Microsoft Slashes Prices On Surface 330
McGruber writes "Thursday, The Verge broke the news that Microsoft was slashing the price of its tablets — the price of the 32-gig Surface RT plummeted by 42%! Staples, TigerDirect and many other retailers are already selling the tablets at the lowered prices. I wonder what Microsoft will do for customers who purchased a tablet right before the price drop?"
They are in such demand (Score:5, Insightful)
Is that the correct spin?
Lets face it. Microsoft has tried to push the "Convertible laptop / tablet" on the market since 2000 (even before maybe?) - and no one wants it. They simply cannot grasp that it isn't what the consumer (even enterprise wants). People want tablets to consume content, not create it.
serious problem (Score:5, Insightful)
I wonder what Microsoft will do for customers who purchased a tablet right before the price drop?"
Really, if those people joined together they might be able fill a Starbucks. Imagine if they started a protest against Microsoft, the damage they could do......
Microsoft will do the same thing they did when they came out with the Zune to help all those people who bought "Plays For Sure" music, nothing at all.
What Microsoft will do about previous customers? (Score:5, Insightful)
Cash the check.
Cough.. HP Touchpad Cough... (Score:5, Insightful)
This remind people of anything much?
Entirely unsurprising, good riddance.
Better idea - inform the consumer (Score:5, Insightful)
Right now MS adverts for the surface are nothing more than hipster dipshits dancing on a boardroom table and spining the Surface around. There is nothing infomative, nothing to tell the consumer why they might consider purchasing this vs. an Ipad or a decent Android tablet.
MS can't act like Apple. People already know why they might like to have an iPad. They either own one or have a fiend who does. Surface doesn't have familiarity to fall back on. It looks like an overgrown Zune and unless MS tells people otherwise they will assume it's just an "also ran" in the tablet race.
Slashing prices it nice but it reaks of desperation. I might be tempted to think they are dumping existing inventory prior to dropping the product line.
Re:They are in such demand (Score:5, Insightful)
While it's quite possible to 'create' and do 'useful work' on a tablet it certainly seems more geared towards consumption. What Microsoft hasn't understood is that people use their software because they have to at work.
Office is not compelling. IE is not compelling. This is Microsofts attempt to move their monopoly to a new computing sector. It won't work. People don't want to use their software.
Re:Better idea - inform the consumer (Score:5, Insightful)
Right now MS adverts for the surface are nothing more than hipster dipshits dancing on a boardroom table and spining the Surface around ... MS can't act like Apple.
iPad and iPhone ads are actually pretty good about showing you in succinct ways what you can do with the product. They're usually made up of quick, targeted clips of apps in use. It's kind of flabbergasted me that Microsoft hasn't done the same thing with their TV ads, especially when it comes to Office. It's almost as if their marketing dept. came to the conclusion that "We have to fight Apple on their own terms" without actually sitting down to watch how Apple markets its products.
Re:Oh wow! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Price Adjustment (Score:5, Insightful)
> the Surface had giant FAIL written all over it almost from the start
Well, the RT definitely did. I don't think it's clear yet whether the "Surface Pro" (or whatever they called it -- the one on Intel that actually runs Windows) is worthy of the FAIL sticker just yet.
It's important to keep the RT (WinCE warmed over) and the Pro separate. They're distinct products. Although, I wonder whether the RT is dragging the Pro down with it.
Re:Still overpriced (Score:5, Insightful)
Agree. The best thing for these devices is land fill. They have no purpose existing.
The hardware is interesting; it's the OS (Windows RT) that's sinking it. If we could figure out how to install something else, the device might get a new lease on life.
Re:Price Adjustment (Score:2, Insightful)
This particular company runs ad campaigns attempting to vilify its competitors for doing the same, with the very argument that GP used.
Re:They are in such demand (Score:5, Insightful)
>"This is Microsofts attempt to move their monopoly to a new computing sector. It won't work. People don't want to use their software."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Microsoft simply does not understand that their "popularity" in the computing market is mostly due due to their proprietary lock-in, and not due to free market choice and preference.
I bet if they offered IDENTICAL hardware to all the Android and IOS tablets for an IDENTICAL price, they still would not be able to sell enough to matter.
Re:Price Adjustment (Score:5, Insightful)
I firmly believe that the Surface Pro has, at the very least, a decent niche with only two competitors
I'm typing this from a ThinkPad Helix, which I decided to purchase as I felt it offered me a little bit more of what I was looking for than the Surface Pro did. It's definitely got its faults, but it's worth pointing out that they're Lenovo's faults rather than anything to do with Windows.
It's the right product for me, but the thing holding it back is---of course---the price. Microsoft has a huge advantage with x86 being on their side, but unless they can get the platform down to a price that's competitive with other products in the same market, at the rate things are going that advantage provided by the platform itself will likely evaporate as other platforms' app catalogs close the gap and render the advantage of "being Wintel" completely moot.
That's not to say that we're not at least halfway there already. An iPad is a paradoxically capable device in a world that Microsoft has ruled for decades on compatibility and ubiquity alone, especially given the limitations of the hardware and form factor itself.
Re:Price Adjustment (Score:0, Insightful)
It's meaningless to speak of "Windows 8" compiled for ARM here because "Windows 8" (absent the RT or Pro subcategorization) is simply a marketing umbrella term encompassing very different OS's.
The basic issue is, Windows 8 RT is not compatible with Windows 8 "Pro" or any historical Windows desktop or server OS. Thus, purchasers of RT do not have the applications catalog of historical Windows apps, nor do they have the breadth of applications offered under Android/iOS, against which RT is (or, more accurately, "was") intended to compete using the same app-store software channel scheme. With that not materializing effectively either, we have the full reason that RT is rightfully failing. The vague "Windows 8" terminology didn't succeed in fooling the public, and in fact has only added to branding confusion. The market here has handed Microsoft a richly-deserved helping of poetic justice for this underhanded initiative.
I would have said "lastest underhanded initiative", but that would seem to be an honor currently held by the XBox One, and don't even get me started on that...
Re:They are in such demand (Score:5, Insightful)
Who else does a reasonable spec tablet with 128GB of storage for $300?
You should be comparing it to cheap laptops, not cheap tablets. That's basically what you want - a small laptop with touchscreen and detachable keyboard. Finding a reasonable quality one with 128GB of storage for $300 may again prove challenging.
Microsoft wants to be Apple (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft desperately wants to be Apple, that much should be obvious by now. With all the dancing hipster ads for Surface trying to appear cool and in touch, it just... doesn't... work.
Microsoft still has something of a business/corporate reputation. They make operating systems to run Office on, to perform spreadsheet work, boring but necessary work. That's their image. Apple deliberately target non-business customers in the vast majority of their products and marketing - they have for a while now and that is THEIR image. Microsoft can't just try to perform a 180 and appear like Apple - that's like a 50 year old Steve Buscemi trying to act hip to young people by saying "How do you do, fellow kids?" It's comedic when done by an actor - but embarrassing when done by a corporation.
They say a business must grow or die. Microsoft have reached the limits of desktop operating systems - they've owned their sector for so long that they can't grow in it. That's fine, go for it. But emulating Apple when there already IS an Apple is not a strategy for a leader to take.
Re:Price Adjustment (Score:3, Insightful)
can not even get a map and weather reports
I don't know how anyone got around before, we must have all just been lost and looking at the sky.