Surface Go Will Fail in the Education Market

[gal-axy]

T In Canada, the new cheapest model Go sells for $529 CDN. Add in the $159 type cover, and we’re up to $689 CDN. This is WAY too expensive. It’s what we pay for our iPads (along with the clumsy Belkin keyboards). So…for the same price, I tell them we’ll get a great machine…but NO APPS?

When students aren’t doing iPad app-specific tasks, they’re doing research and collecting their results in their OneNote folders, creating Word docs, Excel projects, Sway etc…all of this using their Office 365 apps. Android tablets, and more recently - Chromebooks, cheaply fill this need.

So…the Go is the same price as our iPads, but doesn’t have any apps, and it’s almost triple the cost of a Chromebook. Why would our IT Ed team even consider this new device?

Surface Go will get the Office suite the same way ipad do - usually parents have other PC (or Macs) at home and buy Office subscription and can install Office on multiple computers and tablets. So there is no extra cost adding Office to Surface Go and it will have all the flexibility of full OS ipads do not have.

Or you can use Google docs through a browser - same way as on Chromebook or Android.


On education market, you can currently buy one of those:

1. Chromebooks.
2. ipads or Android tablets.
3. Windows tablets.
4. Budget laptops which are usually pretty heavy.
5. Ultrabooks.

1. Those people who only choose Chromebooks for their price, won't buy Go. But if they buy them for portability, then Go is a viable alternative. People may also prefer the benefits of running a full OS in a portable form factor.

2. Go at the same price point will beat ipads and Android tablets hands down for use in class - you cannot use a mouse for document editing on iOS/ Android, so the full Windows OS on Go will be way better for completing assignments. My son used an ipad at school for a couple of years, I finally had to replace it with a proper laptop because using it in class was not very productive.

3. Not sure if anyone is buying them because many Windows tablets have not so great battery life, but obviously Go is a competitor though at a higher price point.

4. Go is more portable than budget laptops, but some people will consider Go as an alternative and some will not. Some will buy Go to their kids at the same price point because of portability, some won't want to sacrifice on size or specs, and some purchase these cheap heavy laptops because their kids are breaking everything.

5. Ultrabooks, especially 2-in-1, are far superior option for education than Go, in my opinion. They cost more but they can do everything in terms of assignments and are still very portable. Someone can still decide in favor of Go though, especially for elementary or middle school.

 

[Hirox K]

The new Surface Go will fail. It will not make any inroads into the Education market. Here is why:...s of 11/12 year-olds using/LOOSING these pens…ah, no).

1. failed to see the relationship between WinMobile and a PC.
* Unlike WoA, WinMobile was not a PC, It was late to the game with 0 user and dev base. It was destined to fail. Didn't care much.

2. What kinda industry can those kids enter without PC skills?
A cashier? Some kinda job that use ONLY 1 APP on a machine that's given to you?

One newbie we've hired... it was a wrong hire. The girl who's now under my team was hired as a game froent-end programmer. She didn't know how to install Unreal, Visual Studio or anything. She knows no Git either. Why? She was a multimedia graduates, they have Windows in the school but all softwares were pre-installed and she doesn't have a PC @ home, iPhone is all she has. After some communication, she seen to want to be a planner... still... planner uses Windows (for synergy and capability reason. here a news for you https://mspoweruser.com/2018-not-ye...-to-migrate-13000-opensuse-pcs-to-windows-10/) and they must use native Office for version control or server data updates. She's def un-fit to be a programmer.

3. Without menu key, shortcut keys, multitask, multi-window, allows user to work without mouse to some extent, how efficient can you work on an iOS or Droid?

4. How about Adobe, 3dsMax, Unreal, VisualStudio, SVN, Git, File system, Office, Reason, Komplete, Local Server typpa applications and peripheral supports?

5. What if you need powerful HW to run or experiment on computation costly stuffs?

6. Uncharted, Zelda, COD, BF, drone, arcade cabinet, ATM, Azure cashier, Azure surveillance camera, Sphero's next robot, water meter, vending machines, Singapore's smart city project, Australia's agriculture, ZPMC, Nike, AR, MR, IOT... where's iOS and Droid? Where's middleware, business / dev solution from Apple or Google?

I don't think we, human is ready to shift away our businesses' (or creators') needs from Windows. 0 PC skills is def not good for kids (esp colleague students) tbh.
MY GF, who's managing APAC for an US IT firm. They have office all over the world. She use Windows, Office and work mostly on the web with her VR teams.

 

[PerfectReign]

Valid points. I hate when i interview CS grads and they know a little Windows, a little Linux, and maybe some C# or Python. I hire the ones who setup - for example - their own Minecraft servers, entered into programming contests, or run small businesses on the side.

