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Comment on Microsoft Surface Pro 2

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What's wrong with this?

1. Keyboard covers are superfluous. Bluetooth keyboards are what people use with tablets. The "DJ" cover is especially superfluous. That's what touchscreens are for.

2. It's a PC in a tablet form factor. It weighs like small PC. It has battery life like a small PC. It costs like a small PC.

3. The OS is better than previous attempts at tabletizing Windows, but it's still Windows with a tablet UI that has little traction with app developers tacked on.

4. It will make you fiddle with touch-unfriendly controls. Bad things that would never happen in iOS or Android will happen: You open an app, and wham! You are trying to touch a tiny button or drag a window by a tiny title bar.

5. Windows is a brand with negative value for buyers of mobile devices. "You're running Windows on your tablet? Why?"

Microsoft is a company that could have chosen to make any product. But the problem there is that XBOX and Zune haven't made any profit, so choosing "Windows everything, everywhere" was at least a plausible choice, on the basis of a history of making money. Who could argue for "Zune II?"

They will have to learn by failing.

1. Seriously? I'm retiring my Samsung Series 7 Slate for a Surface Pro 2 just because of the Bluetooth keyboard on the Slate. It's a good keyboard for sure, but being separate it needs a cover, so uses far too much space in my bag, and I'm tired to death of fucking about with it every time I need to type something (which is all the time).

Also, in 2 you're obviously talking about Surface Pro. Pro 2 is hugely improved. And in 5 you're doing little more than stating a personal opinion.

1. Midi controllers aren't superfluous. The DJ cover fullfills the exact same function.

2. Well, it is a small pc

3. That's kinda valid. On the other hand, it's a plain Windows PC, so runs millions of apps hence sheer amounts of developpers are in the running

4. I seem to remember a very recent post about tiny buttons in iOS 7 :P

5. Again valid. But that value might change over time: Windows Phone 8 is rather good, pretty hard to deny that.

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