Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
You're arguing that their software is bad by talking about a UI.

You do know hardware is different from software, right? Because the biggest complaint about Microsoft generally doesn't come about how the Surface 2 is running bad hardware. It generally is about ... the software.

UI is part of the software ...

By the way you said that Microsoft hardware is generally good, and I don't agree again.
You know about XBOX360 (I had TWO changed in one year and half before the one working in my home now, and it was a very spread issue), but as an old user I can remember several other devices like the sidewinder joystick (very expensive), the Kin and at least one high-end webcam ...
Microsoft is not an hardware brand. Surface is not a bad device, specs wise, but in my opinion is not well designed at all.
 
I still believe that the iPad has a long ways to go before it's really useful for my tastes, it's overly simplistic and lacks any real customization I wish it had. And with all iOS devices, I really hate that it's bound to using iTunes which IMHO is a terrible application that really needs a makeover.

The Surface has a couple of issues I don't like. First the cost, then the Microsoft UI (based off Win8) is confusing and IMHO doesn't look "clean".
 
I still believe that the iPad has a long ways to go before it's really useful for my tastes, it's overly simplistic and lacks any real customization I wish it had. And with all iOS devices, I really hate that it's bound to using iTunes which IMHO is a terrible application that really needs a makeover.

The Surface has a couple of issues I don't like. First the cost, then the Microsoft UI (based off Win8) is confusing and IMHO doesn't look "clean".

When was last time you did use an iPad ? It's not bound to use iTunes anymore ....
 
these ads will continue. Microsoft just can't help itself, when it has such a good thing can they. :p

Besides, its gets the attention of everyone.
 
The second ad, the one about multiple user accounts and usage monitoring makes a very big point. The reason why Apple has not implementes this is, I guess, to sell more iPads, since it should be fairly simple to implement. That alone would make me seriously consider a Surface, specially with kids in the house.

Hopefully the competition will keep making better, more open products. That will benefit everyone.

Apple would like you to buy separate iPads for each of your children. Don't you want each of your kids to have their very own iPad? :) The more children you have the more money Apple makes. ;) It would be very easy to add multiple user accounts to iOS. Apple would probably lose money by doing it though. So don't hold your breath. ;)
 
Apple would like you to buy separate iPads for each of your children. Don't you want each of your kids to have their very own iPad? :) The more children you have the more money Apple makes. ;) It would be very easy to add multiple user accounts to iOS. Apple would probably lose money by doing it though. So don't hold your breath. ;)

Lol, that's similar to charging $100 for a memory upgrade instead of just putting in a microSD slot. But hey Apple is a business, and if its consumers have no issues paying more for less then more power to them.

It's always amusing to see people get up in arms over silly stuff like a companies marketing though. Apple does silly marketing as well, l got a kick out of them comparing the ipad to a pencil, but they don't have a stylus. Yeah yeah I know it shouldn't be taken so literally and they meant to say you can create a work of art on an ipad, I just have trouble creating that work of art hunting and pecking on the onscreen keyboard. ;)
 
Well, the Surface 1 was more than a bit underpowered for its time. But now that the Surface 2 is out, the only thing people have to complain about is the lack of apps. Metro on a tablet is about as solid an experience as you can ask for.

I'm using a Surface Rt at times, it isn't that underpowered.

UI is part of the software ...

By the way you said that Microsoft hardware is generally good, and I don't agree again.
You know about XBOX360 (I had TWO changed in one year and half before the one working in my home now, and it was a very spread issue), but as an old user I can remember several other devices like the sidewinder joystick (very expensive), the Kin and at least one high-end webcam ...
Microsoft is not an hardware brand. Surface is not a bad device, specs wise, but in my opinion is not well designed at all.


Quite right, which is why that was a typo. You were arguing about bad HARDWARE, not software. :eek:

Ooops.

Also, the design of the Surface is amazing.
 
I'm using a Surface Rt at times, it isn't that underpowered.

I haven't gotten to play with one all that much, but one of the worst things I found about it was how long it took to load apps. Sometimes, they'd fire off a second or two, but having to wait 10 seconds or more wasn't exactly a rare thing. It was especially bad when you had the Pro sitting right beside it, which would launch you into an app the immediate moment after you put your finger to the tile.

The RT wasn't terrible by any stretch of the word, but it wasn't as good as it should've been. I think MS left a little too much wanting for that first impression.

