Why Is Microsoft Setting More Money On Fire With Surface 2? 616
Nerval's Lobster writes "Never mind that sales of the original Surface totaled a pitiful $853 million in its first few months of release, or that the tablet failed to make Microsoft an up-and-coming player (or any kind of player, really) in the mobile-device wars: Microsoft's now rolling out Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, which feature upgraded specs and accessories but no radical adjustments to the first generation. Why would Microsoft pour good money after bad? The answer could be outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who late last year released a memo suggesting that Microsoft was evolving into a 'devices and services' company. 'There will be times when we build specific devices for specific purposes, as we have chosen to do with Xbox and the recently announced Microsoft Surface,' he wrote. 'In all our work with partners and on our own devices, we will focus relentlessly on delivering delightful, seamless experiences across hardware, software and services.' That meant Surface (then on the cusp of release) was clearly a harbinger of the company's future direction — and canceling the project after the first generation would have been a stinging refutation of Ballmer's strategy. By spending the money and resources on a second device generation, Microsoft manages to save a little bit of face, albeit at considerable cost. But imagine the hilarity that'll ensue if this second generation goes down in a huge ball of flames like the first."
Re:XBOX? (Score:5, Funny)
The Microsoft goal is to flush so much money down the drain it will become plugged up.
Re:loses on XBOX & MSN for decades (Score:4, Funny)
"Now stand aside worthy adversary."
"'Tis but a scratch."
"A scratch? Your arm's off."
Re: You see this in small businesses (Score:5, Funny)
in most marriages, that's called children.
Re:XBOX? (Score:5, Funny)
"You see, Killbots have a preset kill limit. Knowing their weakness, I sent wave after wave of my own men at them, until they reached their limit and shutdown. Kif, show them the medal I won"
Re:XBOX? (Score:5, Funny)
Every man and his dog seems to own one.
Not every dog. I saved some cash when I figured out that, for him, "focus relentlessly on delivering delightful, seamless experiences" meant chasing his tail and licking his private parts...
Re:XBOX? (Score:5, Funny)
I certainly enjoy chasing tail and licking parts, though I much prefer it in multi-player.
Re:Windows 2.0 also sucked (Score:5, Funny)
One could easily have said the same thing about Microsoft Word. It was a copycat and it sucked compared to Word Perfect when it first came out. But slowly they kept making it better and it won the market. [...]
Reminds me of a movie [1] ...
King of Swamp Castle: When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.
[1] http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0091186/quotes [imdb.com]
Re:it's fun (Score:4, Funny)
I was quite interested in a Surface Pro last week.
Then I found out it only has a 1 megapixel camera. Weirdly enough the cheaper Surface RT has a 5 megapixel camera.
Maybe I'll wait for Surface Pro 3 then....eh, Microsoft?