FARK.com: (7453011) At the Microsoft store directly across from the Apple store at the Mall of America, Surface tablets are flying off the shelf at the amazing hourly rate of.... wait for it... ZERO, compared to eleven iPads

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		At the Microsoft store directly across from the Apple store at the Mall of America, Surface tablets are flying off the shelf at the amazing hourly rate of.... wait for it... ZERO, compared to eleven iPads ( tech.fortune.cnn.com)		188
		More: Obvious, Microsoft Research, Mall of America, Apple iPad, Microsoft, apples, Microsoft Surface, Piper Jaffray, Munsters

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4591 clicks; posted to Geek » on 26 Nov 2012 at 4:45 PM (5 years ago) | Favorite | share:

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Diogenes

2012-11-26 01:36:55 PM

I went to the Microsoft store that opened back in October here just to check it out. Some guy gave me a demo of Windows 8 and could not answer a single one of my questions. All he could do was demo it.

I've never been to an Apple store as I do not have any Apple products other than my Ipod. But I get the impression the quality of Apple geeks working there is much higher than at MS.

BunkyBrewman

2012-11-26 01:39:55 PM

...and more people eat McDonald's than In-N-Out burgers.

MaudlinMutantMollusk

2012-11-26 01:46:34 PM

Obviously they need more obnoxious advertising

L.D. Ablo

2012-11-26 01:48:38 PM

Windows 8 is Vista redux.

xynix

2012-11-26 01:56:28 PM

This is what I'm waiting for: The 8 hour Asus Taichi

ThatGuyGreg

2012-11-26 01:57:58 PM

Meh, the Microsoft store near me is always jammed, a constant flow of people walking out with bags o' stuff. With the Christmas season in full gear, it's definitely more of an Xbox store than a Surface store, but whatever, I'll keep my cheerleading for various forms of sportsball.

I will never, in my life, understand peoples' wild-eyed allegiance to corporations. Generational thing? Probably... I just don't get it.

Grand_Moff_Joseph

2012-11-26 02:06:08 PM

Once again, MS arrives a few years late and millions of dollars short, then wonders why no one will buy their stuff. Did the Windows Phone and the Zune teach them nothing?

vartian

2012-11-26 02:10:33 PM

A good friend of mine picked up a Samsung Slate tablet running Windows 8. I played with it for about half an hour and did not want to give it back. I would have traded in my iPad right there for it (granted, the tablet was about $550 more expensive than my iPad, but still).

But I'll be keeping my iMac. The operating system would be a nightmare to navigate without a touchscreen.

GAT_00

2012-11-26 02:12:13 PM

ThatGuyGreg: Meh, the Microsoft store near me is always jammed, a constant flow of people walking out with bags o' stuff. With the Christmas season in full gear, it's definitely more of an Xbox store than a Surface store, but whatever, I'll keep my cheerleading for various forms of sportsball.

I will never, in my life, understand peoples' wild-eyed allegiance to corporations. Generational thing? Probably... I just don't get it.

I don't get the corporational allegiance of Apple people either. I use Windows 7 and have Android phone, but I wouldn't call myself loyal to Microsoft or Google. They just have the better products. If you aren't an iFanatic and you actually compare products, you realize you're paying a farkton more for a product that is questionable at best in superiority. Plus I'm not buying shiat that's locked down like iPhones are.

zedster

2012-11-26 02:13:31 PM

Diogenes: I've never been to an Apple store as I do not have any Apple products other than my Ipod. But I get the impression the quality of Apple geeks working there is much higher than at MS.

IDK, I always open terminal and then emacs on the laptops at the store. It confuses them

EatHam

2012-11-26 02:18:10 PM

There is no superior product, just what works best for what it is you want to do. I'd never argue that an iPhone is better than an Android phone, but I know which one my father can work.

zedster

2012-11-26 02:23:17 PM

EatHam: There is no superior product, just what works best for what it is you want to do. I'd never argue that an iPhone is better than an Android phone, but I know which one my father can work.