Also, the design of the Surface is amazing.

Yup. From a purely aesthetic perspective, I think they're the only tablets out that match the iPads on high end build quality and style. They're pretty sleek looking.
 
I haven't gotten to play with one all that much, but one of the worst things I found about it was how long it took to load apps. Sometimes, they'd fire off a second or two, but having to wait 10 seconds or more wasn't exactly a rare thing. It was especially bad when you had the Pro sitting right beside it, which would launch you into an app the immediate moment after you put your finger to the tile.

The RT wasn't terrible by any stretch of the word, but it wasn't as good as it should've been. I think MS left a little too much wanting for that first impression.



Yup. From a purely aesthetic perspective, I think they're the only tablets out that match the iPads on high end build quality and style. They're pretty sleek looking.

Sad thing is that it doesn't take that much longer to load apps on my RT than when I open one on my Air. There's something still not quite right with the Modern UI apps.

Also, by the way, the Surface is sturdy feeling. I love it. I makes jokes about how I could bludgeon somebody to death with it, it's certainly sturdy enough. XD
 
Sad thing is that it doesn't take that much longer to load apps on my RT than when I open one on my Air. There's something still not quite right with the Modern UI apps.

I'm basing all this off what I saw in Best Buy while playing with one. The one thing I can say about my iPad 3 is that all the basic apps fire right off almost immediately, while on the old RT, things like email and IE would leave me hanging at the splash screen for a few seconds before they'd start running. It's not like "OH MAH GAWWWD THIS IS TAKING FOREVER! STUPID CRAP NEEDS TO GOOOOO", but it was noticeable.

Also, by the way, the Surface is sturdy feeling. I love it. I makes jokes about how I could bludgeon somebody to death with it, it's certainly sturdy enough. XD

That's magnesium, man. The preferred metal for race cars and smacking people with. :D

----------

Say my name.

You're...you're Applescruff1.
 
I'm basing all this off what I saw in Best Buy while playing with one. The one thing I can say about my iPad 3 is that all the basic apps fire right off almost immediately, while on the old RT, things like email and IE would leave me hanging at the splash screen for a few seconds before they'd start running. It's not like "OH MAH GAWWWD THIS IS TAKING FOREVER! STUPID CRAP NEEDS TO GOOOOO", but it was noticeable.



That's magnesium, man. The preferred metal for race cars and smacking people with. :D

----------



You're...you're Applescruff1.

Probably a rather non-updated version if I had to guess.

But I won't lie, I sometimes get the spinning wheel of doom.

Like I said, though, I sometimes get that on my MBA running Windows 8 when opening an app.
 
Desperation

Maybe Microsoft would gain more respect if only they could stop comparing surface with iPad. Their focus should be just on the surface. Those Microsoft anti iPad ad's make Microsoft look desperate for customers.

Typed on my iPad. :)
 
Maybe Microsoft would gain more respect if only they could stop comparing surface with iPad. Their focus should be just on the surface. Those Microsoft anti iPad ad's make Microsoft look desperate for customers.

Typed on my iPad. :)

I believe you don't know how advertising works if you think companies don't compare themselves to their competitors.

Typed on my MBA.
 
I'm basing all this off what I saw in Best Buy while playing with one. The one thing I can say about my iPad 3 is that all the basic apps fire right off almost immediately, while on the old RT, things like email and IE would leave me hanging at the splash screen for a few seconds before they'd start running. It's not like "OH MAH GAWWWD THIS IS TAKING FOREVER! STUPID CRAP NEEDS TO GOOOOO", but it was noticeable.



That's magnesium, man. The preferred metal for race cars and smacking people with. :D

----------





You're...you're Applescruff1.

You can't really compare the surface RT 1, that's a model that's a year old. Even though I still feel that RT is pure and utter junk, the surface 2 in reviews is lightning fast at everything it does. I used to feel the same way about my ipad 2, slowwwww, checkerboard web pages, more than 2 tabs and it would choke, etc. It's normal for hardware to be somewhat a work in progress.

As for Heisenberg, that's awesome lol, I didn't realize that. They just need a machine gun turret to pop out of it like in the last episode.
 
You can't really compare the surface RT 1, that's a model that's a year old. Even though I still feel that RT is pure and utter junk, the surface 2 in reviews is lightning fast at everything it does.

