Microsoft Surface: Diplomacy is for the birds

The Microsoft Surface looks alright… nice one Microsoft. But, while you were strutting your stuff on the catwalk of LA’s swanky Milk Studios, could you hear the collective grumble rising from the tech industry?

The Surface is an assault on your arch enemy’s iPad and MacBook Air, turned up to eleven, but you’ve offended your hardware partners. You see the Surface as an archetype, your hardware partners see it as a competing device for tablets and Ultrabooks.

By saying things like “this has specs that rivals that of the best Ultrabooks that have ever been announced,” you’re not making any friends, Microsoft.

How about that Transformer Prime, people of Redmond? Way to take a bite out of the Android tablet market. Way to stick it to Google. And, Asus, your PC hardware partner.

The Surface has a kickstand, so you can use it as a digital photo frame, right? Any objections Samsung?

I feel a little offended too. Why didn’t you reveal the prices of the Surface configurations? Why are you releasing the Surface Windows RT first and the Surface Windows 8 Pro, later? I’d like to try both out before deciding which one to make part of my life.

Microsoft’s Surface is one of the most exciting projects to come out of Microsoft since the Kinect. Tablets with keyboard accessories are nothing new, but the Surface smacks of a well devised plan coming together, damn the consequences.

Why would full Windows on a tablet ever make sense? Microsoft tried that years ago and it failed. The iPad showed that a tablet user interface is the key. Windows 8’s Metro looked promising, but why did Microsoft still bother with full Windows?. Now we know: the plan was the Surface and it’s phenomenal.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the big M’s hardware partners react. In all probability, they are as excited about the Surface as we are. Microsoft wants a share of the tablet market for itself and for its partners, badly. The bar has been set pretty high, let the innovation blossom.