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Agreed. I would go further and say that MS had to do something to get in the touch screen game, but their idea that you can or need to have a keyboard / trackpad driven device (laptop or desktop computer) include touchscreen input is just adding a feature that doesn't really work.

You can't easily, or naturally, move your hands from the flat horizontal plane in front of you, when typing and using a touch pad, to the vertical plane of the screen, as it forces you to stop doing what you're doing in one plane, to shift to another. And once you do move to the vertical plane, you have to use significantly more muscle and motor skills to hold your arm / hand / fingers in place long enough to do what you could / should have been able to do on the keyboard / trackpad.

Anyone who thinks this isn't true is either fooling themselves or has some bizarrely long fingers that do not require the hand to be lifted from the keyboard to touch the screen in a meaningful way.

+1

My Sony Ultrabook had touch screen and I never used it. In fact, it caused me problems because if my hand accidentally brushed the screen it would launch an app or close a window, hated it.

BJ
 
Some of the recent comments seem slightly off the mark IMO:

1) If the IPAD (top unit) remains mainly the same but with a port connect and hinge socket and the bottom half rMB for example also remains mainly the same but with detachable hinge then:

Both devices gain a shared battery resource
Major saving is the screen vs cost of hinge and port to connect

2) Although I agree that due to differing OS there is little chance of detaching and continuity of what's displayed or running, it should be possible to allow touch pinch zoom or pen mark-ups of what's on screen

3) According to recent article on the new MS products one author noted that the surface pro was a billion $ revenue for MS opposed to Apple $6 billion, so not insignificant and likely to grow for MS with it's new range

4) Agreed once trackpad activities require 2 hands then a mouse is more productive unless your swinging upside down in a tree :)

5) I agree using the touch screen in vertical mode other than for some simple tasks is not optimal but MS products revert to full flat mode where it works best for touch/pen mode, unlike normal clamshells with limited pivoting touch screens.

6) It seems to me that that its being ignored that the MS SB works equally well attached as a convention laptop or detached as tablet, what extra functionality you gain when both combined and trying to use too many input methods is no more questionable then any other laptop with a vertical touch screen.

7) Gains having a unit that splits in to 2 opposed to buying 2 separate units becomes a little fuzzy and personal preferences come more in to play vs some of the gains.

8) MS ECO software and hardware seems far more integrated now even with smartphone hook up looking like a desktop and a proper docking/port replicator

9) MS stand a far better chance of using integrated hardware to gain significant boosts, the extra GPU in the base is just the start IMO
 
Right, I get the concept.

But it's going to be more expensive than if you purchased both individually as there is no major manufacturing savings in parts that isn't offset by the new design and the small amount of units that will sell.

Then you've got the issue of designing a notebook that is terribly top-heavy, the batteries living entirely in the screen/iPad section. Then you've got the issue of the screen/iPad part being thicker because the batteries are being asked to run a keyboard and its backlight.

Then you've got the issue of consumers buying a device with two operating systems which causes incomprehensible confusion. "So when the keyboard is connected I can put a file on the desktop but when I disconnect the keyboard the desktop disappears?" That'll be a laugh-riot at the Genius bar.

What you and others are describing as this "convertible" nirvana is the iPad Pro running OSX. And there's a reason Apple didn't go that way. iPad customers put portability and media ahead of functionality and officework.

BJ
You would build the base like the MacBook, meaning it would have the battery too making the top heavy problem non existent. If Apple priced it at 1500, because again the whole screen would be shared cost wise and it would be a big seller at the price point it would be fine for both apple and consumers at that point. You forget it would be good for Apple because they would need to advertise one product, ship one product, gain control in two markets meaning more software sales and more sales with their other products due to it. Everyone understands iOS and OS X is a normal desktop os. No one would be confused especially since they look similar and again function together fine. If you go to Netflix on OS X to iOS that can already be done instant and easy. That isn't a problem. iOS is literally just the touch friendly version of OS X.
 
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You would build the base like the MacBook, meaning it would have the battery too making the top heavy problem non existent.

If you put the battery in the base then the screen can't detach to become the iPad. Unless you also expect Apple to invent wireless electricity so you don't have to carry around an iPad with your notebook.

BJ
 
If Apple priced it at 1500, because again the whole screen would be shared cost wise and it would be a big seller at the price point it would be fine for both apple and consumers at that point. You forget it would be good for Apple because they would need to advertise one product, ship one product, gain control in two markets meaning more software sales and more sales with their other products due to it. Everyone understands iOS and OS X is a normal desktop os. No one would be confused especially since they look similar and again function together fine. If you go to Netflix on OS X to iOS that can already be done instant and easy. That isn't a problem. iOS is literally just the touch friendly version of OS X.