That's what I was saying. The Surface 2 is more than fine from what I've seen of it (needs moar appz tho), but really, it's what the RT should've been right out the gate.

It's true that everything is a work in progress, and the next version (usually) corrects the mistakes made with by the previous. But when you're releasing a product that goes against a hugely popular and very entrenched competitor, you can't afford to fudge a bit at the beginning. Not unless you have something hugely compelling to offer that no one else has. Any momentum lost by a botched first release becomes difficult to gain again later, no matter how great your product ultimately ends up becoming.
 
Apple would like you to buy separate iPads for each of your children. Don't you want each of your kids to have their very own iPad? :) The more children you have the more money Apple makes. ;) It would be very easy to add multiple user accounts to iOS. Apple would probably lose money by doing it though. So don't hold your breath. ;)

I know... thankfully other companies are fast tracking to more competitive products. If apple continues to keep their product features down, just to squeeze (extort) more money out of customers, forcing them to buy more devices and/or make them upgrade more often, they will loose the long term war against Android (even windows), Samsung, et al.

In the end, tablets (and smartphones) are only tools to access content, apps and services, which tend to be universal/ubiquitous; and the Android and Windows OSs will keep getting better and become more popular in broad numbers as prices come down. And perhaps even a new OS, who knows... this tablet/smartphone industry is only getting started. And every time new ones come out from the competition, I get more impressed by them, in relation to my iPad and iPhone - and in some situations, even to my computer.

Cheers!
-
 
Last edited:
I believe you don't know how advertising works if you think companies don't compare themselves to their competitors.

Typed on my MBA.

There is smart, clever advertising. Microsoft are neither smart or clever with advertising. The sole focus of the ad should be on the product. Those anti iPad ad's are very childish and insulting!

Mr Goff, I know the difference between clever and outright dumb advertising.



.
 
Last edited:
That's what I was saying. The Surface 2 is more than fine from what I've seen of it (needs moar appz tho), but really, it's what the RT should've been right out the gate.

It's true that everything is a work in progress, and the next version (usually) corrects the mistakes made with by the previous. But when you're releasing a product that goes against a hugely popular and very entrenched competitor, you can't afford to fudge a bit at the beginning. Not unless you have something hugely compelling to offer that no one else has. Any momentum lost by a botched first release becomes difficult to gain again later, no matter how great your product ultimately ends up becoming.

Yeah, really MS problem was that it read the market incorrectly. Not only was the surface 1 laggy and overpriced, it was just a terrible strategy. Basically MS wanted to out ipad the ipad, but with their enormous consumer appeal and app store there was no way MS would have done that. I understand MS has this "throw money" at it mentality which certainly worked with the Xbox, and who knows maybe RT will become dominant one day just like the Xbox if MS throws enough money at it. I just don't think it's the strategy I would have taken if I was on the board, but then again I'm not so hey...

But not only the terrible strategy of RT, also you have Windows itself which was released but not ready for the mobile space. The whole Start button fiasco would have been solved by SIMPLY adding the options of folders on the start screen, incredibly stupid stuff that MS still does not implement and ends up confusing new "ipad" customers and alienating older desktop customers.

I keep going back to the strategy of releasing an atom powered surface paired with the beautiful hardware that MS came up with. Price it $50 cheaper than the ipad, market the hell out of the fact that it has a full windows OS, and if they had just tied up the loose ends on Windows to make it less of a confusing endeavor and I would bet they would have a decent share of the market right now. Instead they are fighting this weird, huge money loss uphill battle with RT.
 
Yesterday's news? Thats not really a well informed statement. Go into any fortune 500 company and see what white collar workers use - it is nearly universally office on a pc.

As far as the surface, surfing with it and doing email are great.

Exactly.....white collar workers.

You can't possibly believe that Microsoft and Windows are are culturally popular within the United States anymore. And the majority of businesses aren't using windows 8. And I'd also put my money on the average business user not being overlying similar with OS.

Microsoft thinks they can completely straight forward with these ads, but that method still doesn't appeal to the common user. In order to gain awareness of their products, their going to have to appeal to us culturally somehow. They need to show us they are changing the way we interact with our devices. They just aren't doing that
 
There is smart, clever advertising. Microsoft are neither smart or clever with advertising. The sole focus of the ad should be on the product. Those anti iPad ad's are very childish and insulting!

Mr Goff, I know the difference between clever and outright dumb advertising.



.

Obviously you don't.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.