Surface RT is not an iPad Part 2

Posted by oolong2 on October 24, 2012 02:57 pm 4

Over a month ago I created a post entitled Windows RT is not an iPad, because no matter where you turned people on tech blogs were trying to see Windows RT as an iPad or touch tablet.

Sure enough this is still happening with Surface RT... Humans tend to look at the world based on the stereotypes and assumptions they've become accustomed to.

Case and point: The iPad

The iPad was a new device category. Some people thought it would useful, many others (myself included) thought it would be completely useless. When comparing it to the technology that existed at the time the iPad wasn't as useful as an laptop nor as portable as a smartphone. It was something awkwardly in between that people didn't know what to make of.

However after a several months the usefulness of an iPad became clear and it ended up launching a new market and ecosystem that did not exist before.

The same thing happened with "laptops". Which have always been less capable and less ergonomic than workstations.

The same think happened with "mobile phones". "Why would I want to carry a phone around? That thing looks ridiculous"

The same thing happened with "smartphones". "Why would I use tiny applications that are less capable?"

The same thing is happening with Surface RT.... People downplaying the features that make Surface unique and instead comparing those features from devices we know today.

The bottom line is "mobile computing" has always been a balancing act between features, convenience, & compromises....

via gajitz.com

Those compromises may be weight, performance, battery life, screen size, capabilities, software, ports, price, and hundreds of other factors.

People will always compromise features for convenience and compromise convenience for features... In the end It's the totality of a mobile device that makes it useful not any one spec.

This is why when a new mobile device category comes around, you can't simply see how well it stacks up to an iPad and call it a review. What works for an iPad is not the same as what works for a Surface, or what works for a Kindle, or what works for a laptop, or what works for a smartphone....

Which is why for a device marketed for "productivity" and content consumption you don't simply gloss over the desktop, desktop IE, file management, Office, USB, split screen multitasking, etc. because these are the main reasons why someone would purchase this device over purchasing an iPad.