be soon but may be a niche player - just like Apple has been in desktops.
 
furi0usbee said:
Wow. I read the headline, and did a LOL in my head, then I came here to post it, and see that I was beaten to it by several people. So here it goes, LOL.

What a piece of junk. But hey, that baseball scout sure loved his Windows tablet!!!!! Who would buy these. They could price them down to $100, but that means devs would be running away from the platform. Consumers would stay away as no good apps would be coming. What a mess.

Folks, if you want a tablet, just get an iPad mini. I've had both full size and mini, and boy do I love the mini. What a joy. I can't wait for retina!!!!!
Click to expand...

Some of us do actual work so an iPad doesn't cut it as it's not good enough.

Surface RT is useless to most people, Surface Pro on the other hand is sublime.
 
Microsoft can't sell surface rt at rock bottom prices. Cause it would devalue the brand immediately.

But they could have priced it more competitively say at $399 in November 2012 for 16gb instead of $499. Huge mistake on their part.
 
Steve121178 said:
Some of us do actual work so an iPad doesn't cut it as it's not good enough.

Surface RT is useless to most people, Surface Pro on the other hand is sublime.
Click to expand...

I know people that run companies with thousands of employees from an iPad...
So maybe not good enough for what you do?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back