3 ms·

I'm not sure that I agree with the author's premise. The way it reads is like "Microsoft had a few bad runs, so they should stop trying." In fact, I wholly dis

by MAGZine 12y ago

I'm not sure that I agree with the author's premise. The way it reads is like "Microsoft had a few bad runs, so they should stop trying." In fact, I wholly disagree with some of the author's content analysis. Example: >The hardware capability that Nadella claims Surface leverages only exists because of the decision to make Surface. Nadella is basically saying Microsoft needs to make Surface because Microsoft makes Surface. BUT, in the quote, the first thing that Nadella says IS "We are not building hardware for hardware’s sake." What Nadella DID say is that essentially, they're trying to build a complete ecosystem. Furthermore, this wasn't even listed as one of the goals that the author identified, although I feel that it was certainly one of Microsoft's primary goals with the surface. I don't think that Microsoft was thinking "think of all of the money we'll make off of hardware," especially when all of these hardware companies are flailing. Business decisions at a large company like Microsoft are calculated, if nothing else. Personally, I think Microsoft should keep going. The only reason that I'm buying Macbook Airs at this point is because I like having a BSD environment at my fingertips. The Surface's hardware is actually better than a MBA's[0], and Microsoft seems committed to the product. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6630053 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6630053 - though, note that the hardware has been refreshed. Arguably just as fast, but much lighter and slimmer, too.

cwe 12y ago
"The Surface's hardware is actually better than a MBA's" For another week and a half.
- wlesieutre 12y ago
  The MBA just updated a few weeks ago. Admittedly, the Surface Pro 3 isn't shipping for a month, but I think it'll more than a week and a half before the next Air revision.
  - rsync 12y ago
    To be clear, there has been no significant update to the MBA since they released the first 11" version. Just lame incremental chipset and processor improvements. All anyone wants is a retina MBA and it's getting more and more grating as 1 and 2 and soon, 3 WWDCs come and go without it. (I have a 2008 MBA)
freehunter 12y ago
If I had to speculate as wildly as the author did, I'd have to say that Microsoft is building their own hardware simply because their hardware partners are failing so hard. The author touched very briefly upon that line of thinking but didn't linger upon it as long as I would have liked. My speculation? Microsoft saw the death of Sony, Acer, Dell, and HP and knew they needed hardware to sell their product. If every hardware company went out of business, so would Microsoft. You could make the argument that by getting their own hardware line Microsoft hastened the death of the PC makers, but it's akin to splashing some water on the Titanic as you jump overboard. It's going to make it sink a little quicker, but it's not going to change the final outcome. The only difference is, you survive when all is said and done. If we end up with Surface v Thinkpad v Macbook, we will have won. Even better if someone like System76 can get in on it too. The last few years have proven that there are a lot of people out there who don't really want to see Microsoft go out of business (and kill Apple's only PC competition), but rather see them get their shit together. That's a good thing.
- coolsunglasses 12y ago
  System76 resells Sager laptops and the hardware quality and attention to detail is not good. Sager is designed around value-sensitive hardware hungry gamers and the like, often young people. So you get a crappy shell with a nice CPU or GPU in it. Very German. I would...dearly love a competitor to the Thinkpad for Linux-friendly high quality laptops but it just doesn't exist yet. Lenovo has not been stewarding the traditional Thinkpad fanbase well, there's a market opportunity that people haven't capitalized on. They haven't capitalized on it because making good hardware is really hard.
  - freehunter 12y ago
    Yeah I threw in System76 because they're the only name I know selling Linux hardware, but they're not on their game in terms of actually trying to sell anything other than just a standard laptop. Making just a standard laptop is what is killing every other PC vendor.

by MAGZine 12y ago

cwe 12y ago

"The Surface's hardware is actually better than a MBA's" For another week and a half.

wlesieutre 12y ago
The MBA just updated a few weeks ago. Admittedly, the Surface Pro 3 isn't shipping for a month, but I think it'll more than a week and a half before the next Air revision.
- rsync 12y ago
  To be clear, there has been no significant update to the MBA since they released the first 11" version. Just lame incremental chipset and processor improvements. All anyone wants is a retina MBA and it's getting more and more grating as 1 and 2 and soon, 3 WWDCs come and go without it. (I have a 2008 MBA)

freehunter 12y ago

If I had to speculate as wildly as the author did, I'd have to say that Microsoft is building their own hardware simply because their hardware partners are failing so hard. The author touched very briefly upon that line of thinking but didn't linger upon it as long as I would have liked. My speculation? Microsoft saw the death of Sony, Acer, Dell, and HP and knew they needed hardware to sell their product. If every hardware company went out of business, so would Microsoft. You could make the argument that by getting their own hardware line Microsoft hastened the death of the PC makers, but it's akin to splashing some water on the Titanic as you jump overboard. It's going to make it sink a little quicker, but it's not going to change the final outcome. The only difference is, you survive when all is said and done. If we end up with Surface v Thinkpad v Macbook, we will have won. Even better if someone like System76 can get in on it too. The last few years have proven that there are a lot of people out there who don't really want to see Microsoft go out of business (and kill Apple's only PC competition), but rather see them get their shit together. That's a good thing.

coolsunglasses 12y ago
System76 resells Sager laptops and the hardware quality and attention to detail is not good. Sager is designed around value-sensitive hardware hungry gamers and the like, often young people. So you get a crappy shell with a nice CPU or GPU in it. Very German. I would...dearly love a competitor to the Thinkpad for Linux-friendly high quality laptops but it just doesn't exist yet. Lenovo has not been stewarding the traditional Thinkpad fanbase well, there's a market opportunity that people haven't capitalized on. They haven't capitalized on it because making good hardware is really hard.
- freehunter 12y ago
  Yeah I threw in System76 because they're the only name I know selling Linux hardware, but they're not on their game in terms of actually trying to sell anything other than just a standard laptop. Making just a standard laptop is what is killing every other PC vendor.