Quote:
Originally Posted by mgmueller
To summarise:
For me, any Windows tablet doesn't compete with the existing tablets.
Different usage patterns, different target customers, different approach.
In my opinion, Windows tablets compete with notebooks and convertibles.
And here it all will depend on performance, battery duration and such...
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That is indeed the starting point for Surface Pro and the other x86 Win8 tablets.
But MS has a few aspirations to go a bit further into media-consumption land.
Microsoft's game plan appears to be the way they approached living room computing when Sony started bragging that the PS2 was going to do image processing, internet surfing and other home *computer* functions. First they shored up their base with the intro of Windows Media Center, and then they took the fight right to Sony's home turf with the XBOX, forcing Sony to defend *their* base--gaming--and keeping them out of computing.
Right now, job one for Win8 is to keep iPad and Android out of the corporate productivity computing space. Job two is to challenge for the academic market before Apple makes any deep inroads (that's where NewCo comes in, btw). Job three is to go after media-happy consumers.
It took a lot of money and a few tries to get the living room story where they want it but so far, it looks to be working. (With the fringe benefit that they've stymied both Apple and Android, so far.)
I wouldn't write MS off just yet in the mobile computing space.