“This week, some online pundits speculated about the possible pricing for Microsoft’s ARM-based Surface, which will run Windows 8 RT. This is the model that appears to be most directly competitive with the iPad, at least based on the preliminary specs that, a little over two months from the alleged release date, still remain preliminary,” Gene Steinberg writes for Tech Night Owl. “One story had it that Microsoft was hot for market share, and thus would sell this 10.6-inch tablet for $199, to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Google Nexus 7. But that’s not a story that I can take seriously.”
“The larger question, however, is whether Microsoft really intends to produce such a beast, and whether it will show up as promised around the same time as Windows 8, on October 26, 2012. At this point in time, the Surface tablets ought to be in the early stages of a production ramp. So all the specs would be known, and Microsoft would have a glimmer of an idea as to what the prices will be,” Steinberg writes. “More to the point, you’d think the media would be allowed more than 10 seconds to try one out rather than depend on a buggy and limited access demo to prove the product isn’t vapor. There’s little reason to assume that the Surface was anything more than a design concept presented as a wake up call to Windows OEMs who have announced tablets that are one step below garbage.”
Steinberg writes, “Microsoft has given no reason for anyone to accept the Surface as more than a preliminary and highly incomplete prototype. True, announcements may be made in the next few weeks that will invalidate that theory. But until that happens, if it happens, I find it curious that the media is again giving Microsoft a pass.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Microsoft forced to kill off ‘Metro’ name due to trademark infringement – August 3, 2012
Ballmer: Uh, yeah, ‘Surface is just a design point,’ you know – July 10, 2012
Microsoft’s Buffoon, er… Ballmer throws down gauntlet against Apple – July 10, 2012
Microsoft reportedly dumps ‘VaporMg’ chassis, will use ‘VaporMg’ only as ‘surface treatment’ – July 9, 2012
Microsoft’s downfall: Inside the executive e-mails and cannibalistic culture that fueled Microsoft’s lost decade – July 7, 2012
HP said to dump Microsoft over Surface; to cozy up to Google Android for tablet efforts – July 2, 2012
Bad news for Microsoft’s iPad killer? – July 2, 2012
Dear Microsoft, Steve Balmer and Bill Gates: What is up with your obsession with keyboards? – June 28, 2012
Jason Schwarz: Top 10 reasons why Microsoft’s Surface is DOA – June 22, 2012
Why I love Microsoft’s vaporware Surface tablet – June 22, 2012
Microsoft’s Surface tablet said to be Wi-Fi only at launch; no 4G, no 3G, no 2G, not even 1G – June 22, 2012
Microsoft outsources Surface assembly to Pegatron; prices above $799 for Windows 8, above $599 for Windows RT expected – June 21, 2012
Acer founder: Microsoft will quit making tablets soon – June 21, 2012
Devastating video shows Microsoft’s Surface event aping Steve Jobs’ iPad unveiling (with video) – June 20, 2012
Thanks to Apple, Microsoft is doomed in the era of mobile computing – June 20, 2012
Why wouldn’t Microsoft let anyone touch its Surface tablets’ keyboard cover? – June 20, 2012
The cost of Microsoft’s Surface tablets – June 20, 2012
Apple’s revolutionary iPad vs. Microsoft’s anti-tablet ‘Surface’ – June 20, 2012
Microsoft’s Surface tablets provokes ‘sense of betrayal’ among Windows PC assemblers – June 20, 2012
Fox News: Copier Microsoft is doomed to fail with Surface tablet – June 19, 2012
Microsoft’s Surface tablet destined to be as successful as the Zune – June 19, 2012
Surface: Why Microsoft’s big mystery turns out to be a big mistake – June 19, 2012
Microsoft’s Suicide, er… ‘Surface’ – June 19, 2012
ZDNet Sr. Tech Editor Perlow: Microsoft’s Surface has catastrophe written all over it – June 19, 2012
Microsoft previews own ‘Surface’ tablet – June 18, 2012
Microsoft touts ‘major’ June 18 event said to showcase Windows RT tablets – June 15, 2012
ZDNet’s Kingsley-Hughes: Microsoft’s Windows 8 is an awful, horrible, painful design disaster – June 8, 2012
Analyst meets with big computer maker, finds ‘general lack of enthusiasm’ for Windows 8 – June 8, 2012
Dvorak: Windows 8 an unmitigated disaster; unusable and annoying; it makes your teeth itch – June 3, 2012
The Guardian: Microsoft’s Windows 8 is confusing as hell; an appalling user experience – March 5, 2012
More good news for Apple: Microsoft previews Windows 8 (with video) – June 1, 2011
“One step below garbage”. Schadenfreude drive, engage!
