[DUG] Windows Surface

[Robert Martin]

The Ironic thing is that at Schools all around NZ Chromebooks are 
selling like hot cakes.  They run only a web browser so their app 
support is worse than the Surface RT ! Schools choose them for price and 
battery life.  Unfortunately for MS, Google go the market they could 
have so easily won.

The stunning thing really is that Google could make Chromebooks a killer 
device just by changing them to run Andriod.  Imagine a Chromebook with 
a vast software library.

Cheers
Rob



On 14/12/2016 7:59 AM, Jolyon Direnko-Smith wrote:
> Completely off topic but...
>
> I got a 1st Gen Surface RT when Microsoft sold off their tax write off 
> stock.  I picked up a 64GB model with touch typing cover for $273 (NZ) 
> delivered!  I got it just to play with/as a devtest rig, but quickly 
> came to love it.
>
> They were a huge missed opportunity ... for the market. Microsoft had 
> a great product but the market (or rather the market commentators) 
> didn't "get" it.  Sure, you couldn't run all Windows desktop apps on 
> them, but you can't run all Windows desktop apps on an Android tablet 
> or iPad either.  You can't even run OS X apps on an iPad.  Not even an 
> iPad Pro. So that argument clearly has nothing to do with the 
> success/failure of these things.  At least not for the users/consumers 
> of those massively successful devices.
>
> The apps that it did have were as good - and in some cases FAR better 
> - than the same apps on the other platforms.  And it did run Office.  
> Worth pointing out is that those RT devices ran Windows 8 and latterly 
> 8.1, not 10.
>
> As good as the Surface Pro range may be (debatable), the one thing 
> that the RT had over ANY of the competition was truly amazing battery 
> life which none of the Pro's come even close to.   That might sound 
> like a non-feature, but it meant not being tethered to a charger or at 
> least not having to panic if you couldn't see a charging opportunity 
> at some point on the very near horizon.
>
> Sure you can run all Windows desktop apps on those things, but all 
> Windows desktop apps are not designed to run on a tablet so being able 
> to do so is mostly an exercise in frustrated stabbing at the screen 
> with a finger you are desperately trying to pinch to form an accurate 
> pointing tip.
>
> But it was mostly the tech press that saw the lack of Win32 support as 
> a "problem" and using "number of app" in the store as a key metric 
> rather than the quality or relevance of the apps that were available.  
> And in writing the devices off on those points put people off from 
> even giving them a fair crack.
>
> They failed to SELL - they didn't sell but then get returned by masses 
> of disappointed customers.