Thursday, July 12, 2012
Microsoft looks to upset the Apple cart
Them thar are fighting words, Steve.
"We are trying to make absolutely clear we are not going to leave any space uncovered to Apple," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told website, CRN, reigniting the ages-old Microsoft-Apple war. “Not the consumer cloud. Not hardware software innovation. We are not leaving any of that to Apple by itself. Not going to happen. Not on our watch.”
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| STEVE BALLMER: Microsoft's head honcho |
The first strike in this new offensive came a few weeks ago when Microsoft announced its plans for a pair of tablet computers dubbed "Surface,” which it hopes will knock Apple’s iPad off its throne as the must-have gadget of the past few years.
"We do feel empowered to innovate everywhere and bring our partners with us," Ballmer said. "We are just not going to leave any -- what’s the expression people like to use -- We’re not going to leave any stone unturned, so to speak, as we pursue that."
It remains to be seen if this new philosophy out of Redmond, Wa. can turn the venerable tech giant around. In the past, Microsoft’s philosophy was "last to cool, first to profit” letting others do the innovating, then swooping in with its own version and using its brand recognition to corner the market. Sometimes this philosophy worked, as with the Xbox, which usurped by Sony’s PlayStation as the hottest gaming console around, and then with Kinect, which improved on Wii’s innovative wireless controller.
And sometimes it did not.
Does anyone really remember Microsoft’s iPod-killer, The Zune?
I didn’t think so.
Whether Microsoft’s Surface tablet becomes another Zune or displaces the iPad is anyone’s guess. But at least this time Microsoft does not seem to just be copying a device made by someone else. It is actually improving upon it. According to the company’s website, the device will come with its own built in stand and a foldout keyboard that doubles as a protective cover for its touch screen. (If you want these things on an iPad, you will have to buy them from third parties).
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| FINALLY SURFACING: Mircosoft's new tablet PC. Will it be an iPad killer or go the way of the Zune? |
The Surface will come in two “flavors,” an ARM-powered RT processor unit with a stripped down version of Windows 8 on it and a more powerful Intell-powered processor unit equipped with Windows 8 Professional. Weighing between 676 and 903 grams and measuring between 9.3 and 13.5 mm thick, the Surface seems to be a hybrid of an iPad and the ultra-light MacBook Air and is aimed directly at the corporate market.
"Coming from a Microsoft-based environment, it will certainly have to be considered as a potential laptop replacement for the likes of sales representatives in the field," said Andrew Paton, group manager of IT services at Rondo Building Services in a recent ZDNet/TechRepublic poll of chief information officers about whether Surface will rival iPad in the business world.
"Technically, from what I've read, it does plug a gap in the corporate space," added Steve Lee, CIO and senior vice president of technology for the Asia-based Changi Airport Group.
But not all chief information officers interviewed by ZDNet/TechRepublic were so sure of the Surface’s success.
"I am not sure [Microsoft] can make up the lost ground to iOS or Android devices,” said Peter Smith, group manager of information systems at Quick Service Restaurant Holdings, an Australian company. “It is not really apparent whether Microsoft is trying to position the product as a tablet or an ultra-light laptop. Reviews on the intuitiveness of the interface are not particularly positive, so it sounds like Microsoft still has some work to do."
After using Windows 8 on a desktop computer, I’m inclined to agree with him. The interface is clunky and after years of being used to where Microsoft put things, I suddenly felt lost trying to accomplish even the most basic tasks. But on a tablet, my experience may be completely different.
Who knows, I might even like it.
I certainly hope this shift in Microsoft’s thinking bears fruit and renews interest in things like its original Surface product, the touch-screen interactive table, now called PixelSense. I remember how excited I was when I first heard about it a few years ago.
My friends and I saw all sorts of possibilities for it, including it being one really kick-ass gaming table for our Dungeons and Dragons gaming sessions. No more having to draw maps or use figurines on home-made grid boards. Just touch and swipe! Someone even developed a really cool astronomy app for it, NUIverse. The video for it has since been removed from Youtube, but you can read about it here and see some screenshots of it here.
Off the top of my head, I can think of at least two groups of users who would benefit from such an advance: engineers and artists doing Computer Aided Design work and the billions of people who use their computer to play games such as Halo and Half-Life and Call of Duty. Just think how much cooler it would be to play those first-person-shooters if you could reach inside the game and grab and manipulate the weapons. It would literally add a whole new dimension to the game.
After that all Microsoft would have to do is add is tactical feedback, and they’d have something very close to the Holodeck from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
And that, my friends, would be the ultimate killer, must-have gadget, one that I don’t think even Apple would be able to top.
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