| disolitude said: Some people here really don't understand what this device does and who it's for. This device isn't meant for finger painting and slinging birds around. It's a durable, light, portable, intel i5 tablet that has an active digitizer. It's a content creation device. |
In my opinion, if Microsoft was producing the Surface as competition for the netbook and low-end tablet market they could (probably) carve out a niche for themselves. It doesn't compare well against high end tablets or ultrabooks, and pricing it in/above those markets only ensures that it will be remarkably unpopular.
To put numbers on this, at $200 Microsoft would have a successful product with the Surface, at $400 they could carve out a small niche, at $600 they will have a moderate profile "flop" like the Zune, at $800 they're heading for a high profile flop, and at $1000 I see it being discontinued within 6 months. They have (realistically) over-shot their market by $600 to $800 per unit.