1. It wouldn't be a "big seller" because very few people want to give up their iPad's for a compromised notebook.

2. It would be a disaster for Apple if they ever lost their lucrative iPad business, let alone be foolish enough to see it destroyed by developing a line of bad notebooks.

3. iOS and OSX are two completely different things. I'm an absolute expert at iOS and I can't figure out OSX for the life of me, millions of other Windows users would say the same thing.

What you're recommending would get any Apple executive fired for even mentioning in a meeting. And Apple has already told you that a 'convertible' will never happen. They just spent years of development and tens of millions of dollars releasing the Retina MacBook in May and the iPad Pro in November. You want a notebook that is thin/light like an iPad, get a MacBook. You want a tablet that has a big screen and a detachable keyboard, get an iPad Pro. That's the strategy. Your idea isn't happening. Never will. Move on.

BJ
 
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Agree. The last thing that Apple wants to do is take away the ease of use of the OS and relase an extremly confusing hybrid tablet/desktop OS like Windoze. Hell files there open in desktop apps and tablet apps and interacting between them is so preposterous since many functionalities are lacking on the tablet apps that is running on a productivity machince such as a laptop. What M$ ended up is a lackluster tablet/laptop experience called Surface where tablet apps are useless while desktop apps have scaling/compatibility issues.
 
Microsoft could have the slickest hardware (not sure if that is really true given hybrid's/crossovers never do anything truly well). But, I keep coming back to the fact that IOS and OS X just keep getting better and better in their own niche. I used to think of myself of a hardware man regarding computing. But hardware specs isn't everything I have come to learn.

I'm afraid I just don't get Windows, just like some of my peers can't get the overall simplicity of the Apple world operating systems. The key I think is having the right device in hand at the right time.

Sometimes that can be a little tricky anticipating needs. If I really need a tablet/iPad and "only" have my 12" Macbook 2015, or late 2008 Macbook Pro I simply use the device on hand. But with iCloud/GoodReader and the right applications on all of my devices it works well for me.

The bottom line is if you need the power and form factor of a laptop then by all means buy one. If you like tablets add that to your device arsenal. Welding the two together just seems weird to me.
 
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If you put the battery in the base then the screen can't detach to become the iPad. Unless you also expect Apple to invent wireless electricity so you don't have to carry around an iPad with your notebook.

BJ
Um, have you listened to a thing I said? The base would be a MacBook, the screen an iPad. Last time I checked they both have battery's, No?
 
1. It wouldn't be a "big seller" because very few people want to give up their iPad's for a compromised notebook.

2. It would be a disaster for Apple if they ever lost their lucrative iPad business, let alone be foolish enough to see it destroyed by developing a line of bad notebooks.

3. iOS and OSX are two completely different things. I'm an absolute expert at iOS and I can't figure out OSX for the life of me, millions of other Windows users would say the same thing.

What you're recommending would get any Apple executive fired for even mentioning in a meeting. And Apple has already told you that a 'convertible' will never happen. They just spent years of development and tens of millions of dollars releasing the Retina MacBook in May and the iPad Pro in November. You want a notebook that is thin/light like an iPad, get a MacBook. You want a tablet that has a big screen and a detachable keyboard, get an iPad Pro. That's the strategy. Your idea isn't happening. Never will. Move on.

BJ
Except you yet again can't realize it wouldn't be compromised. You keep stating the same incorrect thing and won't get over it. And all I have to say is LMAO if you can't figure out OS X. If anything that explains why you can't understand anything I'm saying. You're no where near a power user and would obviously not be targeted for this if you can't figure out how to use a computer XD
 
Um, have you listened to a thing I said? The base would be a MacBook, the screen an iPad. Last time I checked they both have battery's, No?

There goes your super-duper cost and weight savings out the window.

Are both halves of this Frankenpad going to have headphone jacks too? Will the Home button live on the Screenpad side or be replaced with a key on the Keyboard side? If I'm masturbating aggressively and the screen falls off and the operating system switches, do I lose my place in the video?

BJ
 
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Except you yet again can't realize it wouldn't be compromised. You keep stating the same incorrect thing and won't get over it. And all I have to say is LMAO if you can't figure out OS X. If anything that explains why you can't understand anything I'm saying. You're no where near a power user and would obviously not be targeted for this if you can't figure out how to use a computer XD

I am exactly who your Frankenbook would be designed for. Windows user, has every iOS ever made on the first day they were released, is extremely comfortable with iOS, like 93% of the world has never touched OSX, is forced to carry both an iPad and a Windows notebook as a result.

