
New Microsoft Tablets Will Take Aim at the iPad - rayvega
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/microsoft-to-announce-new-slates-targeting-ipad/
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junklight
I just do not get Microsoft. The place is full of smart people so how come the
company acts so dumb.

The ipad love it or loathe it works because it's not trying to be all things
to all people. It has limitations, sure, but within those it does some things
very well indeed (and in fact I would be utterly lost without mine - or rather
I would be unhappy to take the step back into the past that not having it
would represent).

Microsoft seem to be interested in the world of work (although judging by my
recent (enforced) use of Word, making more work seems to be their goal with
that product) so why not take the same approach - a new device , a new niche
and come up with something? it might just be a slicker netbook with a trimmed
down OS or it might be something else. A physical interface for the Office
suite perhaps - Spreadsheets are not great on the ipad, for example, so there
_must_ be a way of making them nice to physically interact with that is not
the tablet/slate kind of way. (or actually why not do cheap research by
porting things like office to the ipad and seeing if you can make them really
work in that form factor or if something else is needed?)

They say that people want something like this - work oriented - and then they
give them an "everything but the kitchen sink" style monstrosity that is not
one thing or the other.

This works for Google because android has other selling points but Microsoft
can't just throw everything at it and hope something sticks. They need to pick
something and think about it.

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wynand
I cannot understand why Microsoft keeps on trying to play catch-up with Google
and Apple. They have a tough fight ahead if that is to remain their approach
(even with all of their resources).

There are a few brights spots for them - Kinect looks amazing - but their
obsession with doing everything that Apple and Google are doing may hurt them
in the long run.

(I am not concerned whether MS succeeds or not - I haven't used an MS product
in years - but I am astounded that a company filled with so many clever and
creative folk is loath to innovate on its own terms.)

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henrikschroder
The weird thing is that they've had tablet technology for a long time, but
they've constantly been talking about it, doing small demos, showing how you
could work with a tablet, bringing the windows experience to tablets, etc, but
they've never actually released a polished consumer product.

It's all talk, talk, talk, and then when someone else launches they struggle
to catch-up. So is all of their talk empty?

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saurik
I don't know... I've been using Windows tablets since the early 1990's, when I
had a Compaq Concerto running "Windows 3.1 for Pen Computing". I've also had a
Dauphin DTR-1, a Compaq TC1000, and a Thinkpad X61.

Do you mean that you expect Microsoft to make their own tablet hardware and
release it? While they do make some of their own products, that's not really
how Microsoft "rolls": they develop software for OEM integration.

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saturdaysaint
MS should probably be more concerned about Android given the low price points
of Android devices. Can Microsoft develop a hardware product that a tablet
maker couldn't instantly turn into an Android device? Given the choice, will
the average consumer want or need anything in the Windows world anymore? Can
Windows match the performance and battery life of the more mobile/instant-on
optimized Android OS?

It's never been so easy to imagine a world without Windows (at least on the
consumer side).

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whiletruefork
Two problems: Windows 7 was not engineered for tablet usability like iOS was.
Third party OEM's can produce cheaper hardware (the PC effect) but generally
can not produce higher quality devices than single party controlled ecosystem
(iPhone v Android/WP7).

This does not bode well for Microsoft. But competition is always good for the
consumer.

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ollysb
"It also includes a unique and slick keyboard that slides out from below for
easy typing.”

one of the things that apple has done consistently well is know what _not_ to
include on their hardware.

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steverb
I don't think MS tablets will take off until they take an approach similar to
what they did for Windows Phone 7 and force a very specific set of design
limitations on their partners.

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lenni
So, why cancel the courier then?

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foobarbazetc
Ahahahahahahahahaha.

~~~
joshu
Seriously.

