Where to Begin....Again

I have been away from this site for far too long and for the last month or so, I have stayed away because I had been away too long.  I simply do not know where to begin in getting back into putting down my thoughts on this blog.

One thing that has changed is my gadget status.  When I was last writing regularly, I was a gadget-starved gadget junkie.  I am a bit better fed now.

Microsoft Surface

This is the original version and the RT variety, not the Pro.  Quick review.  I love it, even though I do not use it as much as I thought I would.  With the addition of a TypeCover I can do virtually anything on it that I can do on the PC that I am presently typing this on.

Dell Venue 8 Pro

Now, the funny part is that my 8" Tablet runs full Windows 8, while my 10" Tablet runs RT.  I love this one as well.  I got the smaller tablet because I do not like to read on the larger one.  Also, I discovered that my phone, which is one of the biggest on the market isn't big enough for reading on.

On the subject of Windows RT versus Windows 8 is that it really does not make a difference.  I have no legacy programs that I use on my tablets, so the smaller tablet could have RT on it and I would not notice.

HTC One Max

This is the big phone, 5.9", which makes it larger than the Galaxy Note.  I love the real estate, but it has a few annoying things, like the change in the buttons, which is really annoying because you have to double tap the home button to get the running programs list.  It doesn't always work.  Overall, I really like it.

I still have my Hisense Sero 7 Pro, but it gives me problems from time to time and I do not use it much.

So, this is my first time back in a while, but I intend to write more often, so watch out.

Starting the New Year on the Surface

So, I have not been very good about writing here lately.  I am not sure that will change, but here I am again.

For my birthday, I bought myself a refurbished Microsoft Surface.  Yes, the one that runs Windows RT.  No, not the new Surface 2, but the original Surface.  I found a very good price on a refurbished Surface and I jumped on it when I had the money.

So, some of you may be wondering why I decided on the Windows tablet that may be doing least well of them all.  Well, that is why I am here writing today.

First, I reject completely the argument that Windows RT is bad because it does not run Windows legacy apps.  That is completely and utter balderdash.  No, I do indeed understand that Windows RT does not run Windows legacy apps.  What I reject is the idea that this is a mark against it.  Will Android run Windows apps?  No.  Well, is that a mark against it?  Does iOS run Windows apps?  No.  Does iOS run MacOS apps.  No.  Why is Windows RT judged differently from iOS and Android?  Windows RT is Microsoft's attempt to enter the low end tablet market.  Just like the tablets that it competes directly against, it does not run Windows or MacOS apps intended for desktop systems.  So, all three are even.

Windows RT only fails when compared to Windows 8 tablets, and that is understandable, except that with an ARM processor, it can have a much longer battery life, and a lighter weight.  I would put that as two in the plus column for Windows RT.

I have a new Windows 8 laptop that I am typing this on, so I do not really need a full Windows 8 tablet.  Though I must admit to being tempted by the Dell Venue 11 Pro, but at more than twice what I paid for my Surface, I was willing to sacrifice a few things I did not really need.

There are plenty of apps in the Microsoft Store.  I have installed Kindle, Netflix, and I already had a news, sports and mail app.  Once I updated to Windows RT 8.1, I was all set.  I also get Office, and I do not mean an Office clone, like you get on Android or iOS, I mean Office, the original and still the best.  I haven't installed many games, but that will come as I work my way through figuring out what I want.

One big thing for me was that I wanted a keyboard.  10"+ tablets are a little useless without one.  I had a 10" Android tablet and it screamed out to me constantly for a keyboard.  I ended up trying out three different ones.  Swype is nice, but it is really hard to do more than a few words.  By the way I prefer Swype to Swiftkey.  Swype is fine for stuff about the length of a text message.  I am sure it works great in Twitter...then again I do not use Twitter.  But, for longer emails, or writing something like this post...not so much.

The only other Windows tablet in my price range was the Asus T100, which is a great machine at a great price....with an unusable keyboard.  At least, it is unusable for someone with my big hands...or at least me with my big hands (no, you can't have them).  I have tried out both the TouchCover and the TypeCover at my local Microsoft store and surprise, I can use both of these.  They are actually full size keyboards.

I have a TypeCover that I hope will be arriving this week.

Most importantly, the price was right.  None of the other tablets I was looking at could match the price.  Oh, there were some lesser Android tablets, but the ones in the same price range are not ones I want.  The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, which would be my Android preference was twice the price.

So, I am starting off the new year on the Surface, and as the year progresses I will let you know what it is like to live with the Surface.

The Post-PC Era

Once again, an article on Tech Republic got me thinking.

What's behind the slump in PC sales? Can the industry turn around?

Specifically, it was the following lines at the end of the article.

‘Between now and the next "crucial holiday buying season," it's imperative that PC makers who want to avoid that fate put together product lineups that aren't so, you know, PC-like.’

