Brilliant pun!!!
Anyway, before Christmas I was contemplating getting a Surface. You know, that Microsoft tablet. My interest has slowly waned for it though. There are two reasons for this, that combine into one massive reason for not wanting one. The first reason is price, the second reason is schizophrenia. I shall explain.
To address the first point, it is expensive. I would want to go the whole hog, a 128gb Surface Pro, with type cover – super expensive. How can I justify that when I could pick up a laptop with higher spec for a fraction of the cost? I addressed the other point, its perceived schizophrenia in this post, several months ago. I still can’t see how the touch side of Windows 8 is useful on a non-touch enabled device. And how much is it stalling the performance of the operating system overall? Is the full and proper use of the “touch” side of Windows 8 worth paying that much for? In the end, I decided no, and picked up a cheap refurbished laptop off eBay – that ironically runs on Windows 8.
Microsoft is in trouble. The Xbox One was almost botched before it began (my thoughts on the launch details here, and the subsequent 180 here), and they’ve recently posted a massive financial loss which I’m led to believe is due to the Surface not performing as well as they thought it would at retail. They’ve got Windows 8 for desk- and lap-tops, Windows RT for those Microsoft tablets you see advertised everywhere, and Windows Phone 8. That to me is three platforms, not one. I can’t help but feel Microsoft would’ve been better off up-scaling the Windows Phone experience for tablets (and keep it the same scale for phones, obviously), while making Windows 8 solely for desktops. That’d be two platforms to cater for, much easier. I love my Windows Phone more than my Nexus 7 tablet simply because it feels nicer to use, and the native operating system is cleaner and more intuitive (even though the Nexus has a much larger screen). And some cheaper, 7-inch Windows tablets would seal the deal too.
