Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
The thing many people forget is that the PC market is enormous and there is room for those kinds of fine-grained distinctions; that you can rack up big sales off of niche products and that products with seemingly small differentiation can profitably coexist and prosper independently. One size-fits-all thinking simply limits your reach.
My first thought when I first saw the modularity of the design was that they could possibly offer GPU upgrades via replacement keyboard modules or possibly a dual GPU version for high-end gaming. Or a "keyboard module" without a keyboard but with a professional-grade pad for artists. A data acquisition module for environmental sensing applications. Mix-match bases, maybe.
Once you start down the road of modularity you can come up with all sorts of interesting variations.
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Modularity? You mean like being able to replace or upgrade individual parts and pieces? What a concept! Sadly, the Surface line has always been anti-modularity, in fact I'd call them disposable, even more so than iPads. With the Book, if you want a new GPU, you need a new keyboard/dock. While that may be an improvement from other Surfaces, it's not exactly what I'd consider Modular, other than the rather expensive accessories of course.
I do like the thinness of the screen. But that comes at the expense of battery life and ports while in tablet mode. Personally I could live without the ports, but tablet battery life is going to be key to making it a viable 2-in-1. So far, Windows 10 has shown underwhelming battery efficiency to say the least.
Keep in mind that Microsoft's plan with the entire Surface line has never been about sales. It's about prodding OEMs into making better Windows devices. I don't expect the Book to a huge seller, it's more of a halo device and priced accordingly. I do expect it to prompt OEMs into making similar devices, just as the original Surfaces finally have done. Windows is better positioned for this market than anything else. But they really need to get the bugs out of Windows 10 in a hurry if they want these devices to take off, it is downright terrible right now IMO and no match for iOS or Android when it comes to the mobile experience. I have really loved the ideas and concepts coming from Microsoft the past few years, but as an owner of two Surfaces I have to say their execution of the details has been atrocious. They are fortunate nobody else offers the same flexibly powerful functionality...yet.