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Microsoft Launches New Anti-iPad Surface 2 Ad Highlighting Kickstand and Multiple Accounts
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Very informative commercial highlighting features and benefits.
Maybe if I knew that the next great app would come out on Windows RT... I would recommend a Surface to friends and family.
Until then... the iPad is still the strongest platform all around.
And kickstand again? Doesn't Microsoft know that iPad cases with built-in stands have been around for 3 years? Gotta protect the screen too. Cases are very popular.
How is the accessory market for Surface anyway?
Maybe if I knew that the next great app would come out on Windows RT... I would recommend a Surface to friends and family.
Until then... the iPad is still the strongest platform all around.
And kickstand again? Doesn't Microsoft know that iPad cases with built-in stands have been around for 3 years? Gotta protect the screen too. Cases are very popular.
How is the accessory market for Surface anyway?
I agree that multi-user would be great.
Although, I don't think it's "simple" but it's certainly not outside of their wheel house. iOS is very single-user based though, how would push notifications work with multi-user? And notification center on the home screen. Is there a sense of logging out? Are notifications and the notification center just not present when the last user has logged out? Are all apps installed for all users? What about media? What happens when you open Control Center from the lock screen and take a picture? What camera roll does it save to? Whose Clock app is opened? Is DND a device setting or user setting?
There are likely hundreds of little nuances like this that need to be considered. And the whole login/logout concept is very desktop oriented. iOS devices are meant to be switched on and ready to go with all of your latest updates waiting for you, or notifying you that something you're interested in has happened. This all becomes very muddled when you introduce multiple users.
It's greed...The cornerstone of Apple, overcharge and overprice and the zealots will gladly pay.
Nice, thoughtful post Flash. I don't really care that there aren't multiple user accounts, but I had often wondered why... your explanation makes a ton of sense to me...\
On screen multitasking is meh IMO.
But multiple accounts on iPad would be nice. Its such a personal device that it isn't very good for multiple users. A multi-user iOS where users login with Touch ID would be boss.
Agreed. It boggles the mind that the iPad doesn't have multiple user accounts by now. After all the post PC-era talk, you'd think that they'd realize the iPad could become a go-to device for families. This, and iOS 7, has me looking for alternatives and the Surface 2 is compelling in the family scenario. And both me and my sons find the Metro interface far more appealing than the girly, Katy Perry-esque iOS new look.
My son attends virtual school and I've been looking for a device he can use for this, and the iPad just doesn't cut it. The built in Office apps are killer apps for such a device, and can bring Microsoft traction in the future if they stick with it and get more dev support. They need to fight the long battle here, and if they do they might succeed. After all, they are pushing integration and ecosystem pretty hard, even if their concept needs polish. But the hardware is catching up and once it does, we will have real desktop power on a tablet.
Sure there are a couple things that Surface can do better than iPad. I'm sure a Chevy Cavalier has more cup holders than BMW M3 too.
But, how many ads could Apple making pointing out the things iPad can do that Surface could not? Hmmm... just imagine you made a separate commercial for each app that was missing out of Apple's top 100 iPad apps.
And where is the "touch first" version of Office? Oh wait, we are still waiting for that. I never thought I would say this, but iWork is better than Office for the sole reason that I can use it on an iPad without having to revert to an awkward desktop mode. Not as many features, but the features it does have are a joy to use without needing a trackpad.
But, how many ads could Apple making pointing out the things iPad can do that Surface could not? Hmmm... just imagine you made a separate commercial for each app that was missing out of Apple's top 100 iPad apps.
And where is the "touch first" version of Office? Oh wait, we are still waiting for that. I never thought I would say this, but iWork is better than Office for the sole reason that I can use it on an iPad without having to revert to an awkward desktop mode. Not as many features, but the features it does have are a joy to use without needing a trackpad.
MS ads usually tend to be pretty weak, but I'd kill for multiple users on iPad. I can understand why it isn't much of a priority on phones.
Seriously, there isn't even a simple way to switch over in things like Facebook without having to keep logging out? It's not rocket science.
Seriously, there isn't even a simple way to switch over in things like Facebook without having to keep logging out? It's not rocket science.
Yeah, good post!
My best guess as to how it could be done is to make all iPads with a MAIN account and GUEST accounts (some of these could be these kids accounts). When it's locked it's always the main user, but if you log in as one of the other's you get that persons email, pictures (iCloud), Game Center, Facebook etc.
I think that expandable storage and removable batteries are overrated. But to most Android users I know, it is paramount. Its such an important thing, that the ones I know don't even have an SD card or an extra battery. When I ask "Why do you value a removable battery but not have spare?," the response is: "Because I need a way to reset the device when it locks up."
How come they don't have an ad emphasizing that Surface runs Windows?
Anyway, have fun Surface users, using up that already half-full storage space with user accounts.
These ads are actually sort of interesting to me as it shows the difference in approaches. Apple is trying to make an OS tailored to the mobile device, eschewing or completely re-thinking things that are assumed to be a necessary part of the experience (expansion, user accounts, etc) while Android and Windows tablets seem to be trying to shoehorn the entire desktop experience into a tablet.
Honestly, it almost seems like these are two completely different classes of products that just look a lot alike.
