Eliot Weisberg writes for ReadWriteWeb, “On Monday, Microsoft held a secret press event in Los Angeles where it announced a new family of tablets under the Surface moniker.”
“Along with Surface, the event revealed a branding shift for Microsoft, one that values the unity of hardware and software, and the idolization of aesthetics,” Weisberg writes.
Yes, Weisberg writes, “Something about it felt familiar…”
Via ReadWriteWeb.
MacDailyNews Take: Devastating video. Congrats to Eliot Weisberg!
So, Balmer T. Clown and his flunky got their “hair” styles pretty close, but damned if they didn’t both forgot their Levi’s 501s, New Balance sneakers, and black mock turtlenecks. Maybe even they thought that would be too obvious?
As we’ve oft stated: Apple Leads. Microsoft Follows. As Usual.™
Microsoft is a bloated, dysfunctional blob stuck neck-deep in a pool of political molasses. Most definitely, it’s been shaped in the image of Ballmer. We see no evidence that Gates cares a whit about the company. Likely he knows how history will view it: Like a brain-damaged puppy that followed Apple around until it could no longer keep up. – MacDailyNews Take, October 25, 2011
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz,” “JayinDC,” and “David E.” for the heads up.]
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What a pathetic offering.
Indeed pathetic.
Now…., it took quite a while for these guys but they finally realized they could copy (ape) or mimic those amazing presentations.
It is the exact same thing you are strongly suggested (taught?) TO NOT DO in any higher education program…. avoid plagiarism of others’ work. They request you to be original and generate/come up with your own ideas and solutions.
Well, there you have it! Plagiarism Live!!
Surface is destined for the furnace.
Does it have a portrait mode at all? I have yet to seen a single photo of it in that mode.
No! It only has one kickstand.
Great take Alexkhan2000.
I just wrote about the 16:9 ratio, and it actually ending up being 26% area to work with than an iPad! Yes, that is true. Secondly, I plan on hitting the point you eluded too. It seems M$ was so obsessed with trying to get a full-sized keyboard to fit, this was the only way to make it happen – use a 16:9 screen, or end up with a 4:3 13/14″ display… Thus, Surface is only quasi useful in landscape mode only. Not a tablet, just a bad PC with a dumb keyboard. And when in landscape mode, does M$ get paid by the scroll? Working on a text or spreadsheet would be a scrolling nightmare. What productivity…
That’s amazing… It seems M$ is doing everything it can to make things easier for Apple. M$ has become so laughably incompetent that it’s almost surreal.
I thought the Heaven’s Gate dude was in cyberspace…
“Secret”?
Do they want us to believe that Microsoft products create as much expectation as an apple product?
So Microsoft wants to copy the secrecy of apple too? What’s next? Make Bill Gates to die ( I don’t want to say the “K” word) in order to look more like apple?
Come on MDN, this is becoming silly. Who cares about this trivial stuff. Childish frankly.
I don’t think Microsoft’s profound creative bankruptcy, shameless theft of its competitors’ ideas, or its increasing panic as it slides into irrelevancy in the post-PC age can really be called “trivial”.
When I think of the future of everything Metro, I think of the phrase “EPIC FAIL”.
We’ve had Part 1, the Windows 7 phone. FAIL.
Part 2 will be the Windows 8 release, tick tick tick
Part 3 will be the Windows R(a)T on tablet release, tick tick tick
Three strikes and you’re out…
What about Windows Vista and the Zune?
Most certainly! But I was focusing my attention on Microsoft’s ongoing FAIL series: The Metro GUI.
Speaking of FAIL, true to form of any new MS product presentation we had the obligatory OS crash. At least they’re consistently bad.
What about (I love this acronym!) WINCE? Almost as good as the forthcoming W8!
Part of the moniker of the new Microsoft’s Surface tablet is VaporMg, which is Vapor: a Microsoft Gimmick.
Hilarious! (and sad, but we are used to it by now)
Epic failure….again. No one can compete with the iPad at the pricepoint offered by Apple. This should really be on the next commercial for the iPad. PROOF nobody does it like Apple!
Starting at the :40 second mark is great training for anyone who’s presentation is going all FUBAR.
When the first Surface screwup occurred, he should have talked while walking back to that table, then set it down to get a drink and picked up the backup. Instead, he waited too long, hoping beyond reason that the first unit would unlock, then rushed back to the table like an amateur, making it very clear that he needed to go to the backup.
