Microsoft's Surface Tablet: A Smart Move Or Desperate Move?

Photograph by Rene Macura/AP Images via: Bloomsberg-BusinessWee

Some are saying that "Microsoft's Surface Tablet Could Hurt iPad, iPhone 'or ' Even Apple TV Sales", but others noted that when it comes to the Surface's greatest 'whiz-bang' feature, it's magnetically attaching keyboard, it's also interesting to note that  "Microsoft Wouldn't Let Anyone Test The Touch Keyboard For Its Tablet" which makes one tend to wonder if its number one feature is really all that great.

If its magnetically inspired keyboard case was all that great, well you would kind of think that Microsoft would not only be eager but would absolutely insist that everyone try it out to see just how great it was, because, as BusinessInsider reported above:

"This better be Microsoft just being overly cautious. If this thing doesn't work it's going to be a major screw up."

Of course, for those hoping that the Surface will finally be the first real iPad killer out there, it's also interesting to note that it is based largely on Microsoft's so far failed Windows Mobile platform which hasn't been quite exactly setting the world on fire. Even though its recently announced Windows 8 upgrade seems to be much better and featured packed, BusinessInsider also stated that, for the most part, "No One Cares About Microsoft Phones And Windows Phone 8 Won't Change That," so I guess, if that's true, Microsoft's belated tablet effort may not cut the mustard, as they say.

Besides not letting anyone try out and see for themselves just how great the Surface's new magnetic keyboard was, Microsoft also was completely and utterly silent about its battery performance, and some have already crunched the numbers to report that it may be significantly less than that of the iPad, thus being another strike against the yet to be released tablet.

In the end, if the Surface is a success, it would be a success that was built largely, once again, on the backs of Apple's innovation as some are now reporting, like C/Net, that the Surface is nothing more than a desperate move to catch up to Apple. For example, C/Net writes:

"Was Microsoft's Surface tablet an act of desperation? Yes, says a report in the New York Times.

Microsoft and the PC hardware industry were failing miserably at taking on Apple's iPad, forcing Redmond's hand, according to the report." 

Apple's control of key materials, C/Net points out, as well as the shortcomings of the Microsoft-Intel business model, the lack of trust between Microsoft and its PC makers, and Hewlett-Packard's failed tablets attempts, including its WebOS based offerings, all helped to lead to Microsoft's desperation, and thus the creation of its Surface tablet, and all of which is believed will significantly effect Microsoft's overall relations with its traditional OEMs. In fact, one of Microsoft's biggest OEM's, Acer, is now predicting that Microsoft's Surface will fail!

So, in the end, was Microsoft's decision to create the Surface tablet a smart move, or a desperate move on its part?

Personally I think that its both, because no matter how desperate Microsoft was in creating the Surface tablet in the first place, I also think that it's a very smart move when compare to some of the dumb moves that I've seen coming thus far from the Android camp.

In conclusion, if the Surface can't exactly knock off the iPad from its first place spot, than surely it will knock off Android tablets from its current second place spot, and it should make Android eat its dust, all while leaving it in a very distant third place in the tablet race.




And that's my 2 cents 4 this cloudy Monday, June 25, 2012