4 ms·

They absolutely need to price it low for their own sake. The point of the initial surface tablet, and Windows RT itself is to force devs to develop Metro apps

They absolutely need to price it low for their own sake. The point of the initial surface tablet, and Windows RT itself is to force devs to develop Metro apps so that Windows 8 can have a compelling tablet experience. The end game is not Windows running ARM, it is Windows on x86, even for tablets. Intel seems to have finally gotten it together and is releasing price/performance/power competitive mobile chips. A year from now I would expect very few Win RT devices to sell for over $400. There just won't be any reason to run an ARM Windows device with its limited app compatibility. That said, MS can't jump out of the gates and push people to x86 now or there wouldn't be enough of a reason to develop Metro apps instead of traditional desktop ones. And if there aren't Metro Apps, the 'switch-ability' of Windows 8 is of little value. So I guess my overall point is that the Surface RT had better be cheap or it puts Windows as a whole at risk.

freehunter 14y ago
It's kind of funny, because Microsoft gets derided for this behavior all the time, and now people are saying they need to step it up. Price the competition out of the market, force sales because of inertia, get developers locked in to get users locked in. Lose money now because they have money to lose, then once they're the only game in town they can jack up the prices. It's a perfectly valid business model if done carefully and legally. I'm not sure Microsoft has the balls (or legal foothold) to repeat their mistakes from the 90s.
- wtvanhest 14y ago
  I'm not sure Microsoft has the balls (or legal foothold) to repeat their mistakes from the 90s. If I became Bill Gates in the early 90s, I would make every one of their "mistakes" all over again. A law suit is just the inconvenience their lawyers dealt with on the path to domination.
  - pyre 14y ago
    Would you really? What about the "mistake" of thinking that the web was just a passing fad?
    - wtvanhest 14y ago
      Yes. I can't imagine any argument that would make sense saying that Bill Gates made the wrong moves in the 1990s.
      - pyre 14y ago
        By wrapping mistakes in scare quotes, you're implying (at least from my point of view) that what most people consider to be Microsoft's mistakes were not mistakes, but shrewd business moves. My point was that, were you to go back in time and inhabit the body of Bill Gates, there are a ton of moves you would probably want to do differently.
    - glhaynes 14y ago
      The end result of that mistake (combined with all the other mistakes and good decisions made in that era) was having a near-monopoly on the Web browser market.
      - pyre 14y ago
        > having a near-monopoly on the Web browser market. ...And doing nothing with it. There was no game plan other than, "embrace, extend, extinguish." It just happens that 1) they didn't fully scuttle it (i.e. pull IE once it was the dominant web browser) and 2) the Web is a powerful enough force that it was able to overcome this. Microsoft gave us the Web 2.0 revitalization of the web via their introduction of XmlHTTPRequest, but they didn't do anything with it, and it definitely wasn't part of any sort of strategy. Mostly a happy accident.
        glhaynes 14y ago
        Oh, totally. If you're playing Microsoft Simulator, you really want to start at right about the year 2000 or so — gives you a great starting position but also tons of opportunities to improve on previous players' high scores. (Somebody please make Microsoft Simulator!)
  - freehunter 14y ago
    Sure, it made Microsoft rich and let them survive in a market where very few entrants did. I don't know if I'd repeat them again, though. While Microsoft made tons of money and had a minor inconvenience with their lawsuit, repeat offenders tend to be judged harsher. The first time they flirted with being split into different companies. The next time they might not be so lucky.

freehunter 14y ago

It's kind of funny, because Microsoft gets derided for this behavior all the time, and now people are saying they need to step it up. Price the competition out of the market, force sales because of inertia, get developers locked in to get users locked in. Lose money now because they have money to lose, then once they're the only game in town they can jack up the prices. It's a perfectly valid business model if done carefully and legally. I'm not sure Microsoft has the balls (or legal foothold) to repeat their mistakes from the 90s.

wtvanhest 14y ago
I'm not sure Microsoft has the balls (or legal foothold) to repeat their mistakes from the 90s. If I became Bill Gates in the early 90s, I would make every one of their "mistakes" all over again. A law suit is just the inconvenience their lawyers dealt with on the path to domination.
- pyre 14y ago
  Would you really? What about the "mistake" of thinking that the web was just a passing fad?
  - wtvanhest 14y ago
    Yes. I can't imagine any argument that would make sense saying that Bill Gates made the wrong moves in the 1990s.
    - pyre 14y ago
      By wrapping mistakes in scare quotes, you're implying (at least from my point of view) that what most people consider to be Microsoft's mistakes were not mistakes, but shrewd business moves. My point was that, were you to go back in time and inhabit the body of Bill Gates, there are a ton of moves you would probably want to do differently.
  - glhaynes 14y ago
    The end result of that mistake (combined with all the other mistakes and good decisions made in that era) was having a near-monopoly on the Web browser market.
    - pyre 14y ago
      > having a near-monopoly on the Web browser market. ...And doing nothing with it. There was no game plan other than, "embrace, extend, extinguish." It just happens that 1) they didn't fully scuttle it (i.e. pull IE once it was the dominant web browser) and 2) the Web is a powerful enough force that it was able to overcome this. Microsoft gave us the Web 2.0 revitalization of the web via their introduction of XmlHTTPRequest, but they didn't do anything with it, and it definitely wasn't part of any sort of strategy. Mostly a happy accident.
      - glhaynes 14y ago
        Oh, totally. If you're playing Microsoft Simulator, you really want to start at right about the year 2000 or so — gives you a great starting position but also tons of opportunities to improve on previous players' high scores. (Somebody please make Microsoft Simulator!)
- freehunter 14y ago
  Sure, it made Microsoft rich and let them survive in a market where very few entrants did. I don't know if I'd repeat them again, though. While Microsoft made tons of money and had a minor inconvenience with their lawsuit, repeat offenders tend to be judged harsher. The first time they flirted with being split into different companies. The next time they might not be so lucky.