Oh, and has a lot of money to burn on a frivolous niche product. Don't forget that little nugget.

BJ
 
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There goes your super-duper cost and weight savings out the window.

Are both halves of this Frankenpad going to have headphone jacks too? Will the Home button live on the Screenpad side or be replaced with a key on the Keyboard side? If I'm masturbating aggressively and the screen falls off and the operating system switches, do I lose my place in the video?

BJ

Then "you're holding wrong" :eek::D

Q-6
 
You would build the base like the MacBook, meaning it would have the battery too making the top heavy problem non existent. If Apple priced it at 1500, because again the whole screen would be shared cost wise and it would be a big seller at the price point it would be fine for both apple and consumers at that point.

Where is your proof that this would be a big seller? All of the hybrid tablet/laptops on the market so far have been flops. (If you're going to cite the Surface Book 'buzz', please provide pre-order estimates)

"Everyone understands iOS and OS X is a normal desktop os. No one would be confused especially since they look similar and again function together fine."

Where is your proof for this statement? Keep in mind that Apple has a half a billion customers.

"You forget it would be good for Apple because they would need to advertise one product, ship one product"

Right now, they advertise two products, ship two products, and profit twice as much. Explain how selling half as much product would be better for their bottom line?

Explain how would Apple 'gain control' in 2 markets? They already own the tablet market above the $100 price point. They own the laptop market above the $1000 price point. They're not interested in other markets because there is no profit there. What markets would they 'gain' from doing this?

Keep in mind, the Surface Book is a defensive move and not an offensive move because all their OEMs are going out of business or trying to get out of the PC business http://recode.net/2015/10/12/silver-lake-explored-sale-of-dells-pc-business-ahead-of-emc-deal/.

Businesses operate on evidence. You provide none.
 
No way. Touch screens and convertible mode have no place in OS X. And Apple knows that. Many of us wouldn't have bought the MacBook if it had those things.

That's only because OS X is not optimised for touch. If a future OS X/OS 11/MacOS or whatever they call it supports touch, then the hardware and software will go hand-in-hand it it won't be an issue. Right now, OS X would be a nightmare with touch due to the fact that the OS is designed to be used with a touchpad/mouse & keyboard only.
 
Keep in mind, the Surface Book is a defensive move and not an offensive move because all their OEMs are going out of business or trying to get out of the PC business http://recode.net/2015/10/12/silver-lake-explored-sale-of-dells-pc-business-ahead-of-emc-deal/.

I don't think the SurfaceBook is Microsoft's response to a sector that is going under. If it was they'd have a different price point to attack mass appeal. As it stands, the computer is price rather similarly to Apple's offerings, i.e., expensive.

I think the SurfaceBook is like what Google intended with the Nexus. A product that is well made, wonderfully designed and targeted to people who are not being served by the mass market of PCs. That is they want a piece of Apple's business, Dell, HP, Lenovo have no desire to make such devices at such a price point given their margins. MS can and is doing this as they realize it will be somewhat of a niche product.
 
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I don't think the SurfaceBook is Microsoft's response to an sector that is going under. If it was they'd have a different price point to attack mass appeal. As it stands, the computer is price rather similarly to Apple's offerings, i.e., expensive.

I think the SurfaceBook is like what Google intended with the Nexus. A product that is well made, wonderfully designed and targeted to people who are not being served by the mass market of PCs. That is they want a piece of Apple's business, Dell, HP, Lenovo have no desire to make such devices at such a price point given their margins. MS can and is doing this as they realize it will be somewhat of a niche product.

Very much agree, if anything it`s the opposite. I was in Hong Kong (Central) recently and saw multiple people using Surface`s, from my own observations the Surface is becoming more popular. All I know who own/use the Surface Pro 3 have very few, if any negative comment, which speaks volumes.

Currently Apple is not capable to launch such a product as OS X & IOS are very much diverged, Microsoft`s position is very different, with the tablet aspect of the OS being a component of the primary OS. As much as many decry the the Surface, it`s developing into a serious proposition for many, including myself...

Q-6
 
There goes your super-duper cost and weight savings out the window.

Are both halves of this Frankenpad going to have headphone jacks too? Will the Home button live on the Screenpad side or be replaced with a key on the Keyboard side? If I'm masturbating aggressively and the screen falls off and the operating system switches, do I lose my place in the video?

BJ
Lmao, you just proven you lost the argument, these points are garbage. Obviously it will only have one port and no it wouldn't be that heavy. Also you last point is just icing on the cake on showing your idiocy.
 
