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So your client gave its its sales reps iPads when they needed laptops? :)

by balloot 14y ago

IanDrake 14y ago
No, they had laptops. The problem that Microsoft will solve is that people want to have a low powered device that can be a laptop sometimes and a tablet other times.
- greedo 14y ago
  So these people want to have a low powered laptop? A Netbook? With a confusing split-brain interface? It's not about how powerful the hardware is, but how powerful and responsive the applications are. If they try to emulate a full blown Windows desktop on a low powered device, then the buyer has the worst of both worlds.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  The place where this could do well is people who want tablet computers but also need something that integrates nicely with active directory and the rest of the corporate Windows infrastructure. The problem I have with all in one type devices is that they are competing with just buying one of each, at a time when hardware prices seem to be tumbling. If your top sales guys ask for a tablet and a laptop maybe you just give them one of each, rather than worrying about whether you can save a couple of hundred $ with some all in one device that does neither especially well. Also a lot of corporate workers do their work primarily using one or two bespoke corporate apps which may be either web apps or some .Net (or even VB6) app. In this case they want to roll out a lot of cheap devices but they may not really care about portability because they don't want the devices taken out of the building. The other thing I wonder about is how good the paradigm of a keyboard plus a touchscreen really is without a mouse, especially considering how cheap a basic mouse is. One of the companies I do a lot of work for uses PCs that have touch screens in addition to mice, but in reality the touch screen is almost never used. I imagine this is mainly because the amount of arm movement required to move your right hand over to the mouse is significantly less than it is to raise it to a screen.
notatoad 14y ago
Sounds like it. Which is exactly what microsoft is going to salve here: users demand iPads, no matter what it is they actually need. I'm sure IT didn't just decide that the sales reps all should have iPads, the reps got iPads because that's what they asked for. Microsoft has a product here that does what people need, while actually possibly being what people want as well.

So your client gave its its sales reps iPads when they needed laptops? :)

by balloot 14y ago

So your client gave its its sales reps iPads when they needed laptops? :)

No, they had laptops. The problem that Microsoft will solve is that people want to have a low powered device that can be a laptop sometimes and a tablet other times.

greedo 14y ago
So these people want to have a low powered laptop? A Netbook? With a confusing split-brain interface? It's not about how powerful the hardware is, but how powerful and responsive the applications are. If they try to emulate a full blown Windows desktop on a low powered device, then the buyer has the worst of both worlds.
jiggy2011 14y ago
The place where this could do well is people who want tablet computers but also need something that integrates nicely with active directory and the rest of the corporate Windows infrastructure. The problem I have with all in one type devices is that they are competing with just buying one of each, at a time when hardware prices seem to be tumbling. If your top sales guys ask for a tablet and a laptop maybe you just give them one of each, rather than worrying about whether you can save a couple of hundred $ with some all in one device that does neither especially well. Also a lot of corporate workers do their work primarily using one or two bespoke corporate apps which may be either web apps or some .Net (or even VB6) app. In this case they want to roll out a lot of cheap devices but they may not really care about portability because they don't want the devices taken out of the building. The other thing I wonder about is how good the paradigm of a keyboard plus a touchscreen really is without a mouse, especially considering how cheap a basic mouse is. One of the companies I do a lot of work for uses PCs that have touch screens in addition to mice, but in reality the touch screen is almost never used. I imagine this is mainly because the amount of arm movement required to move your right hand over to the mouse is significantly less than it is to raise it to a screen.

notatoad 14y ago

Sounds like it. Which is exactly what microsoft is going to salve here: users demand iPads, no matter what it is they actually need. I'm sure IT didn't just decide that the sales reps all should have iPads, the reps got iPads because that's what they asked for. Microsoft has a product here that does what people need, while actually possibly being what people want as well.