MS Surface 2nd generaton

[Kumabjorn]

Microsoft has announced the next generation Surface devices.
Are these better suited for e-books than the earlier devices?

[holymadness]

Sure. It's lighter, has a 1080p screen, and has 10 hours of battery life (8 previously).

But no one will buy it.

[AnemicOak]

Microsoft Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 benchmarks and hands-on

The bottom line: the additional performance and battery life are unquestionably significant strides forward for the Surface tablet. The new covers? Not so much. Microsoft’s message appears to be that the Surface is an engine of productivity; at this point, I’d go so far as to say that my fingers will want the old Type Covers back, backlit keyboard or no backlit keyboard.

[pl001]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Microsoft has announced the next generation Surface devices.
Are these better suited for e-books than the earlier devices?

Only slightly. I love my Surface RT, but like the iPad, I think they are simply too large and heavy to make for a good reader regardless of battery or resolution.

[pl001]

Originally Posted by holymadness

Sure. It's lighter, has a 1080p screen, and has 10 hours of battery life (8 previously).

But no one will buy it.

Sure they will. Maybe not in iPad numbers, but Surfaces are all over in the education sector right now and the RT was the best selling 10" tablet not named iPad.

[holymadness]

The $900 million of unsold Surface stock that MS is sitting on says otherwise.

The Surface may be the #2 best-selling tablet (I don't know), but to put that in perspective they've sold 1.7M units since launch. Apple's sold over 150 million iPads.

I frequently have the occasion to visit universities in the course of my work and I have yet to see a Surface in the wild. I'm not sure "all over in the education sector" is very accurate.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by holymadness

The $900 million of unsold Surface stock that MS is sitting on says otherwise.

The Surface may be the #2 best-selling tablet (I don't know), but to put that in perspective they've sold 1.7M units since launch. Apple's sold over 150 million iPads.

You're contradicting yourself. You previously stated that "nobody" would buy it. Now you say that 1.7M have in fact been sold. Which is it? 0 or 1.7M?

For the record, I have an (original) Surface Pro and find it to be an excellent device.

[holymadness]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You're contradicting yourself. You previously stated that "nobody" would buy it. Now you say that 1.7M have in fact been sold. Which is it? 0 or 1.7M?

I'm surprised to find such literalism on a forum for book readers.

[Jessica Lares]

I saw the Surface at the mall when it came out, otherwise haven't seen a single one since.

[pl001]

Two out of the three local k-12 school districts here have now chosen Surface RTs to distribute to their students, and the third doesn't use tablets. With the education discounts, Office, hardware compatibility, and four years of support, it's a no-brainer for any administrator who earns their pay.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by holymadness

I'm surprised to find such literalism on a forum for book readers.

I'm surprised to find such rhetoric doesn’t equate to fanboi spin. Nobody? Really?

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by pl001

Two out of the three local k-12 school districts here have now chosen Surface RTs to distribute to their students, and the third doesn't use tablets. With the education discounts, Office, hardware compatibility, and four years of support, it's a no-brainer for any administrator who earns their pay.

The more I use mine (32GB Surface RT w/TouchCover), the more I'm convinced that Microsoft did a disastrously stellar job of mishandling the marketing and promoting of the Surface. (I would include price points as an element of marketing)

The speed in which the wave of firesales on eBay sell out tells me that there is great interest in the Surface. But as with anything Windows, price is a top priority.

I've got a fairly good bead on the corporate culture at Microsoft... mostly because of my interaction with them when I worked for IBM. I anticipated a $200 firesale for the RT w/cover and was delighted to get in on it.

It would not surprise me to see Microsoft offer the Surface RT (1st gen) as a Black Friday doorbuster (similar to what they did with the Zune 30 when the Zune 80 was released)... that generates huge amounts of buzz during the holiday shopping season. When Microsoft did that with the Zune 30 ($100 on Black Friday), the Zune 30 became one of the hottest gadgets on shopping lists that season... along with it, drawing some people to check out and buy the Zune 80.

Either way, it'll be interesting.

[wizwor]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

TI'm convinced that Microsoft did a disastrously stellar job of mishandling the marketing and promoting of the Surface. (I would include price points as an element of marketing)

I think this is changing rapidly.

First, the trade in deal is going to put pressure on Apple. Not only will MS offer a competitive price, but they will give you as much a $350 to divorce Apple.

The new commercials that compare the Surface to an iPad are really good. Each highlights the iPad's deficiencies vs the Surface, compares the price, then asks, "Do you still think I'm pretty?" People are talking about these commercials.

Finally, the Surface is pushing the iPad out of premium spots where I shop. I noticed the last time I was in Staples and Best Buy that the first tablets I encountered walking through the stores were Microsoft tablets. The local mall has a Microsoft Store. Since opening, it's been a party. Everything is bigger, brighter, and louder than the Apple store down the corridor.

If Microsoft botched the launch of the Surface, they are making up for it with the current blitz. We are not iFolk, but we do like the Kindle Fire a lot (own five). My wife is deciding between a Fire HD and a Surface right now and my oldest has asked for one for his birthday.

[bobcdy]

If Microsoft is stressing productivity for the new Surface Pro, why is it that the unit cannot be opened to exchange the ss drive if the owner needs one with greater storage capacity, and a user changeable battery rather that ship the unit back to MS for battery replacement. Downtime for battery replacement will certainly impact productivity.

It seems that Microsoft is trying to emulate Apple's computers rather than the easily accessible pc boxes where hard drives, memory, etc are easily modified.

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Are these better suited for e-books than the earlier devices?

As far as I can tell, not really. These are general purpose devices that far exceed the requirements of an ereader in some respects (in both iterations) and fail to address the requirements of an ereader in other respects (in both iteractions).