This got me to thinking about the whole concept of the PC, and what a post-PC era might be.

First, I didn’t buy the post-PC era BS when Steve Jobs said it, and I still don’t…well, maybe not.  PCs are not going anywhere.  We are going to be using PCs for the next several decades.  There is still a need for powerful desktop PCs. 

The problem is that most of us are learning that we don’t really need a PC for most of what we have done on a PC for the last couple of decades.  We really do not need PCs to surf the web, to check our email, check Facebook, watch a video or two.  Netflix and Hulu Plus are both available on tablets and smartphones (Hulu too, if you work at it).  Some tablets even have HDMI ports, so you can push it to your TV.  You can even do Word Processing on a tablet, if you add a keyboard. 

It is beyond these simple tasks where I start to see the weakness of my tablet, but I do not do them very often.  Picture editing is possible, but I find nothing to match Paint.net, which I have on my PC (it’s free).  But, as I said, I do not need Paint.net very often. 

I can easily imagine a future where there is one PC in my house.  Right now there are 4.  As a family, we have not made the switch to tablets.  My son likes PC games too much, and I am the only one with a tablet.  But, I can imagine each of us with our own tablet, and one PC for the things that require a PC.  I cannot yet imagine not having a PC at home.

The PC has dominated for the last two decades because of its versatility.  It could be anything.  It could be a lightweight portable for hauling across the country.  It could be a multimedia machine for listening to music, watching videos, even recording and producing them both.  It could be a graphics workstation, handling the largest pictures with ease.  It became our window to the internet, to email and webpages, to social networking and Wikipedia and all those other things.  For many, that window to the internet is really all a PC was…at home.  That job is being taken over by smartphones and tablets.

I quoted the end of the article above, but I am now going to quote the beginning.

“PCs are for work, tablets are for fun.”

And he quickly followed with…

“No one climbed on Santa's lap and asked for a new laptop. They wanted a Kindle or an iPad, or maybe even a cheap Android tablet, all of which cost less than a PC and are easier to wrap.”

Tablets were the hot gift of the season.  Now, it could be that tablets are just this season’s Tickle Me Elmo, but I don’t think so.  The momentum has shifted away from PCs towards tablets, but the real momentum is for the hearts and minds of users.  Lots of people still use PCs, but people don’t want PCs.  They may still need them, but that need is like how some people actually need Minivans.  They may need it, but it is not what they want, what they desire, what they dream about.

So, maybe we have entered the post-PC era.  The era when the PC slips from being an object of desire, like a sports car, and becomes the tool that we use because we need it, like the Minivan.

More Thoughts on Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface is one of the coolest concepts in the Tablet arena, and many questions have been raised, some legitimate, because Microsoft failed to mention any details about it.  So, we don't know the exact cost, the exact specifications, the battery life, or...much of anything. 

One thing that has some worried is that Microsoft is entering into the hardware business, in what should be direct competition with their partners.  Personally, I have a bit of faith in Microsoft.  After the successes of the XBox, Windows Phone 7, and Windows 7.  Some will point out that Windows Phone 7 has not been a huge sales success, but anyone who has used it knows that the OS is a success.  It is the best smartphone OS now, even including iOS 6, and only lacks the app ecosystem.  It is not the same sales success, but it is still better. 

The problem for Windows 8/RT should be obvious when you look at the available Windows 7 and Android tablets.  From the standpoint of hardware, they just don't measure up to the iPad.  The Transformer Prime is probably the best example of the lot, and it comes fairly close to the iPad, and it is priced accordingly.  Most just don't really come close to the iPad, but they do offer the advantage of price. 

Of course, Windows tablets do not offer the advantage of price.  Most of them cost hundreds more than an iPad.  Of course, you are getting a true computer, a PC and not just an iPod Touch with a larger screen.  Which leads to a quick (hopefully) aside. 

iPad fans will say that the iPad is much more than an iPod Touch with a larger screen.  They are wrong.  The internals of the iPad are the same as the iPhone, same processor, same graphics, same everything except the screen.  Now, I do not want to understate the importance of that larger screen.  Apps that are unusable on a 3.5" screen are wonderful on a 9" screen, but that really is the only difference. 

The true difference between the iPad is the variety of apps.  As I said, apps that would be unusable on an iPhone are wonderful on an iPad, but that has nothing to do with Apple.  Apple didn't create a better device, they just attached a bigger screen.  It is the developers who deserve the credit for making the iPad into something more than an iPod Touch with a larger screen.  Well, not really, because that is still what it is. 

Now, close the aside and back to Surface. 