That caught my eye too. Heh.
That MS took a box full of garbage, and asked “how do we make this a step worse?”
Windows 8 RT tablets will be the tech industries Edsel. Only fuglier.
At least the Edsel had Ford hardware underneath.
I actually saw an Edsel going down the street the other day, on my way to work.
Striking grill & really not bad looking. It wasn’t what the market wanted at the time & was badly marketed, but was probably a pretty decent car.
Sounds like the cube.
I remember when Apple released the first iPad and announced it on stage in 2010 by the incomparable Steven P Jobs, journalists and attendees were given the opportunity to manhandle working units in the demonstration room. There’s even a video on the Wall Street Journal of Steve Jobs talking to Walt Mossberg about it and Walt asking questions about the longevity of the battery (10 hours) and other questions about its touchscreen capabilities. There was no question of announcing the product on stage without the public being given the benefit of trying it out with their own hands.
That, essentially, is the difference between Apple and Microsoft. One produces real products and the other announces fake products.
Why? Because Apple needs a foil and Microsoft/Apple is one of the great (historic) heavyweight match-ups.
The press needs to pursue a zero-sum market strategy when it comes to reporting on tech, otherwise people wouldn’t care. Never mind that Microsoft has never had a truly successful consumer electronics device (unless you count the 360, which I’d maintain was made successful by game developers moreso than Microsoft itself).
Since the retirement of Ali, the heavyweight division has been largely a joke populated by has-beens and wannabes. The exception to this was Mike Tyson at his peak but Iron Mike didn’t have the beauty of Ali in the ring.
The last of the breed of entertaining fighters in the heavyweight division were:
– Muhammad Ali
– George Foreman
– Joe Frazier
– Ken Norton
With minor mentions:
– Mike Tyson
– Evander Holyfield
I remember listening to Floyd Patterson and Ingmar Johannson on the radio. Those were the days of boxing.
You are wise. I perceive. I think.
There is much wisdom here, I must go think about it.
Mike was a brawler. He’d knock you out in the first round. He was not a boxer in the spirit of Ali or Foreman.
“The press needs to pursue a zero-sum market strategy when it comes to reporting on tech, otherwise people wouldn’t care.”
Explain that strategy, would you? Tell us how the press pursues a zero-sum market strategy?
Look up “zero-sum game” in Wikipedia.
Or watch an intro to economics video on the Khan Academy’s site.
You didn’t answer the question.
How does the press play a zero-sum “Market” strategy?
I don’t answer your questions, Dualie. You’re a fucking troll and not worth a second more of my time than it takes for me to tell you to suck it.
Which is to say we’re done.
In other words you thought it sounded catchy, didn’t you?
In reality, there is no conspiracy to lift one company up in preference to another. There is just the tide of confusion that drags in the scrum and flotsam, typically characterized by fan bois who proudly wave to those clearly above his pay grade.
The only conspiracy at play here is between you and your keyboard against the english language. It’s almost like they’re words stapled together at random with punctuation interspersed. You should see if you can get print copies of your comments picked up by an abstract art exhibition.
We’re done.
Code for, I don’t want to be pressured by you to answer for my specious claims, anymore.
You keep speaking for me, which I find mildly amusing with “in other words” and this “code” you speak of. Let me try smaller words.
It’s simple, really: if you can’t understand the analogy – one which no other commenter in the thread is unable to grasp – I feel no compunction to educate you about simple concepts, especially with your antagonistic commenting history. If you disagree with a statement, state why. Doing no work to rebut it and expecting me to expound on something that was obvious in the first place by typing a line of text with a question mark at the end doesn’t entitle you to my time.
“We’re done” is code for “you obviously have nothing to contribute to the conversation and are unworthy of my time”. Just so we’re clear.
you talk a lot.
