MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Surface tablet pricing still unknown: PC vendors on a lookout

fjtorres · 08-13-2012, 08:07 PM

Too much nearsighted hype, guys.
There's more to computing than tapping icons on a slate to surf the web and consume content.
And the game that's now starting?
It's not Windows on Tablet Vs Windows on PCs.
It's Windows on Tablet *and* Windows on PCs vs iOS+MacOS vs Android.
(Everybody seems to forget that Window8 on Tablet is the *same* Windows on PCs, portables, desktops, Media Centers, and elsewhere.)

Microsoft's strategy is "What's mine is mine; what's yours is negotiable."
Contrary to the hype, PCs are no more going away than mainframes ever did.
And, for all the whining from the corporate IT guys (who *always* complain about desktop Windows releases) Windows on PCs will continue to be broadly used.

What Windows 8 on Tablets does is bring better hardware and a new front-end GUI to the *existing* windows TabletPCs. (I've been using TabletPCs for ten years. Great and useful stuff for a lot of applications.) TabletPCs have *only* been selling at the rate of a few million a year, mostly because the OEMs have been lazy and sloppy on the hardware side. So, since Acer and Asus and Sony and Dell, etc, haven't held up their side of the partnership on the Tablet side, MS is taking matters into their own hands.

How it plays out will take a while to determine but I would caution against underestimating Microsoft in any OS fight. The moment Win8 ships on Tablets it will *immediately* become the most advanced, most sophisticated, and most powerful OS on any Tablet of any brand. Maybe the market won't value this, maybe it will. But what Apple is working towards--making iOS and MacOS more like each other--and what Google can only dream of--full-feature desktop and enterprise grade apps on android--is where Windows 8 *starts* at.

Ignore that at your peril.

08-13-2012, 08:07 PM	#9
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	Too much nearsighted hype, guys. There's more to computing than tapping icons on a slate to surf the web and consume content. And the game that's now starting? It's not Windows on Tablet Vs Windows on PCs. It's Windows on Tablet and Windows on PCs vs iOS+MacOS vs Android. (Everybody seems to forget that Window8 on Tablet is the same Windows on PCs, portables, desktops, Media Centers, and elsewhere.) Microsoft's strategy is "What's mine is mine; what's yours is negotiable." Contrary to the hype, PCs are no more going away than mainframes ever did. And, for all the whining from the corporate IT guys (who always complain about desktop Windows releases) Windows on PCs will continue to be broadly used. What Windows 8 on Tablets does is bring better hardware and a new front-end GUI to the existing windows TabletPCs. (I've been using TabletPCs for ten years. Great and useful stuff for a lot of applications.) TabletPCs have only been selling at the rate of a few million a year, mostly because the OEMs have been lazy and sloppy on the hardware side. So, since Acer and Asus and Sony and Dell, etc, haven't held up their side of the partnership on the Tablet side, MS is taking matters into their own hands. How it plays out will take a while to determine but I would caution against underestimating Microsoft in any OS fight. The moment Win8 ships on Tablets it will immediately become the most advanced, most sophisticated, and most powerful OS on any Tablet of any brand. Maybe the market won't value this, maybe it will. But what Apple is working towards--making iOS and MacOS more like each other--and what Google can only dream of--full-feature desktop and enterprise grade apps on android--is where Windows 8 starts at. Ignore that at your peril. Last edited by fjtorres; 08-13-2012 at 08:10 PM.