Microsoft: Surface Tablet May Alienate OEM Partners 164
HangingChad sends this excerpt from PCMag:
"Microsoft this week admitted that its upcoming Surface tablet might hurt its relationships with PC maker partners. As first noted by the New York Times, Redmond said in a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that 'our Surface devices will compete with products made by our OEM partners, which may affect their commitment to our platform.'"
The filing also made note of the difficulties in building up another app marketplace: "In order to compete, we must successfully enlist developers to write applications for our marketplace and ensure that these applications have high quality, customer appeal and value. Efforts to compete with these application marketplaces may increase our cost of revenue and lower our operating margins."
Re:They're Concluding Microsoft Wants to Be Apple (Score:5, Interesting)
What is at issue is the hardware, not the OS.
Microsoft wants to develop their own hardware, that is fine. But who controls the UEFI restrictions? What club do hardware and OEM manufacturers have to belong to now to conform?
With Windows 8's added requirement to conform to this standard, hardware will have to go through testing with MS, which historically has not been that great.
Well now, MS holds the reigns on competitor hardware as well as its own. So... where does that lead the industry?
They can either conform and deal with what is dealt, or find alternatives.
We already see that Apples Developers are leaving due to this "controlled" approach, so what will happen to hardware?
Personally, i think the next 10 years of computing will be very interesting or very depressing.
Market Caps (Score:3, Interesting)
Microsoft's Market Cap
http://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/market_cap [ycharts.com]
Apple's Market Cap
http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL/market_cap [ycharts.com]
At one time Microsoft could have eaten Apple's lunch. They even bailed them out with a loan. Now look how things have changed. Microsft can clearly see where Apple has been a success and they think they can emulate it. A little envy?
If the DOJ now gives Apple a pass on this business model, why wouldn't they do the same for Microsoft?
Re:They're Concluding Microsoft Wants to Be Apple (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Of course it will... (Score:4, Interesting)
In the entire history of IBM PC clones, none have innovated. They usually copied the innovations from the Atari and Commodore machines..... and then the PC makers caught-up 5-10 years later to turn a boring business machine into one with sound/graphic cards. Or into integrated one-piece units like the iMac. THIS model has worked for them since the mid-80s so it's doubtful they'll suddenly change. It's cheaper to just copy.
Re:They're Concluding Microsoft Wants to Be Apple (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:They're Concluding Microsoft Wants to Be Apple (Score:2, Interesting)
Microsoft should invest in getting a small form tablet which can run an x86 architecture. This is the only way they will compete with anyone else on the market, especially those that use their (normal) Windows OSes with ease on their tablet/convertible laptops.
What the hell are you thinking, Microsoft? Nobody wants Windows 8, with your goofy-ass MetroUI boxes on some obscure(even if it's ARM) architecture. Please, just make a NORMAL WINDOWS TABLET if you are going to trip into that market. When I start my tablet, I want to see Windows 7, or better yet XP with the rolling hills and fluffy little clouds, and that friendly little START button right where I expect it.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want a Windows laptop that I don't have to open and close...is that so hard?