While the new Surfaces are nice, even better was how wrong some pundits were.

[someoneinwa]

I like reading rumors here on WPC as much as any of you, but I also enjoy seeing pundits get things wrong and miss the big news altogether. With the Surface news, I enjoyed learning that the Surface 2 is both lighter and thinner than the RT despite being told that both devices would be exactly the same as the first generation. Lots of pundits had picked up on the better screen in the Surface 2, but none of them picked up on the better cameras or the bigger speakers and addition of Dolby. At least to me, the biggest news of day was the inclusion of Skype and SkyDrive services with every unit. No pundits picked up on that one either, even though it was (in hindsight) a pretty obvious notion as Microsoft has been telling us for a year now that they are a "devices and services" company.

I really enjoyed watching the video of the announcement. Not only is Panos great at these events because of his obvious passion about his product, he was able to keep announcing features that all those opinionated pundits in the room just didn't know.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

I like reading rumors here on WPC as much as any of you, but I also enjoy seeing pundits get things wrong and miss the big news altogether. With the Surface news, I enjoyed learning that the Surface 2 is both lighter and thinner than the RT despite being told that both devices would be exactly the same as the first generation. Lots of pundits had picked up on the better screen in the Surface 2, but none of them picked up on the better cameras or the bigger speakers and addition of Dolby. At least to me, the biggest news of day was the inclusion of Skype and SkyDrive services with every unit. No pundits picked up on that one either, even though it was (in hindsight) a pretty obvious notion as Microsoft has been telling us for a year now that they are a "devices and services" company.

I really enjoyed watching the video of the announcement. Not only is Panos great at these events because of his obvious passion about his product, he was able to keep announcing features that all those opinionated pundits in the room just didn't know.

I thought that the video was flat. He droned on and on about the importance of the improvements made but rarely showed a visual of what that translates into every day usage. Show a video clip of what a 46% improvement in color accuracy looks like. What does it mean to the consumer to have something that is 4 times as fast? Mix up the presentation with live speech, video clips, photos, charts. Make it dynamic!

Oh, if you're going to have applause, then have applause. If not, keep it silent. The anemic responses were embarrassing.

 

[nmercy]

I thought he did a pretty good job on the speech. Where the presentation lacked was in the recording or the editing of the video. A lot of times they kept the camera shot that didn't actually show what he was talking about, which would have been cool to see in action. In some of the shots you could see the camera man holding the camera they were supposed to use.

The other reason this came off as lacking was that this was a press event, not a consumer event, though the speech was meant for a consumer level event.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

The other reason this came off as lacking was that this was a press event, not a consumer event, though the speech was meant for a consumer level event.

If Microsoft was targeting the press, then it missed the mark even more. When dealing with the press one needs to give them quotable soundbites, not run-on explanations. And they should not have made a video of the event available to everyone.

 

[nmercy]

Completely agree, like I said, the speech was meant for consumer level, the event was meant for press level, and the two didn't really seem to match up... he was trying to do a Jobs speech in front of the press which doesn't work very well for them, and the cameras were covering it like a press event which doesn't work well for those of us watching it at home... though I don't think we were meant to watch it as much as it was initially put up for the press to catch the things they may have missed.

 

[MacDaMachine]

Panos seemed more passionate during the verge interview.

 

[Racing Snake]

I enjoyed learning that the Surface 2 is both lighter and thinner than the RT

A whole 4 grams lighter - yep top notch sales pitch that one lol

 

[someoneinwa]

A whole 4 grams lighter - yep top notch sales pitch that one lol

Yeah, it isn't much difference but still, two points: 1. The pundits told us both devices would be exactly the same. They aren't. 2. If this were an Apple device reducing weigh by 4 grams or shaving 1mm off the size, it would hailed as innovation and brilliant recognition of just what consumers are looking for or some such crap.

 

[JKing106]

Surface 2 will fail, just like the RT.

1) Too expensive, should be priced at $350 to undercut the iPad.
2) Crippled Home and Student Office and still no ability to join domains to force an upsell to the $900 Pro/Pro2 for business use.
3) Expensive keyboard/covers at a higher price point. Should be included free.
4) Anemic app store.

Microsoft could have owned the enterprise tablet/hybrid market with the Surface RT. But they decided to cripple it to force people to buy the Pro if they wanted to use a Surface in a serious business environment. They're learning it's not 2003, anymore, and they can't strong arm customers like they used to.. There are viable alternatives, and a whole generation who have learned to live without Office.

 

[wpn00b]

I've got to say I found the speech entertaining but the presentation lacking as others have said. It was still engaging enough for me to sit through 65 mins or whatever it was.

I saw the camera guy a few times and wondered when I would see his feed. Also, I hoped for a side-by-side of the first gen devices next to the new ones. It was disappointing in its execution but overall I'm stoked and really excited for these devices. I still want the Pro but the cost is a bit prohibitive until I remind myself that I'm getting a powerful tablet and a powerful laptop (if I buy the peripherals) and a high-end laptop alone would cost about what the Pro 2 does w/touch or type cover and it seems to be a much better, more versatile device.