No, but there is a superior philosophy, if walled gardens win the consumers lose

Imagine if car companies could fit oddly shaped gas caps to your car so you had to go to certain gas stations, same principal

BunkyBrewman

2012-11-26 02:24:28 PM

xynix: This is what I'm waiting for: The 8 hour Asus Taichi

[cdn.slashgear.com image 580x386]

As much as I love Asus products, I just don't get the two screen thing on that device.

vartian

2012-11-26 02:30:52 PM

Diogenes: I've never been to an Apple store as I do not have any Apple products other than my Ipod. But I get the impression the quality of Apple geeks working there is much higher than at MS.

They are certainly hotter, which is what usually draws me in, but ask them anything beyond the basics and they get just as flustered. That said, every time I have had an issue with one of my machines they have been very helpful and timely.

GAT_00

2012-11-26 02:31:34 PM

I try using an iPhone, and I feel like a kid playing with a toy. Like those emergency phones you can get for kids that call Mom, Dad, and 911, but nothing else. It's one goddamn button. I have a Droid 4 and I LOVE the keyboard, plus there is something besides a home button.

RexTalionis

2012-11-26 02:38:05 PM

BunkyBrewman: xynix: This is what I'm waiting for: The 8 hour Asus Taichi

[cdn.slashgear.com image 580x386]

As much as I love Asus products, I just don't get the two screen thing on that device.

It makes it easier to play Battleship.

EatHam

2012-11-26 02:38:15 PM

GAT_00: EatHam: There is no superior product, just what works best for what it is you want to do. I'd never argue that an iPhone is better than an Android phone, but I know which one my father can work.

I try using an iPhone, and I feel like a kid playing with a toy. Like those emergency phones you can get for kids that call Mom, Dad, and 911, but nothing else. It's one goddamn button. I have a Droid 4 and I LOVE the keyboard, plus there is something besides a home button.

I have a Droid myself and love it, but there is absolutely no chance in hell that my dad figures it out.

tallguywithglasseson

2012-11-26 02:38:49 PM

L.D. Ablo: Windows 8 is Vista redux.

Windows 8 on a tablet (e.g. Surface) makes sense.

On a PC or laptop, especially without a touchscreen, it does not. Yeah you can click a few times and get to a more-or-less mouse/key friendly UI, but so what?

No idea why they thought unifying the interfaces across devices with completely different input hardware made any sense whatsoever.

xynix

2012-11-26 02:42:02 PM

For me it will be 100% business tool. Right now I have an iPad for short trips and a laptop for long trips. This will simply combine both technologies. I can read kindle books on it like a tablet and quickly write emails on the keyboard. It's a niche thing as I'm not sure a lot of people would get much use out of it. May be really good for students too though.

It's just giving me the advantages of both a tablet and a laptop in a single device which means I can board a plane with just it on day trips and put it in my suit bag on longer trips. Small, light, long battery life.

Diogenes

2012-11-26 02:54:38 PM

vartian: Diogenes: I've never been to an Apple store as I do not have any Apple products other than my Ipod. But I get the impression the quality of Apple geeks working there is much higher than at MS.

They are certainly hotter, which is what usually draws me in, but ask them anything beyond the basics and they get just as flustered. That said, every time I have had an issue with one of my machines they have been very helpful and timely.

Helpful and timely - definitely qualities I appreciate in hot guys who want to help me out.

timujin

2012-11-26 02:59:14 PM

L.D. Ablo: Windows 8 is Vista redux.

I recently started playing with Server 2012 and parts of it reminded me more of Windows 3.1 than anything else. There are some serious problems with the interface, but then this is an even-numbered release, so it was expected.

vartian

2012-11-26 03:09:03 PM

Diogenes: Helpful and timely - definitely qualities I appreciate in hot guys who want to help me out.

That, and I kind of have a thing for scruffy guys in teal.

