Longevity of the Surface product line

[Nuspieds]

Oh I definitely think there is a market for Modern. I was referring to Surface Pro, Surface, Surface 2... no way at all for the uninitiated to distinguish between which is which. The RT devices should have been their own brand, called something completely different.

Ok, I get you.

But play along with me as I play Devil's advocate for a bit...

So what's the difference between the following types of consumers?

1. Someone who knowingly buys a Surface because all he/she needs are Modern UI apps from the Store;
2. Someone who knowingly buys a Surface Pro because he/she has one or two Windows Desktop applications that they absolutely need. Apart from those couple of Desktop apps, the Modern UI apps fill their needs;
3. Someone who knowingly buys a Surface Pro because he/he is Windows Desktop-based, but is interested in transitioning to Modern UI apps--however slow the process may be.

At the end of the day, aren't they all using Surface devices?

 

[CrippsCorner]

I've heard it compared to Zune a lot recently, and although I never used one, I understand it was a quality product that just lost out in the market.

I think the Surface line is going from strength to strength and I hope they don't give up on it. It was quite interesting the other day as I hosted a BBQ and had all the music streaming from my Surface. I had a couple of people come up to me and say, "Oh it's one of those Surface things, any good!?". I was pleased to see people actually knew what it was but at the same time they hadn't actually seen one before... is that good for a product that's been out there for a while now?

I love all the advertisements of them getting used in different business etc. but I'm just not sure they're reaching the general public enough. One friend from the BBQ finished his statement by saying, "I did think about getting one... but I got an iPad instead"

 

[leeshor]

If it was that easy/simple the Windows Phone would have been toast years ago. I don't see Microsoft giving up on the Surface.

 

[hertsjoatmon]

I recently picked up a Surface Pro 2 8gb/256gb

My only concern comes in the form of my first point; Am I investing in a hardware platform that may have a limited lifespan? If I need a new Type Cover in a year and a half will I struggle to find one?

I'm in a similar situation in that I've only just jumped on the Surface Pro train by getting a second hand Pro 2 8gb/512gb.

With the release of the Surface pro 3 at a different form factor, I do wonder if they will continue to support the 10.6 format or if 12 inch is where they see the surface's future. I hope its the former as I like the smaller form factor of my Pro 2 (although it would be nice if a future 10.6 inch pro was a little thinner and lighter).

With this machine, I cant see myself upgrading for 4 years or so unless something truely ground breaking hits the market.

 

[GreyFox7]

As was pointed out in another article MS just spent 7 billion to bolster Windows Phone... I don't see them throwing in the towel.

 

[CrippsCorner]

I'm in a similar situation in that I've only just jumped on the Surface Pro train by getting a second hand Pro 2 8gb/512gb.

With the release of the Surface pro 3 at a different form factor, I do wonder if they will continue to support the 10.6 format or if 12 inch is where they see the surface's future. I hope its the former as I like the smaller form factor of my Pro 2 (although it would be nice if a future 10.6 inch pro was a little thinner and lighter).

With this machine, I cant see myself upgrading for 4 years or so unless something truely ground breaking hits the market.

I also hope they keep the smaller size, but have a feeling they might keep 10.6" for the RT model...

 

[Brad]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I have to say, I hope they don't give up on it either and personally I don't think they will. They're transforming the PC industry and attempting to use the Surface to do it. I don't think it's about the Surface product line having to be successful on it's own. In my mind they're making sure they invest in a product category to build a foundation for their profitable services line by dragging OEMs in the same direction. The whole "spend money to make money" model I guess.

I was/am still inside my return window on my SP2 and I've evaluated just about every option including Macs, which I used exclusively in the past, and I literally can't find a better option especially with the dock. I expected to find something better and I'd lose the novelty value of the SP2 and want to bring it back. But the value per dollar and feature set just make it such an amazing device. There are tablets like the ThinkPad 10 (underpowered for my needs) and some of the Macbook Pro's are amazing in their own right, but I place a high value on balancing top notch portability with a combination of processing power. Based on the discounted price I paid for a 8/256 ($999) I couldn't find a better deal. Even with that being said at full price it would still be a great value.

Here's to hoping for continued success for the Surface line.

 

[sashlon]

In the last Windows Weekly podcast episode, Mary Jo Foley and Daniel Rubino (the editor of WPcentral) talked about Microsoft merging RT with Windows Phone. It seems that's the direction that Microsoft is taking.

Windows Phone has a far more robust ecosystem than Windows RT. I always thought a 'Windows Phone tablet' was what they should have made in the first place. It just makes sense. Imagine a Surface 2 running that, with no desktop at all, but with fully functional touch Office apps. The amount of apps in the Windows Phone store dwarfs the Windows store. Its at over 300,000 now.

It would be clearly differentiated from regular Windows x86 devices.