How Microsoft plans to market against the iPad
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If you read through the slides, you'll see that MS is really pushing HARD is the view that enterprise IT departments generally have of computing "devices" -- they want them locked down HARD, with all kind of remote "management" capabilities.
They also heavily slanted the feature comparisons to tight integration into an MS-heavy enterprise IT environment.
This combination is about as opposite as can be from the real iPad customer base -- folks that want a fancy high-tech "toy" that has high entertainment value.
I'm not badmouthing the iPad, I'm just saying that we're really talking about two very different "worlds" when we compare personal entertainment use to integrated corporate/enterprise use. So, it's not surprising that the best fit for each, in a tablet/slate form factor, are going to be very different devices.
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If you read through the slides, you'll see that MS is really pushing HARD is the view that enterprise IT departments generally have of computing "devices" -- they want them locked down HARD, with all kind of remote "management" capabilities.
They also heavily slanted the feature comparisons to tight integration into an MS-heavy enterprise IT environment.
This combination is about as opposite as can be from the real iPad customer base -- folks that want a fancy high-tech "toy" that has high entertainment value.
I'm not badmouthing the iPad, I'm just saying that we're really talking about two very different "worlds" when we compare personal entertainment use to integrated corporate/enterprise use. So, it's not surprising that the best fit for each, in a tablet/slate form factor, are going to be very different devices.
That is a good point. I wonder though whether they can get any large volume from the IT based market. Apart from the iPad which I think sold already 6 or 8 million, the Galaxy sold 1 million in the first month. MS would need a lot of companies to commit quickly to achieve comparable numbers.
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It's going to be a tough challenge. The iPad has already established dominance even in the corporate/enterprise markets. Been on over 115 trips all over last year and it's ridiculous how many rock the iPad. I personally have an iPad and a Galaxy Tab, every time the GT comes out a lot of people look at me like I'm wearing mismatched clothes.
I believe that even MS's best efforts will only be about taking only a portion of Apple's dominance away but will ultimately falter at establishing dominance. With Android, unlike the iPad, there's a large variety of tabs, there's always that concern from a new buyer about "is the Galaxy Tab any good? What about the LG? The Sony?" where as the iPad is well known, used by many, even if the buyer has little info on it since so many people have them, they feel buying it offers little risk.
MS needs to do everything better than Apple, not just be a competitor or another choice to dethrone the current king of tabs.
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Hi there
I think "Tablet Mania" will die down in time anyway -- a decently powered netbook can really kill a tablet STONE DEAD.
The Ipad is a different device -- yes they look "Kewl" but once you've tried using one for a while you can't wait to get back to a proper laptop with a real keyboard.
Just try running / devloping complex spreadsheets on an ipad using touch screens.
I even find smart phones a bit of an aggro these days --I've gone back to a basic TINY mobile which is just basically a phone / texting device. I don't need something the size of a Brick - even a very THIN brick in my pocket just for making calls
I find however that I AM using the Netbook far far more than I ever thought I would. A 10 in screen is plenty and with 2GB RAM and the latest processor these devices DO really fly -- saves lugging a heavy laptop around and even if they get broken you can buy 2 of these for less than the cost of ONE IPAD.
People have greatly exaggerated the demise of the PC.
Cheers
jimbo
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jimbo, you make some very good points. Especially the netbook is an excellent alternative to the pads. And once they put the Tegra 2 or Tegra 3 (or equivalent) plus an SSD on the netbooks, they will be really fast and hardly more bulky than the 10" pads.
Nevertheless, the 7" pads (as opposed to the 10" like the iPad or Xoom) are handy. You can stick them into your jacket pocket and browse wherever you are. I think the Galaxy is (currently) the leader of the pack and I am only waiting for Galaxy 2 and Android 3.0 to buy one. But I do not expect to do spreadsheets on it - LOL.
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