Ryan2065

2012-11-26 03:13:20 PM

xynix: BunkyBrewman: xynix: This is what I'm waiting for: The 8 hour Asus Taichi

[cdn.slashgear.com image 580x386]

As much as I love Asus products, I just don't get the two screen thing on that device.

For me it will be 100% business tool. Right now I have an iPad for short trips and a laptop for long trips. This will simply combine both technologies. I can read kindle books on it like a tablet and quickly write emails on the keyboard. It's a niche thing as I'm not sure a lot of people would get much use out of it. May be really good for students too though.

It's just giving me the advantages of both a tablet and a laptop in a single device which means I can board a plane with just it on day trips and put it in my suit bag on longer trips. Small, light, long battery life.

You don't need two screens for that... Almost all major manufacturers are coming out with convertibles so the screen twists or comes off for laptop/tablet mode.

BunkyBrewman

2012-11-26 03:22:52 PM

Why not get the VivoTab?

That combines both technologies along with a detachable keyboard... plus it comes standard with Office RT.

RexTalionis

2012-11-26 03:27:43 PM

xynix: This is what I'm waiting for: The 8 hour Asus Taichi

[cdn.slashgear.com image 580x386]

Be forewarned - only the outer screen is a touchscreen. The inner screen is a standard LCD display.

xynix

2012-11-26 03:28:01 PM

Ryan2065: You don't need two screens for that... Almost all major manufacturers are coming out with convertibles so the screen twists or comes off for laptop/tablet mode.

OK fine.. It's farking cool.. thats why :)

styckx

2012-11-26 04:48:34 PM

Shoppers at the Apple Store bought an average of 11 iPads per hour. Despite heavy TV, print and billboard advertising for the new Microsoft Surface tablet, not one was sold sold during the two hours Piper Jaffray spent monitoring that store. Doesn't bode well for Microsoft's answer to the iPad.

He said sold twice

styckx

2012-11-26 04:51:10 PM

L.D. Ablo: Windows 8 is Vista redux.

Windows 8 is actually really good.. Microsoft just has done an absolutely shiatty job advertising it and any questions and critiques regarding it are responded by putting their fingers in their ears and saying "I CAN"T HEAR YOU I CAN"T HEAR YOU"..

Metro has been blown so completely out of proportion it's ridiculous.

jayhawk88

2012-11-26 04:51:17 PM

Maybe people would be more excited for it Microsoft hadn't decided they needed to force an upgrade cycle and cram a tablet OS onto a desktop, generating a lot of tepid/negative press about their new OS and leaving a bad taste in the mouths of early adopters? Just sayin'...

Spanky_McFarksalot

2012-11-26 04:55:18 PM

apple fan bois are like starbucks coffee drinkers, its not so much about the product as about being seen buying the product.

m1ke

2012-11-26 04:56:30 PM

I just don't get the clicking thing. In all the commercials, everyone is skateboarding and clicking, dancing and clicking, clicking and clicking. So I go to the MS Store just to look at the device in my hands and they tell me that the clicky-able keyboard is an additional feature that costs an additional 120 bucks. I thought to myself, if i can't dance and skateboard and click with it out of the box, what's the point?

Theaetetus

2012-11-26 04:58:16 PM

zedster: EatHam: There is no superior product, just what works best for what it is you want to do. I'd never argue that an iPhone is better than an Android phone, but I know which one my father can work.

No, but there is a superior philosophy, if walled gardens win the consumers lose

Agreed. Can you send me a copy of the source code for Windows 8, incidentally? Also, I'd like to upload an App to the Windows Store, but I don't want to register or pay money... you can help with that, right?

Imagine if car companies could fit oddly shaped gas caps to your car so you had to go to certain gas stations, same principal

demaL-demaL-yeH

2012-11-26 04:58:37 PM

zedster: IDK, I always open terminal and then emacs on the laptops at the store. It confuses them

Of course they were. How did you download and install that without admin privileges and the password?