Anyway, have fun Surface users, using up that already half-full storage space with user accounts.
These ads are actually sort of interesting to me as it shows the difference in approaches. Apple is trying to make an OS tailored to the mobile device, eschewing or completely re-thinking things that are assumed to be a necessary part of the experience (expansion, user accounts, etc) while Android and Windows tablets seem to be trying to shoehorn the entire desktop experience into a tablet.
Honestly, it almost seems like these are two completely different classes of products that just look a lot alike.
Aren't the car analogies getting a little old by now? They never made much sense before, and they don't make sense now. All they do is scratch that "I like to own nice German luxury cars" itch because some people think it makes them look cooler while they swirl their snifter of grape juice in front of the TV with the fake fireplace DVD on loop.
Let me tell you right now. There's no such thing as a BMW tablet. They're all Hondas. Every single last one. You can convince yourself you're buying a Benz, but you're buying a Honda. Apple tablets are expensive Hondas, MS tablets are midline-expensive, and lower end Android tablets are Civics.
Their ads make me laugh
They don't talk about the fact that a 64GB Surface Pro 2 (I won't even mention the already failed Surface 2 RT) has very little room left for any OTHER of those glorious Windows apps they keep touting as better than anything in the universe. They also don't mention how much it really costs to appropriately configure a Surface Pro 2 with the decent keyboard and enough memory/SSD to have it be useable the base price of the SP2 jumps to $999, then you have to add the $129 keyboard because the lower-priced one is junk, which brings it to around $1130. For $1,029 you can be the absolute MOST maxed-out iPad (almost forgot, that includes AppleCare). Although we're talking about tablets with touch screens, if you need all that keyboard junk to support your inferior apps on the SP2, you could just buy or a nicely configured 11 or 13" Macbook Pro. For about $60 more you can get one of the new Macbook Pro Retina Display 13" machines and be far better off. How about some glaringly obvious OTHER facts. SP2 with keyboard cover weighs TWO AND ONE HALF POUNDS vs. the iPad Air which weighs in at just under one pound. The iPad has the better camera(s). Check out any reviews that compare performance and longevity and see how poorly the SP2 does. Most importantly, the Apple ecosystem does't even have anything to compare to on the Microsoft world. Sure, there's a media player, you can even run iTunes if you're so inclined. I could go on-and-on, but you get the idea. The iPad isn't perfect (though I think it is close). Last, but not least, the 100 pound giraffe in the room (yes, I made that up) is the whole keyboard issue. I type and communicate with my iPad via Siri/dictation more often than not. At first it is clumsy, but the more you use it, the better it gets--it even knows some "Texas-ish" now. There is no doubt in my mind which machine works best for someone who really wants/needs a tablet. I like the teacher in the commercial when he says--"I may be old fashioned"... yep, he's back in the early 90's when Windows was king because nothing else was mature enough. That was then, this is now. 
They don't talk about the fact that a 64GB Surface Pro 2 (I won't even mention the already failed Surface 2 RT) has very little room left for any OTHER of those glorious Windows apps they keep touting as better than anything in the universe. They also don't mention how much it really costs to appropriately configure a Surface Pro 2 with the decent keyboard and enough memory/SSD to have it be useable the base price of the SP2 jumps to $999, then you have to add the $129 keyboard because the lower-priced one is junk, which brings it to around $1130. For $1,029 you can be the absolute MOST maxed-out iPad (almost forgot, that includes AppleCare). Although we're talking about tablets with touch screens, if you need all that keyboard junk to support your inferior apps on the SP2, you could just buy or a nicely configured 11 or 13" Macbook Pro. For about $60 more you can get one of the new Macbook Pro Retina Display 13" machines and be far better off. How about some glaringly obvious OTHER facts. SP2 with keyboard cover weighs TWO AND ONE HALF POUNDS
vs. the iPad Air which weighs in at just under one pound. The iPad has the better camera(s). Check out any reviews that compare performance and longevity and see how poorly the SP2 does. Most importantly, the Apple ecosystem does't even have anything to compare to on the Microsoft world. Sure, there's a media player, you can even run iTunes if you're so inclined. I could go on-and-on, but you get the idea. The iPad isn't perfect (though I think it is close). Last, but not least, the 100 pound giraffe in the room (yes, I made that up) is the whole keyboard issue. I type and communicate with my iPad via Siri/dictation more often than not. At first it is clumsy, but the more you use it, the better it gets--it even knows some "Texas-ish" now. There is no doubt in my mind which machine works best for someone who really wants/needs a tablet. I like the teacher in the commercial when he says--"I may be old fashioned"... yep, he's back in the early 90's when Windows was king because nothing else was mature enough. That was then, this is now. Multi-user support - That is definitely something that Surface has that iPad doesn't.
Judging from latest patent fillings, I think that multi-user support would come in iOS 8 when new iPads would get Touch ID. So iPad would recognise user with the fingerprint input instead of user selecting his/her profile and putting in password. Multi-user with Touch ID just sounds seamless and more superior.
Judging from latest patent fillings, I think that multi-user support would come in iOS 8 when new iPads would get Touch ID. So iPad would recognise user with the fingerprint input instead of user selecting his/her profile and putting in password. Multi-user with Touch ID just sounds seamless and more superior.
