FTFA: > So if it took Apple a couple tries to perfect the tablet, shouldn’t we cut Microsoft some slack, too? > No, we shouldn’t. The first iPad was released

FTFA: > So if it took Apple a couple tries to perfect the tablet, shouldn’t we cut Microsoft some slack, too? > No, we shouldn’t. The first iPad was released in 2010. It may not have been perfect, but it was unquestionably the best tablet of its era. The Surface is hitting the shelves in 2012, when, in addition to Apple’s tablets, you can now get Google’s Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 or one of Amazon’s super-cheap Kindle Fires. Because it was first to market, Apple’s first-generation device had some leeway to miss the mark, but its competitors have little room for error. Anyone who’s considering this tablet will be forced to stack it against the competition, and the Surface doesn’t wear these comparisons well.