Windows tablets today are PCs without keyboards.  Full PC processors, full I/O support and all the rest.  But, no matter what we look at, we see that the Windows tablets available today are trying very hard to compete against the iPad, and they fail, because they have less battery life,greater size and weight, overly long boot times, and an interface that is not designed for Touch.  Yes, Windows 7 is touch ready, it supports two finger gestures and most of the other cool touch features, but the parts of the UI are so small you cannot use them with your fingers in many cases.  But, the real point is that to stay close to the iPad in price, they have had to skimp on the hardware, and it shows. 

The takeaway from all this, is that Microsoft cannot rely on the OEMs to produce a top of the line tablet.  Even the best Android tablet on the market has admitted that it cannot go head to head against the iPad at the same price.  This is important, because Windows RT tablets are going to be Android tablets with a different OS.  You should be able to take the Asus Transformer Prime and flash it with Windows RT. 

That's for ARM tablets, but if we look at the Windows 7 tablets, it is the same story.  Too many compromises to stay close to the iPad in price.  Just recently, we have see a few Windows 7 tablets that have attempted to do it right, the Asus EeeSlate, Samsung Slate, and the Dell Latitude ST.  Overall, these look quite good, and they are priced well above the iPad, but they still don't quite measure up. 

What Microsoft needed was a flagship.  The Windows equivalent of the Google Nexus.  Something that shows just exactly what you can do with Windows 8/RT, and I believe that Microsoft did not have enough faith in any of its OEM partners to leave that job up to them. 

When I remember that there were rumors over a year ago that Microsoft was thinking of crossing over into hardware for tablets, it makes me wonder if Microsoft didn't pull aside one or more of their partners to ask them to produce a flagship tablet.  If Microsoft didn't point out to Dell or HP for example that they needed a flagship tablet.  I am also wondering if Dell and HP didn't turn them down.   

HP already has the Windows Slate disaster standing against them.  Steve Ballmer must have felt like an idiot, when HP dropped the Slate after acquiring Palm.  Steve Ballmer made the HP Slate a centerpiece of his presentation, and then HP dropped it.  That must have seemed like a real stab in the back.  Dell has never done a Windows tablet until now, and if the Latitude St is the best Dell could do, then I can understand Microsoft leaving them behind. 

Microsoft needs a flagship tablet for Windows 8/RT, and no other partner was big enough to make it.  Especially for the Windows 8 tablet, they needed a big PC OEM and that really means either HP or Dell.  With them out of the running, Microsoft has only one choice, make it themselves.  And so, we have Surface. 

Microsoft said that Surface will have a price comparable to other tablets, and Surface Pro comparable to ultrabooks.  Let's rephrase that.  Surface will have a price that matches the iPad.  Surface Pro will have a price that comparable to the low to middle range of the ultrabooks, maybe even higher. 

This is the flagship.  The is the pinnacle.  Surface is a match for the iPad, at least in my opinion.  Give a choice between an iPad and Surface, I would not hesitate in choosing Surface.  Surface will be a premium tablet, both RT and Pro.  Every OEM will be able to produce a tablet and sell if for less than Surface, and that is the idea.  Microsoft will take the high road, up where the iPad is, where the real risk is.  No other tablet has succeeded in that price range.  OEMs will be able to produce lesser tablets and sell them at a lower price. 

I think that these lower priced tablets will be critical to the success of Windows 8/RT.  I am not sure that Windows RT can beat the iPad if Surface is the only player.  Microsoft needs a lower priced entry point for Windows RT.  Surface Pro and Windows 8 should be a different story.  Yes, they will be competing with the iPad, but they are clearly going to cost more, but when you compare the full computing power of Windows 8, I think you will have a compelling alternative to iPad, Android and even Windows RT. 

So, I hope that I have given a few extra points to consider.  Unlike some, I don't think that Microsoft threw its OEM partners under the bus.  I doubt that this was a big surprise to them.  I think they knew this was coming, and they will be scrambling to fill in underneath Surface, and to provide other innovative solutions, like the ones we saw at Computex recently.  I think that HP and Dell might have been given a chance to produce something like Surface and been refused.  Though I also think it is possible that Steve Ballmer did not make the offer to HP after the Slate embarassment. 

One final aside.  There is a rumor that Windows RT is going to cost $85 a copy.  So far as I know, this was a single rumor, unconfirmed that has been repeated so often by the Tech Media that they all believe it now.  I don't buy it.  What I see if a bunch of anti-MS tech writers (which is most of them) trotting out tired reasons why Microsoft will fail without making any attempt to verify the rumor.  They want Microsoft to fail, and so they repeat any rumor that makes it look like Microsoft is full of idiots. 

A price tag that high would cripple sales of Windows RT tablets.  Windows RT tablets will be competing directly against Android tablets and they do not do enough more to justify paying nearly $100 more for Windows RT.  Remember, the hardware is the same, therefore the cost is the same.  With the already tiny margins in the tablet field (outside of iPad), you cannot expect OEMs to take $85 less on each sale, and if you price them $85 more than an identically specced Android tablet, then they simply won't sell. 