/You do know that pico is the built-in editor, right?
//Go vim yourself, poser.

SweetSaws

2012-11-26 04:59:10 PM

styckx: L.D. Ablo: Windows 8 is Vista redux.

Windows 8 is actually really good.. Microsoft just has done an absolutely shiatty job advertising it and any questions and critiques regarding it are responded by putting their fingers in their ears and saying "I CAN"T HEAR YOU I CAN"T HEAR YOU"..

Metro has been blown so completely out of proportion it's ridiculous.

Ok, i tried it out by installing it on a virtual machine (Hyper-V) with 4 GB of memory, 1 processor, and it seemed to lag quite a bit. Also, i couldn't figure out how to enable remote access. ALSO, NO GOD DAMN START BUTTON. So, I faced all of these fundamental problems in the first 5 minutes of using it. What's so good about it?

jayhawk88

2012-11-26 05:04:52 PM

You can get used to Metro, sure, but the thing is, from a desktop perspective it's change for the sake of change. There's no good reason to do that to the Start Menu. On a tablet or some kind of touch screen sure, makes sense and probably is a lot more efficient. But on a desktop, it's just something you have to adapt to.

gingerjet

2012-11-26 05:06:48 PM

GAT_00: I don't get the corporational allegiance of Apple people either. I use Windows 7 and have Android phone, but I wouldn't call myself loyal to Microsoft or Google. They just have the better products. If you aren't an iFanatic and you actually compare products, you realize you're paying a farkton more for a product that is questionable at best in superiority. Plus I'm not buying shiat that's locked down like iPhones are.

You biatch about 'iFanatics' with the same zeal as those iFanatics you somehow despise . I at least get people who love certain things. I don't get those that feel the need to bash other peoples toys because you think your toy is prettier.

/and the 90s called - he wants his tired anti-apple arguments back

Beta Tested

2012-11-26 05:07:26 PM

I ended up upgrading (on my desktop) out of curiosity to basically wanted to see what all the whining was about, and whether or not it was overblown. I ended up being surprise by how good it is. Windows 8 is a much better, and faster, interface than the old start menu. I also find myself using many more metro apps than I thought I would, especially the ones that are easier to use than the website equivalent (like NBC News).

The full web integration is especially nice.

/Designer by profession
//Still spend most of my time in the desktop

Shazam999

2012-11-26 05:07:48 PM

jayhawk88: styckx: L.D. Ablo: Windows 8 is Vista redux.

Windows 8 is actually really good.. Microsoft just has done an absolutely shiatty job advertising it and any questions and critiques regarding it are responded by putting their fingers in their ears and saying "I CAN"T HEAR YOU I CAN"T HEAR YOU"..

Metro has been blown so completely out of proportion it's ridiculous.

You can get used to Metro, sure, but the thing is, from a desktop perspective it's change for the sake of change. There's no good reason to do that to the Start Menu. On a tablet or some kind of touch screen sure, makes sense and probably is a lot more efficient. But on a desktop, it's just something you have to adapt to.

I dunno, the Start Menu is nigh useless in 7. I only ever use the "Pin to Start Menu", and the search box. Everything else is ignored. The list of programs is totally useless since it gets too long, and when was the last time you ever used the "Documents", "Pictures" or "Music" links from there?

Johnsnownw

2012-11-26 05:08:36 PM

Diogenes: I went to the Microsoft store that opened back in October here just to check it out. Some guy gave me a demo of Windows 8 and could not answer a single one of my questions. All he could do was demo it.

I've never been to an Apple store as I do not have any Apple products other than my Ipod. But I get the impression the quality of Apple geeks working there is much higher than at MS.

In all fairness, the majority of Apple customers only need to know how get to the internet. Or I suppose how to do the 5 things the product they just purchased allows them to do.

zjbs14

2012-11-26 05:10:16 PM

Went to the Microsoft pop-up store in the local mall the day that Surface was released for sale. It was staffed by what appeared to be some transients in brightly colored MS t-shirts. Then there was this exchange:

Customer next to me: Are you selling these here?
MS store "employee": I'm not sure...

