Microsoft unveiled its new Surface tablet today at a very secret event. This tablet will be a complete failure. Let me explain why.
Too Late
Simply put, Microsoft is too late in the game. They needed to enter the game sooner. Apple has already come up on top with the iPad and with the iPad 3, it set its competitors even further back than the iPad 2 did, and the iPad 2 had already sent them back to the drawing boards. Apple has too much market share to allow Microsoft to take any of it. Microsoft may be able to take some of Androids steam but I doubt it. Microsoft has entered the game too late. As a matter of fact, this isn’t the first time. One, it lost its “iPod killer” you know the Zune. Oh wait, you haven’t heard of the Zune, maybe thats because it no longer exists. Well, perhaps you’ve heard of the Windows 7 phone. Yeah, you’ve heard of it, ever think of buying it? Didn’t think so. Only 1% of smart phone users actually bought it. Are you thinking to yourself, well where is it now? Think Zune on that one and you’ll figure it out. Microsoft has a history of running late to class.
Denies Failures
People mention Vista as a complete failure and it is. One thing that Microsoft does wrong on it is that it denies it was a failure. You know what else they denied? Thats right! They denied that Zune (the iPod wanna-be) and the Windows 7 phone (iPhone wannabe) were failures, they still believe that they are Apple killers, even though they have pulled Zune off the market and pretty much pulled the phones too.
Why should I switch?
That is the question you should ask yourself when looking at this tablet. This tablet needs to have a real big WOW factor or it isn’t going to succeed. Most people have entered the “I already have a tablet” range. People are with Apple here because many have bought the iPad and stuck with it, much like Android users typically stick with Android. There are too few people out there interested in a tablet that don’t already have one and if they are interested in one, they at least have experience with iPad or Android. They know they work and they would rather have something proven to work then to try something not yet widely accepted. Why buy something that just came out of the market when you have something that is tested to be great and that is been reviewed and liked by millions?
Options too confusing and no app store
They are going to feature two models of the surface tablet. The two models are an ARM-based tablet and an Intel Ivy Bridge tablet. The ARM-Based tablet or RT based tablet will be light and incapable of running Windows applications (which by the way Microsoft, is the reason they buy into you guys in the first place, not because you have Apple lover-like users). You can’t run existing Windows software on the tablet and people want that. Even worse, you have to buy the software you want directly from their own store. That is the case with iOS too, but iOS actually has apps on it. It will take too much valuable time that Microsoft does not have for Windows to develop an app store.
Stylus
I can tell you it will fail just because they said it will have a stylus, even though you can still use your fingers. Just because it includes it, people will be deterred from it.
Features that actually aren’t bad, but not good enough to give it an edge
It does come with a smart cover like thing that has a keyboard on it. Not bad, but its already out there for iPad (third party) and a stand which is again, already out there. Wow amazing! It is running Ivy Bridge which is cool, but need I remind you this a tablet not a computer, so that will cost you more battery which by the way is already worse than an iPad battery. There are some other features they want us to get excited about not really worth mentioning because all of them already exist.
Conclusion
This new tablet is just another boring product from Microsoft. This is not good for them since the PC industry will only continue to decline because of laptops, ultra books and tablets. If Microsoft fails at this tablet, which it is poised to do, the entire company will never be the same. Sure, it will still have a gaming console, but that is declining in its field and the entire field is declining. Thats right, its going where the PC industry is going. Down. OK, so Microsoft through its stupidity will destroy its own monopoly of PCs which is already declining. Businesses are starting to switch to Mac, with more Macs being bought everyday. Windows 8 is too much of a tablet OS to be on a desktop, so no one will want it on their desktop. Their tablets are just bigger versions of their failed phones. Windows 8 on their own tablets will fail. Their phones have failed and their “iPod killer” failed. Their biggest downfall is the fact that they won’t accept that they failed and that they are stuck in the past while everyone else is moving on. Steve Jobs made mistakes too, look at MobileMe, he apologized for it and introduced something better. The problem with Microsoft is that they are too stubborn and can not let go of the past. They are creating their own downfall with these new tablets and Windows 8. Skype is owned by Microsoft but will go down because services such as FaceTime will take it down. Office wont matter because PCs are going down.
So to conclude, I see a day where Microsoft will cease to exist as a major computer company. It has failed in the music player industry, it failed in the phones, it will fail in tablets and they will fail (Windows 8 ) with desktops as that industry falls, they will fail in laptops as that industry continues and they will fail in gaming consoles at some point because they will no longer have the money to support it when it had its other products. XBox will be the last to go but because the game console industry will go, it will too. Microsoft, welcome to the beginning of the end, please enjoy your stay.
Thanks for reading,
Joe