I wish Apple would stop the stage thing now. Make slightly less pretentious videos about new products and announce them on their website. Watching Tim Cook is like watching Mr. Burns does an imitation of Steve Jobs.
Not every Jobsian trademark has to be duplicated. There was something special about watching him on stage. It doesn’t carry over to other people very well, or other companies at all.
Apple should ramp up the web presentations of their products.
…you’re right, Tim Cook would be much more convincing if he were to jump around like monkey boy, geeeesh.
No, he’s right. Tim Cook sends me to sleep. Steve Jobs was a presenter nonpareil, and cannot be copied.
Well it’s really simple, send Jonny Ives out to introduce products. He has a nice understated style which does not induce Cook-somnia. I’d say Scott Forstall but he always looks jacked up on speed and is transparently ambitious in an Anti-Christ sort of way (a little more seasoning please), trying a little too hard. Phil Schiller is Apple’s comedy relief (as is Woz) so really it’s Sir Ives play.
I’m not turned off by Forstall’s hyperkinetic presentation style, although he has a bit of catching up to do in the finesse department. No one will be able to match Steve’s presentational style which was an entertainment special in and of itself to watch.
Forstall has a kind of LSD grin on his face.
Smart enough to make it.
Its not even transparent. I think he thinks he will be next after Cook.
Apple being able to explain their technology directly to the public through their video’s is one reason why Apple is such a hit with people who care about what they buy.
The tech press and sales people were always so bad at it.
I disagree, they should treble the output of their television commercials and include drive-time radio as well.
Apple is coming to your hometown in a very big way. Ubiquitous doesn’t begin to address myriad methods of human interface and machine.
You all heard the comment about the car, right?
I’ve no doubt that car was on a short list, at the bottom of the list, but there, nevertheless, which is cleary thinking different. Also, this was heard in to evidence of relevant data to the mobile space at trial and is indicative of a long-term comittment to battery technology, that will find its way into hundreds of future technologies.
Apple should begin marketing themselves as a friend of select enterprise groups, to advance Apple hardware, and beat Microsoft at their own game, placating corportocracies, after fumbling in the dark for so long, wasting all their resources only to realize there’s more than one way to run an office!
Advertise Apple! How many years have we been asking you to promote the Macintosh in more meaningful way? Not by way of introduction, but at work and play and how it saves the day.
When is Apple going to take themselves seriously and promote their products at the macro level? Apple users, have a lock on the micro level using word of mouth and the many fine repositories of knowledge.
Anymore, when you see an Apple commercial unfolding, try to put yourself in your meemaw’s shoes for a moment, and the ads might make some sense, as it should for non-users (the neighbors of a mac user) are the target audience.
I noticed today that iPad is being sold on television—on HSN and QVC.
It’s being peddled just like the Coby Kyros, the ASUS Tab Transformer, the Acer Iconia, the Toshiba Excite and Thrive (all 10.1″), the Dell 7″, and the Samsung 7″ Galaxy Tab 2 7″.
Mass marketing is here. I just wish it didn’t seem so…cheesy.
Cook should start doing LSD now to help recreate the aura.
Yeah I was thinking Cook needed something to loosen up the ‘ol sphincter but then I remembered his sexual orientation so obviously THAT’S not the problem.
Seriously MDN… You’re gonna allow moronic comments like this to be posted? I find this very offensive.
Peter seemingly has an identity problem of his own.
@peter may have taste issues, but identity? No, that’s your bear to cross…
Peterblood doesn’t have taste issues. In fact, he’s found a way to relieve his sexual tension and was just identifying with Tim Cook’s sexual orientation. No real harm done.
Where Peter is wrong, is in his thinking Tim Cook needs something to loosen him up. Peterblood immediately thought anal sex is a good solution and was subsequently crestfallen when he realized that couldn’t be it, because Cook is filthy rich and getting it regularly, so we are left with the only conclusion possible.
Peterblood doesn’t know why Tim Cook is tight and that he is an idiot savant homophobe.
But he did find a cure for his sphincter problem, so he’s got that going for him.
Ha Ha! Hard to argue with that!
No, he’s in bad taste.
You, sir, are deeply offensive.
troll much?
We’re taking about a group of leaders in Microsoft, who work like firemen; they dress on the way to a fight to deal with an encroaching process and until they get there, they have no idea what to expect.
