Surface 3/RT Moving Forward

[bdball]

Because "it doesn't have the apps I need" is not sufficient to describe the situation either. It's not only about the "apps I need", but the "apps I want", and the "apps I'd like to try out to see if I want or need them". For example, no one "needs" Instagram, but when it was available for iOS but not for Android, Android users wanted to try it out, or to use it to connect with their friends and family who were using Instagram on iOS. That's just one example, there are many more.

I have 80 apps installed on my iPad 4. I use 50 of them regularly. When I owned a Surface RT and Surface 2, I initially looked for Windows versions of those apps. Very few existed. I then searched for apps that provided similar functions. I was a little more successful with that.

Although the Surface hardware is amazing, I was able to do only a fraction of what I do on the iPad on the Surface. That was solely a software issue.

Add to that the different ways that people use their devices, it is not sufficient to have only one quality app for a category.

Couldn't have said it better. Hardware wise the Surface matches up quite well but without software available it has just become a web surfing device for me. I finally had enough and pulled out the old 1st generation iPad and loaded it up with apps that I had purchased 3 years ago and all this week the Surface has sat untouched because the type of apps I want to use just aren't available on it.

 

[Michael Alan Goff]

Because "it doesn't have the apps I need" is not sufficient to describe the situation either. It's not only about the "apps I need", but the "apps I want", and the "apps I'd like to try out to see if I want or need them". For example, no one "needs" Instagram, but when it was available for iOS but not for Android, Android users wanted to try it out, or to use it to connect with their friends and family who were using Instagram on iOS. That's just one example, there are many more.

I have 80 apps installed on my iPad 4. I use 50 of them regularly. When I owned a Surface RT and Surface 2, I initially looked for Windows versions of those apps. Very few existed. I then searched for apps that provided similar functions. I was a little more successful with that.

Although the Surface hardware is amazing, I was able to do only a fraction of what I do on the iPad on the Surface. That was solely a software issue.

Add to that the different ways that people use their devices, it is not sufficient to have only one quality app for a category.

Apps I need involves want as well. It wouldn't matter if Windows Store had 1m apps if they didn't have the ones people wanted. Instead, the focus should be on getting the popular apps that most people use. Also ... wow, never read somebody who could do more on an iPad.

more apps mean you are more likely to find apps with the functionality you are looking for. Also apps that people may use on a regular basis on their other tablets might not be here.

That goes to the "apps I want" argument.

 

[WillysJeepMan]

Apps I need involves want as well. It wouldn't matter if Windows Store had 1m apps if they didn't have the ones people wanted. Instead, the focus should be on getting the popular apps that most people use. Also ... wow, never read somebody who could do more on an iPad.

In my experience, it still is a mix between quantity and quality.... particularly with mobile devices that are more customized for how a person uses their devices.

It isn't difficult to do more with an iPad than a Windows RT-based Surface. But I've seen many people who bought an iPad who do nothing more than surf the web, check email and play Candy Crush Saga. THAT is possible on any Android, iOS, or Windows RT device. That the Surface RT/2 comes with MS Office, right out of the box they will be able to do more than an iPad.

I've owned an iPad since day-1 of gen-1. It immediately replaced my netbook. I'm involved in a variety of activities and whether it is project management, mind-mapping brainstorming sessions, developing and presenting at seminars, developing software, graphic design, producing podcasts, leisure activities, and so on... I've been able to do those things with an iPad. It certainly hasn't been a frustration-free experience... the limitations of the hardware (lack of support for USB devices and removable media) required me to make adjustments. Limitations in the iOS system itself caused me to modify my workflow a bit as well.

For the things that I use the iPad for, the apps simply don't exists for Windows RT. I lowered my expectations to find ANYTHING that would fit the particular need... when I COULD find something, it was buggy or so simplistic as to be unusable. That frustrated me because the Surface RT/2 hardware is amazing. I've said often that if I could combine the Surface hardware with the iOS software that I use, I'd have a killer system.

It's quite possible that my use cases for a tablet are so "out there" that it's not worth it for a company to meet those needs (little return for major investment). I can understand that.

 

[RN50]

I hope a Surface 3 is release, i've held off getting the 2 after the price drop as im hoping a 3 is release hopefully around Christmas.