Microsoft Surface vs Apple iPad: the coming battle

Smart move yesterday by Ballmer and Microsoft to let everyone know "what's coming down the pike." From what I saw yesterday, I'd prefer a Microsoft Surface to an Apple iPad, but I'm still waiting to see Google's Android Tablet--

Microsoft Windows 8 Surface Tablets: Big Hardware Play - Hardware - Handhelds/PDAs - Informationweek: "After days of speculation about a Microsoft-crafted Windows 8 tablet, the software giant delivered the goods Monday night in Los Angeles, in the form of Surface--one tablet for Windows 8 RT running on NVidia's ARM processor, and one for Windows 8 Pro, running on Intel's Ivy Bridge (using the i5 core). Despite rampant speculation, the announcement still felt a little like a surprise." Microsoft Surface vs Apple iPad: the battle of the specs | VentureBeat: "Microsoft Surface vs Apple iPad: the battle of the specs . . . ."

The interesting thing was reading/listening to tech people who have convinced themselves it's all about "Apple and Google" now--forgetting that Microsoft still dominates the market in personal computers (operating systems, browsers, and software applications) and dominates in the gaming console market (Xbox360) which is morphing into an all encompassing entertainment center (Apple TV? Google TV?). Sure, Microsoft is struggling with its mobile phone software--but don't count them out--Steve Jobs isn't around anymore (funny how often his picture appeared yesterday in the news coverage about the Microsoft Surface tablets). I remember when the tech "experts" thought Microsoft was "nuts" to try to build a gaming console (Xbox).

With the mess (fragmentation problem) Google has with its android phone ecosystem, we might be moving to a world where vertical integration (like Apple) is the business model for success--after all the only smartphone hardware manufacturers making money are reportedly Apple and Samsung!

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