The question now is; will an 8-inch tablet do anything for Windows 8 or Windows RT? Looking over the leaked images and specifications for the Iconia W3-810 it is s pretty solid device. You get the following specifications:
Atom Z2760 processor
2 GB of memory
64 GB of MMC storage
Micro-USB2.0
Micro-HDMI
802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0
WXGA (1280x768) resolution.
Since it is running an Intel x86 CPU you can drop Windows 8 Pro on this and you are off and running. Acer is also including a keyboard doc that is about the size of the keyboard you would find on a 10-inch laptop from the picture that was on the site. We are guessing that this is supposed to be a benefit to productivity. Looks like a good product right?
Still even with good specifications we have to wonder if this device will go anywhere in the market. It represents an in-between class of device that really does not have a place, it is a full x86 product in a sea of android devices running an operating system that has yet to capture the consumer’s interest. If phones, tablets, laptops and full sized systems are not changing the market how will an 8-inch tablet do it?
Right now it seems like the management at Microsoft just cannot get out of their own way. Were they all sitting around in a room when someone said, “Let’s be more like Apple!” then, “well that is not working so let’s build our own hardware!” now that this is not paying off they are following the market leaders again and trying to break into the already established 7-8 inch device market. Does no one at Microsoft know what it going on? These are kneejerk reactions to market changes that have been in play for years.
Microsoft is so focused on finding a way to build a revenue stream off of corporate licensing and cloud services that they are going to miss the entire boat. They are already losing clients due to their ridiculous changes to server operating system licensing and they are going to lose consumer dollars as well. In 2013 Microsoft changed from a Per CPU to a Per Core licensing model for products like SQL. This move is going to almost double the cost of maintaining SQL servers in house. It is a subtle attempt to push people to use their cloud services, but there are too many reasons not to trust the cloud for that move to work. What is going to happen is that people will find alternatives. Microsoft is not the only game in town and their customers are recognizing this daily. If the people at Microsoft want to succeed they need to stop trying to find ways to squeeze more money out of their customers and focus on the product. If you have a good product people will buy it. Stop worrying about pushing a cloud based revenue machine and build products that people actually want to use. Office (even Office 2013) is the defacto standard for productivity suites instead of trying to push people into using your cloud service just to maintain cash flow improve that product with meaningful features. The same needs to be done with Windows and the Server System (please, please put back the start button in Windows Server 2013). Stop trying to indoctrinate the enterprise to the cloud, if they want that they will buy it. Continued pushing toward a cloud based recurring cost will only push your most lucrative customers away from you. I know this is not the first time we have talked about this, but it still needs to be said; we just hope that someone at Microsoft is listening…
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