What kids want for Christmas

[strife]

I absolutely don't think that Apple is going to hold onto the huge share of the tablet market they have now. But I also think it's Android that is going to be taking that share, not Microsoft. And most of the share will be on the low end (sub $200). I just can't see the Surface gaining any more than a niche. A bigger niche in business than consumer, but still a niche. Especially if it's true that MS is releasing Office on the iPad next year (kind of shooting themselves in the foot there...)

iPad has already become a generic name for tablets in the same way iPod did for MP3 players. The iPhone never quite got there. Everyone knows the name, but it hasn't become a replacement word for smartphone. I think the Surface will be to the iPad what the Zune was to the iPod. Very good hardware, but too expensive and too late to the game to make a dent. Especially with Google and especially Amazon selling at cost (not to mention all the crappy no-name $100 tablets you see in every department store, which I suspect comprise a decent chunk of Android marketshare).

I agree Surface Pro competes with laptops rather than iPads. And if it was $4-500 (like a similar size Windows laptop), I'd probably get one myself. $1020 for the entry model with a keyboard is just too much, though. When you are late to the game, you need to skip the profit to take marketshare (like the Xbox). Now if they had used some of those billions they've spent on advertising to subsidize the price a bit...

The cheapest laptop with an core i5 processor (like the surface), is $500 on Tigerdirect. It weighs 5.6 lbs. The surface is 2.6 lbs. The 11 inch macbook air, which has an i5 processor and weights 2.38 lbs is $999 starting. You shouldn't be comparing an entry level laptop to the surface. You should be comparing the ultrabooks or the macbook airs.