| Mr Khan said: Microsoft tends to be one epoch behind the game when it comes to realms outside computer software. They caught up to Sony just when catching up to Sony no longer mattered, and yet continued to aim for Sony for some time after it was clear that this was not the goal to pursue. So it is in the tablet realm, where they aim for where the market is and not for where the market is going to be. |
This, absolutely this.
Aside from the fact that, as someone else mentioned, Sony 'fell off a cliff' this generation while Microsoft caught up - which is a bit of a hollow victory, I don't think releasing a competing tablet is gonna catch them up to Apple.
Apple convinced me I needed an iPod when I'd never even heard of MP3 players. They convinced me I needed an iPhone when I'd been using a Nokia phone with really crappy internet access. And they've convinced people like my dad that they need an iPad, even though when the idea of a tablet was introduced I remember it being mocked in a number of corners of the internet as a really poor idea.
Apple got where they are by knowing what customers want before they themselves realise it. I think Steve Jobs has a quote to that effect, and he was absolutely right. While Microsoft releasing such a lovely tablet is a great step in the right direction for them, it's not going to have them overtake Apple unless they too were to fall off a cliff.
