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Microsoft's New Surface Tablet Hybrid

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vlastimil:
The hardware looks decent enough, the weakest part IMO is the battery. The Pro version with i5 processor and just 42WH battery is not going to last very long. 1-2 hours under load? How many times may the battery be recharged? Microsoft also did not mention GPS, accelerometer or Bluetooth... They also did not reveal whether the Pro version has active or passive cooling. If there is a fan, then count me out as a buyer - that is going to be the first thing to fail.

The non-Pro version with ARM processor and Windows RT is a nice piece of hardware too, but why should anyone develop an app for it? Android and iOS are already ruling the non-Windows market segment and Windows RT is not Windows. Currently, it looks like Microsoft wants to control the WinRT apps like Apple does. That makes the non-Pro version unattractive despite the nice hardware.

I mean, sure, if someone has developed a simple app that took a week to make, then it is no big deal to make an WinRT version in addition to iOS and Android ones. But if we are talking about larger apps that took a year or more of work, then I would think twice before porting them to a platform, where the owner can decide to ban that app.

40hz:
But if we are talking about larger apps that took a year or more of work, then I would think twice before porting them to a platform, where the owner can decide to ban that app.
-vlastimil (June 20, 2012, 07:56 AM)
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But what happens when it's the only game in town? Which closed ecosystem will you pick? The choice will be Apple or Microsoft. Or maybe Linux?  (At least as long as there's still hardware available to run it?)

A program is useless without a box to run it on. Apple and Microsoft have basically decided that since their OSs provide "the box," developers should expect to pay a tariff for the privilege of having their app run on it. It's a use tax plain and simple.

This is a classic 'gatekeeper' strategy. You collect from the users and the developers with each deployment. No more only getting developer revenue when they buy your software tools.

Smart move. But Microsoft always was smart when it came to identifying revenue opportunities.

vlastimil:
That would be a very bad situation for independent software developers. If there were only closed gardens, my guess is that small players would only invest into very small projects - there will be more news readers, FaceBook poke sending apps, farting apps, notes taking apps, kamasutra advice apps, angry birds clones, farmville clones, etc. The realm of more serious applications like 3D Studio, Firefox, Photoshop, Office, or IDEs would be in the hands of the few large players, most likely the owners of the respective gardens.

Fortunately we are not in that situation yet. Microsoft has been very good at eliminating competition that ruled a market segment in the past, but I doubt they will succeed this time. Just as they were unable to take search from Google by copying it, they may not be able to take tablets from Apple by copying their approach.

They have revealed 2 strong weapons - Surface hardware and the WinRT API (HTML+Javasript, XAML and Direct X for GUI  :up:, access rights management, partial compatibility with Win32). The closed Windows Store is a big minus though.

40hz:
Fortunately we are not in that situation yet. Microsoft has been very good at eliminating competition that ruled a market segment in the past, but I doubt they will succeed this time. Just as they were unable to take search from Google by copying it, they may not be able to take tablets from Apple by copying their approach.
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Don't underestimate Microsoft in a bare-knuckle showdown.

Copying may not work. But copyright and patents could serve quite well.

If Microsoft decided to go against a big player it would be one thing. But hitting a small developer from all six directions with multiple patent infringement suits would effectively kill 99% of them before it even went to trial. Especially since its so hard to get investors or attract venture capital if there's even a hint somebody big has implied they may go after you. And that remains true even if the suit is obviously bogus. Small businesses need to turn cash quickly and regularly. They can't afford getting tied up in protracted legal battles. Something the trolls know all too well.

Then too, I'd expect Microsoft will steal a page from Apple and make developers waive all their rights and recourse when it comes to putting their apps in the company store. Apple reserves the right to kill your app if they (or a more favored developer) decides to create a similar product or incorporate your app's features into one of their own  And iOS developers must agree to that condition (and others equally capricious and arbitrary) if they want to be in the app store. Expect no different from Microsoft when their store opens.  

Make no mistake - Surface is a viable long-term threat to independent anything when it comes to personal computing. Right now it's a friendly and attractive little tiger cub. It will only be a matter of time before it shows us some fang.

wraith808:
much lower resolution
-nosh (June 20, 2012, 01:05 AM)
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This is because of retina display, and no one but Apple has that tech, so no other tablets out currently have that advantage.  Does it look better?  Yes.  But how much better?  You can only tell the difference if you look at a Retina Display and then at a normal one.  Since they use the extra pixels for details rather than real estate, you still have the same effective resolution, just with a crisper image.

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