Microsoft To Start Dumping Surface RT To Schools For $199 251
onyxruby writes "In a move that will remind many of Apple in the '80s, Microsoft is going to start dumping Surface RT computers to educational institutions. In an effort to try to gain mindshare for their struggling Surface RT platform, Microsoft is giving away 10,000 Surface RTs to teachers through the International Society for Technology in Education. They're also preparing to offer $199 Surface RTs to K12 and higher education institutions. The strategy of flooding the educational market was quite successful for Apple. Unfortunately for Microsoft, today's computers require management and the Surface RT presents significant management challenges in terms of the inability to join the computer to a domain or available management tools."
Huh? (Score:3, Insightful)
How would this remind people of Apple in the 80s? The Apple II was not a dud product being price dumped to clear inventory.
Re:Because that worked so well for Apple? (Score:2, Insightful)
[citation needed] You know, actual evidence.
Re:perfect (Score:4, Insightful)
Dammit (Score:0, Insightful)
Microsoft, nobody wants your crap. Go fix your crap instead of trying to tell everyone how great it is.
You fucked up. Now go back to work and fix it. Instead of fucking around.
Re:Because that worked so well for Apple? (Score:5, Insightful)
Remembering the time when Apple was pushing Apple II's in schools, I sure don't recall kids "hating it" because they felt "forced to use something" --- for the majority of kids, it was their first and only opportunity to use a computer at all. Playing those Apple II games was something new and exciting, that they'd be unlikely to have access to at home (without both well-off and technologically cutting-edge parents).
In this case, however, I agree with you --- a lot of kids (pretty much all of them from a middle class socioeconomic background) will already have seen better computers (or even have one in their pocket). Dumping crappy cheap tech on schools for a tax writeoff and some publicity isn't particularly going to be awe-inspiring for the kids. But, it will stall school administrations from considering switching to less Microsoft-centric platforms for at least a few more years; and, even if the kids don't like it, they'll be blocked from learning much about alternatives when they have to do classwork in Microsoft Office instead of [insert superior alternatives here].
Should have called RT something else... (Score:5, Insightful)
What they did was confuse the hell out of people. At first Microsoft was touting a tablet that could run Windows Apps called the surface. What they meant was the Surface pro. Instead the device that got released first was the RT and it still had the name "windows". Most people looking at them, and I know of one business that bought a couple, did so thinking they could run existing windows programs. They got 'em home and learned they couldn't.
At least Apple makes it clear that while underneath the hood, both MacOS and iOS share many of the same parts, they are entirely different OS's designed for different purposes. Microsoft failed to do that with the Surface.
The next problem is that the Surface Pro is $1000. At that price what is the incentive to buy it? You can buy a convertible ultra book for just a few dollars more.
Recieved wisdom. (Score:2, Insightful)
Dumping 3rd rate technology in schools, in the hopes that children cannot tell the level of substandard they are presented with.
Whether they are "substandard" or not, depends on what the children do with them. I.e. whether they work within the (assumed) confines of the technology, or are inspired to set and achieve their own limits.
There was a time when geeks were defined by taking whatever was at hand and adapting/extending it to whatever their imaginations came up with. Now ./ is overrun with crabby fanbois who define geek as "good at XBox even though M$ is teh suxxor", apparently. Oh well.
Re:Because that worked so well for Apple? (Score:4, Insightful)
Did they? Because I went to high school during that time period, and it's my recollection that every geek wanted an Apple.
Most of them ended up with Commodores, or worse.
Re:take a dump (Score:3, Insightful)
Without x86 legacy applications, there just isn't that much reason to bother with Windows.
On the other hand, pretty much anything available for Linux is available as source and can be rebuilt for alternative platforms. If not by the author than by some interested 3rd party.
Windows on ARM is a shadow of it's x86 variant.
Re:perfect (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:I've actually used an RT (Score:4, Insightful)
I think that a $200 tablet for web browsing, email, and remote desktop would be pretty useful despite the limited app store. Maybe it's time to send my Touchpad to ebay and try one of these out...
Re:I've actually used an RT (Score:5, Insightful)
I think that a $200 tablet for web browsing, email, and remote desktop would be pretty useful despite the limited app store. Maybe it's time to send my Touchpad to ebay and try one of these out...
Except the $200 price only applies if you are a school buying for your students... An individual can't get that price.
Re:Because that worked so well for Apple? (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, Surface may or may not be crappy, but all kids these days have already got their allegiance to ipad/iphone or Android, and dumping Surface at a slight discount is not necessarily going to do much for them. Hey, but if I were them, I'd probably try it too. Worth a shot. But my guess is MS will get bored with this quickly like they do with most of their ideas that don't generate instant cash, and that will be that.
Re:Huh? (Score:5, Insightful)
WindowsRT reminds me of the PCjr. IBM wanted to sell a cheaper version of the PC and so they made a crippled version so it wouldn't compete with the high priced units. It withered and died. Now MS seems to be repeating the idea. Very Ironic. They took IBM's monopoly away from them and now they repeat IBM's early mistakes with hardware. I love it.