Once there, they determine the size of the fight in the fire and throw everything got at the problem and try to make sense of it all, once the fire is contained.
Apple starts fires!
The “ignite.”
Because, while photographers are mostly using Mac’s, reporters/writers are still typing their stories away on Dell’s.
That’s what IT want’s them to use and managers don’t want to pay for a mac.
Most reporters I know have a Mac (and iPhone) at home and use Windows at work.
That may be true but, I’ll guarantee you the Advertising department has networked Macs.
Every newspaper I had the pleasure of doing business with had similar set ups; Editorial had networked PCs because the AP and Reuters are PC networks themselves.
Macs came late to the party, but once they got a foot in the door, it was a no brainer for the publisher to realize they could create secondary cost-centers with lots of different revenue streams.
For example, once the Mac publishing is in place, books and printed material begin justifying greater Mac purchases.
I consulted for newspapers during the Pagination (89-99) boom, bringing in Aldus Pagemaker (later Quark) and film and once everyone was trained, I would scour the city and county governments for departments and divisions with printing needs and I’d make all the arrangments with newspapers.
Best work I ever made.
I’ll add most media design departments/graphics use Macs, as well.
The core argument is correct. Majority of reporters do not work on Macs and most likely never used one. Then it follows they bought PCs to use at home.
Whether that affects reporting is unclear, but certainly an influence.
The core argument is not correct and neither is your interpretation of what’s being said.
Did you read what you wrote? “Majority of reporters do not work on Macs and most likely never used one.”
Where did you ever get an idea like that? What’re you fifteen?
“Why is the Media still taking Microsoft seriously?”
Is this a rhetorical question??
It’s because they’re PAID to. Part of Microsoft’s ‘marketing’ budget. They pay shills to write for them.
It’s not that hard. Follow the money.
See Microsoft’s astonishing take on the tablet.
http://gizmodo.com/5365299/courier-first-details-of-microsofts-secret-tablet
Ahh, the inimitable Courier. The ultimate Vapor-hardware.
The Concept that would be King.
Hail Microsoft, the champion Dreamweaver to Apple’s pathetic handwaving.
According to this guy (who was actually there at the presentation/demo), no one got to use one for more than a few seconds. They could hold inactive Surface tablets, but were forced to quickly give-up working models.
“I brought up the Start screen by hitting the Windows button on the front of the tablet, hit Desktop to get to the Windows 8 desktop, did a long press guessing that would bring up the Screen Resolution setting and it did — at which point, the unit was literally jerked out of my hands.”
“After more begging — ‘please can I hold it please please please can I hold it’ — I got another maybe 10 seconds to repeat what I did before. That got the unit jerked away again, with a ‘Nice trick’ remark.”
marketingland dot com/hands-off-microsoft-surface-tablet-review-15146
RT is a dream of Microsoft’s that will come true once they’ve decided what to do with Oafish and Windums because they’re too obese to fit in the palm of our hands.
When Microsoft learns how to turn a wheelbarrow into a cigarette case, the Apple brand will be huge in department stores too. Perhaps our cloths will be spun from silca?
Microsoft should be made to release the Surface as-is. Only then can we take them seriously – we’ll all see them for what they are: a bunch of doofesses led by a dancing monkey
One word: Courier
Second word: Vista – two floaters in the bowl.
Circling the drain since 1995
Zune = three floaters.
A pair of Kins makes it a pentagastrin and is beginning to stink up the place.
and another – windows 8
I’m sorry MDN but the word “media” is the plural form of “medium,” so the headline should read, “Why are the media still…” It’s plural because “media” includes various forms of mass communications such as newspapers, radio, TV, magazines, blogs, etc. Radio, for instance, is only one medium for communicating with a large audience. TV is another medium.
You are so correct. Unfortunately, it comes to nothing because the media itself has fostered this linguistic confusion. Marshall McLuhan is spinning in his grave. George Orwell’s ghost is throwing up. British experts are aloof. Strunk and White are sponsoring a dictionary deathmatch. And I for one am giving up on any silly ideas I once may have had about the intelligence, the quality of education, or the intellectual integrity of what we are still forced to refer to as “the Media”. Or is it “Medea”?