Lmao, you just proven you lost the argument, these points are garbage. Obviously it will only have one port and no it wouldn't be that heavy. Also you last point is just icing on the cake on showing your idiocy.

Ah, so even though it has as many batteries as an iPad and a MacBook combined it will be lighter in weight. So Apple is going to reinvent the battery, nice.

And the headphone port will only be on the Screenpad side of the Frankenbook so there will be an ugly wire sticking out of the notebook's screen instead of nice and low down on the side of the Keypad, and Apple loves ugly design. And then you have the issue of where the 10,000 AAC song files go. Do they live in the small hard drive of the Screenpad or on the massive drive on the Keypad? Since one side is running iOS and the other side is running OSX, do those files need to live in both places? Or when you attach the screen back to the keyboard is there a 10 second lag as the two drives connect? And what if I've changed a file on the Screenpad? When I attach it to the Keypad do the two drives in the two operating systems sync? And with all those drives spinning what does that do to battery life?

Apple is not making this product. You can stop talking about it now.

BJ
 
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I don't think the SurfaceBook is Microsoft's response to a sector that is going under. If it was they'd have a different price point to attack mass appeal. As it stands, the computer is price rather similarly to Apple's offerings, i.e., expensive.

I think the SurfaceBook is like what Google intended with the Nexus. A product that is well made, wonderfully designed and targeted to people who are not being served by the mass market of PCs. That is they want a piece of Apple's business, Dell, HP, Lenovo have no desire to make such devices at such a price point given their margins. MS can and is doing this as they realize it will be somewhat of a niche product.

+1

And taking it further, this is Microsoft's way of saving the notebook business which is in huge trouble. With 75% of Windows users running Windows 7 and Windows XP, there is no reason for consumers to update their hardware. And when doing so, it means getting the new version of the Windows OS which they don't want. My mother only gets a new notebook when the other one breaks and when I tell her that means she needs to go from Windows 7 to Windows 10 she says to forget it, she'll bring the old one in for service.

MS isn't breaking thru with some new technology. It's basically a "buy a notebook get a free tablet" promotion. If it helps their third parties sell more notebooks then it means MS is getting paid for all those operating systems, it's a good decision on their part. Just don't confuse it with some paradigm shift in consumer desire or some fantastic new technology. It's a defensive move, a marketing ploy.

BJ
 
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I really like this article in Forbes regarding the merging of IOS and OS X (and why Apple is resisting this notion).

http://fortune.com/2015/10/13/apple-merge-ios-os-x/

Bingo.

“Apple believes offering optimized user experiences for each kind of device is better than delivering a single, lowest-common-denominator experience, we don’t believe in having one operating system for PC and mobile,” Cook said, according to those in attendance. “We think it subtracts from both, and you don’t get the best experience from either. We’re very much focused on two.”

BJ
 
we don’t believe in having one operating system for PC and mobile,”
On one hand, I think there's a kernel of truth to that statement but on the other hand, I think in real life application there are examples of where that doesn't fit. The Surface Pro is just such an example.

I think overall Apple's desire to avoid merging iOS and OS X is less about philosophy and more about money. Doing so will invariably impact one or more product lines negatively without really growing the other lines. That is they'll not see in increase in overall sales but they could see some product lines that enjoyed higher margins decrease.
 
On one hand, I think there's a kernel of truth to that statement but on the other hand, I think in real life application there are examples of where that doesn't fit. The Surface Pro is just such an example.

I think overall Apple's desire to avoid merging iOS and OS X is less about philosophy and more about money. Doing so will invariably impact one or more product lines negatively without really growing the other lines. That is they'll not see in increase in overall sales but they could see some product lines that enjoyed higher margins decrease.

I think the trouble is we are trying to compare to entirely different platforms just because they look similar and have somethings in common

The bottom line is Apple prefer for various reasons decided not to make the equivalent Windows slate with a full OS, likewise MS have not made there phone OS in to a tablet variant.

I think MS are correct as they are not directly competing in the already crowded IPAD/TAB market IMO

Of course the IPAD Pro encroaches in to the full OS slate market the most of all the IPAD/TABS and the surface likewise in reverse, but this can only be a good thing for us.
 
I think the trouble is we are trying to compare to entirely different platforms just because they look similar and have somethings in common
To a point yes, but I think it's apple who is trying to encroach on the full OS territory with the iPad Pro. Heck, the iPad itself was made to compete against the netbooks. While both are running different types of operating systems (mobile vs. full desktop OS), they are looking to attack nearly the same problems.
 
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