3 ms·

> Obviously Windows has a similar implementation, but the unfortunate truth is that the Windows tablet market is almost non-existent at this point outside of th

> Obviously Windows has a similar implementation, but the unfortunate truth is that the Windows tablet market is almost non-existent at this point outside of the Surface lineup. This struck me as an odd comment. Because the iOS tablet market is non-existent outside of the iPad lineup.

Apocryphon 11y ago
But Windows can run on more than just Surfaces.
bob-2 11y ago
I think it's a comparison of popularity. The iPad market is larger than the Windows tablet market as a whole (which is mostly driven by Surface alone). More hands will see iOS implementations than Windows tablet implementations. Developers making tablet apps will most likely see more profits from their iPad versions than their Windows tablet versions, so iOS takes priority due to the sheer number of users in the market, not variety of devices in market. And so on.
jasode 11y ago
I'm guessing the author was talking about "Windows RT". And "Surface" in that sentence meant the tablets running regular Windows. The WindowsRT tablets from ASUS/Dell/Samsung didn't sell like Android and iOS. If one does a search&replace: s/Windows/WindowsRT/ : "Obviously Windows RT has a similar implementation, but the unfortunate truth is that the Windows RT tablet market is almost non-existent at this point outside of the Surface lineup." (I would appreciate if the downvoter who thought my interpretation was incorrect to reply with the correct way to read the author's sentence. It seems that Brandon Chester is quite aware of the difference between Windows RT vs Windows tablets : http://www.anandtech.com/show/8736/best-tablets-holiday-2014/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/8736/best-tablets-holiday-2014...)
- gtk40 11y ago
  That seems like an unlikely meaning to me when Windows RT is effectively discontinued as far as I can tell. There is no Windows RT equivalent of Windows 10 and no Windows RT version of the Surface 3. There are plenty of Windows tablets at all sorts of price points, but most seem to be using x86 instead of ARM.
  - jasode 11y ago
    >There is no Windows RT equivalent of Windows 10 The author didn't mention "Windows 10" specifically but instead, just "Windows" which can include the previous incarnations (both Windows 8 & Windows RT 8). The non-premium Windows RT had "multitasking" several years ago when iOS did not and that was the particular point of comparison to trigger his hard-to-parse statement. He also qualified his sentence with "outside of the Surface lineup" which seems like he was aware that Surface has turned into a somewhat of a success story for Microsoft. http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-surface-hits-1bn-revenue-mission-accomplished/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-surface-hits-1bn-reve... http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/23/microsoft-q3-2015-earnings/ http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/23/microsoft-q3-2015-earning...
rodgerd 11y ago
It strikes me as an odd comment because every consumer store I walk into has a variety of non-Surface Windows tablets for sale.
- gress 11y ago
  In addition to the many iPads, I have seen a few surfaces in the wild, and a few years back, a few android tablets, but never a non-surface Windows tablet. They may be on sale but that doesn't mean there is a market for them.

Apocryphon 11y ago

But Windows can run on more than just Surfaces.

bob-2 11y ago

I think it's a comparison of popularity. The iPad market is larger than the Windows tablet market as a whole (which is mostly driven by Surface alone). More hands will see iOS implementations than Windows tablet implementations. Developers making tablet apps will most likely see more profits from their iPad versions than their Windows tablet versions, so iOS takes priority due to the sheer number of users in the market, not variety of devices in market. And so on.

jasode 11y ago

I'm guessing the author was talking about "Windows RT". And "Surface" in that sentence meant the tablets running regular Windows. The WindowsRT tablets from ASUS/Dell/Samsung didn't sell like Android and iOS. If one does a search&replace: s/Windows/WindowsRT/ : "Obviously Windows RT has a similar implementation, but the unfortunate truth is that the Windows RT tablet market is almost non-existent at this point outside of the Surface lineup." (I would appreciate if the downvoter who thought my interpretation was incorrect to reply with the correct way to read the author's sentence. It seems that Brandon Chester is quite aware of the difference between Windows RT vs Windows tablets : http://www.anandtech.com/show/8736/best-tablets-holiday-2014/4 http://www.anandtech.com/show/8736/best-tablets-holiday-2014...)

gtk40 11y ago
That seems like an unlikely meaning to me when Windows RT is effectively discontinued as far as I can tell. There is no Windows RT equivalent of Windows 10 and no Windows RT version of the Surface 3. There are plenty of Windows tablets at all sorts of price points, but most seem to be using x86 instead of ARM.
- jasode 11y ago
  >There is no Windows RT equivalent of Windows 10 The author didn't mention "Windows 10" specifically but instead, just "Windows" which can include the previous incarnations (both Windows 8 & Windows RT 8). The non-premium Windows RT had "multitasking" several years ago when iOS did not and that was the particular point of comparison to trigger his hard-to-parse statement. He also qualified his sentence with "outside of the Surface lineup" which seems like he was aware that Surface has turned into a somewhat of a success story for Microsoft. http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-surface-hits-1bn-revenue-mission-accomplished/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-surface-hits-1bn-reve... http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/23/microsoft-q3-2015-earnings/ http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/23/microsoft-q3-2015-earning...

rodgerd 11y ago

It strikes me as an odd comment because every consumer store I walk into has a variety of non-Surface Windows tablets for sale.

gress 11y ago
In addition to the many iPads, I have seen a few surfaces in the wild, and a few years back, a few android tablets, but never a non-surface Windows tablet. They may be on sale but that doesn't mean there is a market for them.