I don't believe that Surface is Microsoft's attempt to push the OEMs out of the way and take over completely whatever market there may be for Windows tablets.  I believe that Microsoft wanted a no compromise flagship tablet that would stand up to direct comparison to the iPad, and I believe that Microsoft decided that the only way to get it was to make it themselves. 

Below is the chart of the prices of iPad and all the top Android tablets that I could find.  Where ever possible, I pulled prices from the manufacturers website.  I was not looking to find the lowest available price, but the manufacturer's suggested retail price. 

	8GB	16GB	32GB	64GB
iPad		$499	$599	$699
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1		$499	$599
Galaxy Tab 2		$399
Acer Iconia A200	$329	$349
Acer Iconia A500		$349
Acer Iconia A700			$449
Asus EeePad Transformer TF101		$377	$599
Asus EeePad Transformer TF300			$384
Asus Transformer Prime		$379	$499	$599
Sony		$399	$499
Toshiba Thrive	$379	$399	$479
Toshiba Excite		$449	$529	$649
Toshiba Excite LE		$529	$599
Motorola Xoom		$499
Motorola Xyboard		$499
Lenovo IdeaPad S	$399	$449	$499
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet		$499	$569	$669

Microsoft Surface

I was wrong about yesterday's announcement, which was all about hardware and not about software.   

Microsoft announced Surface, a new 10.6 inch tablet with a really innovative keyboard/cover.  The tablet looks like it will be really good, but Microsoft revealed almost nothing about it.  No specs, other than the size.  Downloading the spec sheet doesn't help much, other than to give you the rating for the battery, but that is in Watt hours, not in usage hours, so it is pretty worthless.  They announced two models, one with an ARM processor running Windows RT and one with an Intel processor running Windows 8. 

Unfortunately, not being one of those invited to the announcement, I have to rely on others to tell me about how it feels, but the reports so far are good.  It looks like it will be a solid unit, with a good balanced feel in your hands.  It has a Gorilla Glass screen, which means it should hold up well to daily use.   

It has a couple of features that some members of the tech press are suggesting are unnecessary or unwanted, but I disagree with them.  Putting a kickstand on a tablet seems like an obvious thing.  There are plenty of times when you will want to prop up your tablet, and if it does not compromise the weight or the sturdiness of the case, then I say bring it on.  Phones, at least some of them, have had kickstands for a long time and it is about time that a tablet got one. 

The other feature is a stylus.  Now, your Applefanboys will dismiss the idea of a stylus, because the iPad does not have one, and so obviously you don't need one.  If Steve Jobs didn't think it was necessary, then it isn't.  You'll have to imagine the this-is-utter-BS tone of my voice.  I can hear it in my own head, but it doesn't come out well onto the page. 

While, having to use a stylus is not the best user experience...and yes, I am familiar with that experience, I have a Samsung Q1U, a stylus has some distinct advantages, especially when combined with handwriting recognition.  I read lots about people taking notes on their iPads, but personally, I think they are kidding themselves when they say it is easy.  First, I don't like talking notes on a keyboard anyway, and second, an onscreen keyboard is just a pain to use on top of that.  My guess is they don't take many notes. 

A stylus, combined with handwriting recognition, allows you to take notes as fast as you can scribble, and I can scribble pretty damn fast.  And, did I mention that the handwriting recognition in Windows 7 is excellent?  If Microsoft has kept that same capability in Windows 8 and RT, then we are in for a treat.  Touch when we want it, and stylus when that makes more sense than fingers. 

But, the biggest part of the announcement...in my opinion...is the new keyboard/cover that will come with, or at least be available for, the new Microsoft Surface Tablet.  This cover seems to be about the same thickness as the Apple Smartcover, but this is a lot smarter, since it actually adds functionality to your tablet.  You see, it's a keyboard, with a touchpad.  Now, with a cover that's a keyboard, and a stand that is built in, your tablet converts to a laptop anytime you open it.  You can fold the cover onto the back of your Surface and it is smart enough to recognize that it should not take input.  So, you have a tablet with no hassles.  Then, you pop out the stand and unfold the cover so that it sits out in front of the tablet and there is your keyboard and touchpad, instant portable. 

It looks incredibly cool, and if it works like they say it does, then it blows Apple right out of the water.  It's widescreen, as tablets should be.  It is thin and light, as tablets should be, and without buying or carrying an extra piece of hardware, your tablet turns from the standard consumption device into a productivity device.  And, if you buy the Windows 8 version, it runs all your legacy apps. 

Now, there are still a lot of questions about the Surface.  What is the actual battery life?  How well does the keyboard/cover work (they were not available for the media to test yesterday)?  How much will it cost? 

Any of these could put a roadblock in the way of the success of the Surface, but for today, Microsoft has taken a bold step and I cannot wait to get my hands on one.