Yeah, I'm sure they're flying off the shelves.

pute kisses like a man

2012-11-26 05:11:44 PM

xynix: This is what I'm waiting for: The 8 hour Asus Taichi

[cdn.slashgear.com image 580x386]

yeah, if i was going to get a tablet, I'd go asus.

jakrabit

2012-11-26 05:16:18 PM

Ms screwed themselves with the pricing. I wanted one till they finally cracked the lube jar and told us how much. Too high for a tablet hitting the market this late in the game.

tlchwi02

2012-11-26 05:16:38 PM

tallguywithglasseson: Windows 8 on a tablet (e.g. Surface) makes sense.

On a PC or laptop, especially without a touchscreen, it does not. Yeah you can click a few times and get to a more-or-less mouse/key friendly UI, but so what?

No idea why they thought unifying the interfaces across devices with completely different input hardware made any sense whatsoever.

yeah, if 8 on a desktop was just the updated 7, i'd probably get it (the performance appears much better.) But it looks like a PITA with the enforced tablet start interface so i'll stick with 7. going to buy a surface when the full version comes out (the GF's netbook is on its last legs, since she needs a new laptop anyway and i've been promising her a tablet for her birthday this seems like the perfect situation)

RexTalionis

2012-11-26 05:21:31 PM

demaL-demaL-yeH: zedster: IDK, I always open terminal and then emacs on the laptops at the store. It confuses them

Of course they were. How did you download and install that without admin privileges and the password?

/You do know that pico is the built-in editor, right?
//Go vim yourself, poser.

You can ssh into a server and run emacs on it through terminal?

Kazan

2012-11-26 05:21:41 PM

Grand_Moff_Joseph: Once again, MS arrives a few years late and millions of dollars short, then wonders why no one will buy their stuff. Did the Windows Phone and the Zune teach them nothing?

SweetSaws: Ok, i tried it out by installing it on a virtual machine (Hyper-V) with 4 GB of memory, 1 processor, and it seemed to lag quite a bit. Also, i couldn't figure out how to enable remote access. ALSO, NO GOD DAMN START BUTTON. So, I faced all of these fundamental problems in the first 5 minutes of using it. What's so good about it?

did your host have SLAT enabled?

also Wiki: Features New to Windows 8

/required disclaimer: i work for M
//I hate the new start screen too

L.D. Ablo

2012-11-26 05:21:45 PM

It's a disjointed mess. Microsoft has three operating systems: Windows Phone 8, RT and 8. I'm not sure what the point is. Do you need to have a separate OS because of a hardware requirement?

Technically, it might be OK. The problem is that it's so late. Everyone has already chosen iOS or Android in a phone. People already running Windows will probably wait and see before upgrading. It's like Vista in that uptake will be slow and the product will be labelled a dog. If Microsoft has to retool 8 like they did with Vista, they're going to end up seven or eight years behind Apple and Android. Game over.

Desquamation

2012-11-26 05:22:53 PM

I only have interest in the SurfacePro... Unfortunately for Microsoft they're waiting too damn long to release it and I'll probably buy something else instead.

I've been waiting to see the ThinkPad Tablet 2 but Lenovo seems to be taking their sweet time releasing that too.

Kazan

2012-11-26 05:23:32 PM

L.D. Ablo: It's a disjointed mess. Microsoft has three operating systems: Windows Phone 8, RT and 8

hint: not so disjoint as you think.

wildcardjack

2012-11-26 05:24:32 PM

The Surface pissed me off. It was just another tablet. Any given time I have three windows open and the Win8 interface isn't geared for that.

Productivity without a numberpad is greatly limited for real people.

Rent Party

2012-11-26 05:24:36 PM

They're really not. These are the guys that graduated from the Geek Squad for being SMRT smart!

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