It goes without saying that when a demo goes bad – any demo, especially an overhyped one by a major corporation – it engenders a great deal of doubt in the audience. If a product does not work in a scripted and controlled setting, then how can it be expected to work in the real world?
They named it “Surface,” but they should have called it oversized coaster.
Why walk when you can skip or chassée?
Besides, at the table he should have grabbed an iPad! …
I’m Lovin It!
That has to be the funniest thing I have seen regarding the Apple/ Microsoft thing in ages…
You can’t knock Microsoft for trying, but is soooooooooo obvious that they haven’t created anything new at all here…
Oh well… Makes for a good laugh though.
Watch the video folks. Hilarious.
3 microsoft engineers riding in a car . the car stops they can’t get it started so they get out lock all the doors walk around the car get back in and try to reboot .
i know… old joke but some things never change
You botched the punchline though: They had to stop and reinstall drivers.
Much better
In the end, Microsoft will release Surface to the public and it will be judged by the consumer. Will it be better then the iPad…..I don’t think so. The best thing Surface will do is keep everyone one on their toes to keep innovating their products. Could Surface become the next Zune…..you bet. If Microsoft does a great job at marketing, integrates it into their ecosystem and has a good amount of Apps created for the platform there is a chance it could gain some sustainable market share. Will this device be an iPad killer not by a long shot. The reality of it……Mircosoft got into the game to late and doesn’t have the talent that can advance them to the next level.
Ooo. Ooo. I want one! Especially since they use the best prototypes for major presentations! Sign me up! My PC repair show really needs the work.
Right. I think this is a case where they didn’t have anything even close to ready in time for CES but guys, putting on a show with no live demos, no hands on, no apps?
Oh wait, it was running IE with Flash when it crashed…
It’s called the Surface because you need a freakin’ hard surface to put it on. This is not a hybrid of a tablet and a notebook. It’s a hybrid of a tablet and a desktop. How the hell are you supposed to put this stupid thing in your lap to type?
The iPad OS is different from a Mac OS. Isn’t Surface just a copy of Windows, but in Tablet form. What’s the point unless it offers something different.
Valiet effort by Microsoft. And some will bite. In the end, Windows 8 will be sad. I watched the entire announcement video. It proves that Microsoft doesn’t get it. They’re trying to copy Apple but they’re just copying. They’re not guided by the same core beliefs.
Billy, your mention of core beliefs is right on. If you watch Steve Jobs and Tim Cook present a product there is genuine humility present, even when Steve would proclaim something as phenomenal. When Ballmer and his crew present, there’s less humility and more marketing chutzpah, bordering on slight arrogance. I think Apple’s approach gives the viewer the choice of agreeing, and in a face saving way. That’s as opposed to the Microsoft (and most other marketers, even Phil Schiller) where your acceptance of their idea is more pressured, more like the king’s invisible clothes. I think the difference really speaks to Apple’s approach: It’s not about competing, it’s not about reacting, but it is all about fixing broken user experiences. Microsoft can’t identify the broken experience Surface is trying to fix because they created that broken experience with Windows and they’re continuing that broken experience with Windows 8 for tablets. I think it’s pretty sad. They clearly have some great engineering talent but it’s completely hobbled by management not having a solid reason behind doing things for the benefit of a marketplace.
Did any one catch the wording he used when speaking of price? Sounds like it’ll be priced bight than an iPad. Sou DS like they are aiming at Ultrabooks!
That bald guy is wearing a blue sweater and sneakers. It looks silly when Microlift goes to such extremes to copy Apple.
What an epic fail! Has it gone viral yet? How come no one is reporting this as big news?
Because the press wants so badly for something to challenge the iPad so they have something to write about. It gets boring writing “iPad #1, iPad dominates, iPad sells millions…”
Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Repeat, rinse, repeat = Failure to launch!
I am surprised at the lack of ability that the dude in the blue vneck had to recover from the device freezing. he easily could have played off as if he were walking back to the table to demo a feature, then swap out his malfunctioning device for a working one. no one would have noticed.
this crowd here at MDN woulda.
They copied Steve Jobs’ presentation almost perfectly. They only missed adding some “not suck.” Even a little “not suck” would have been an improvement. And the iPad worked for the demo. That would seem to be a pretty basic requirement.
Conan has been cracking jokes about this every night in the monologue
I love that guy. Such a pleasure to see Steve up there again…
I see MS is already preparing for the BOGO offer!!!