Sent from mTalk on my HP Elite X3

 

[jnjroach]

Unfortunately I see most of the people who predict failure are those who are bitter with Microsoft's lack of support of their Windows Phone, Band or Zune.

The Education Space doesn't need any of that and for Microsoft since their O365 and Azure Platforms are supported across all viable Operating Systems they are in a position of strength. Surface Go when combined with M365 (OPEX vs. CAPEX) I can get an all encompassing solution for a monthly fee (Including the Hardware).

Too many here are fixated and bitter on the past consumer plays that didn't work out. That was a Microsoft Culture that was reactive.

 

[infosage]

You're acting exactly like a child

Wow. Maybe when you don't understand a point someone is making it's you, not them.

 

[ochhanz]

Just like Hirox K I also fail to see the link between windows phone OS and Windows 10. Windows 10 is a mature OS with lots of app/program support for laptops etc and app support specifically for touch steadily growths & with many essential apps already being available. Don't forget that the windows 2-1/touchscreen laptop market is also fairly big nowadays, devs certainty won't ignore that since unlike Windows Phones these devices are already adopted by the masses (much safer to develop for than compared to a relative new OS that still has to prove itself in the middle of behemoths).

 

[unmorphed]

Here's how to make the sale.

I recently interviewed a young man who applied on Monster.com with his phone, so he knew how to work iOS and/or Android which is about all these things are teaching.

I asked him about Microsoft Office and his eyes glassed over. Excel? uhhh, what? Outlook?... huh?

The kid was polite and impressed me as a trustworthy, hard worker, but he was an absolute no go without even knowing what Office was.

So you need to ask the administrators what their goal is. Preparing children for futures in business or futures as YouTube bloggers.

 

[enduserbestpractice]

once these devices are in the hands of the school they need to be absolutely secure and flawless, even with current build of windows 10 and just browsing MSN or other news pages I get the your computer is infected blurbs with edge,

i have to use task manager to close it, the only way.

one visrus hit taking out a lot of users.
will be enough to bar Microsoft from ever
participating again in the school systems .
other operating systems have proved them self's as non nucense devices to the users. rock solid. and have a track record all ready being that way.

 

[Park_Slope]

I played with the Surface Go for 20 minutes at a Microsoft store. I think it will have a limited audience. It can't compete with the iPad for entertainment purposes (streaming, videos, reading newspapers, etc), which leaves its market to Windows users who need a small device for work purposes. For this group, I think most will decide that an ultrabook makes more sense. I think a few people will decide to combine this with a desktop or a large laptop.

 

[jnjroach]

once these devices are in the hands of the school they need to be absolutely secure and flawless, even with current build of windows 10 and just browsing MSN or other news pages I get the your computer is infected blurbs with edge,

i have to use task manager to close it, the only way.

one visrus hit taking out a lot of users.
will be enough to bar Microsoft from ever
participating again in the school systems .
other operating systems have proved them self's as non nucense devices to the users. rock solid. and have a track record all ready being that way.

Ha!! Ha!! Ha!! Windows 10 has been much more secure than Android and statistically the same as iOS, add the fact that this runs in S Mode it is even more secure....

 

[enduserbestpractice]

I know many who would disagree. especially if you have to deal with the fallout of nconveniences. may be 2 different planets?

 

[ajwhite68]

one key item, once bitten, twice shy......there have been too many less than successful products. Ultimately I question the viability of anything MS produces. They publically have shut down consumer, abandoning to go after only business dollars. Now, they want more $ and realise they need to go back after education.
the fact is, MS is dying as a platform....it is slow, but becoming irrelevant expensive toys.

 

[Vivio vrvly]

It needs apps - the apps ready to be used if its that cheaper OS ver., then really small price and optional computing power through the web, then may come andromeda go - and that one will be success.

 

[Vivio vrvly]

Old android tablet can work with a pen, keyboard and mouse, launching a Lot of apps. They need to be really better to success. This was years before...

 

[ochhanz]

once these devices are in the hands of the school they need to be absolutely secure and flawless, even with current build of windows 10 and just browsing MSN or other news pages I get the your computer is infected blurbs with edge,

i have to use task manager to close it, the only way.

one visrus hit taking out a lot of users.
will be enough to bar Microsoft from ever
participating again in the school systems .
other operating systems have proved them self's as non nucense devices to the users. rock solid. and have a track record all ready being that way.

, this counts for all OS's, even MacOS and probably even Windows Phone lol. Windows is much more secure now than it was back in the days and with S mode activated people cannot install all their dumb junk that they otherwise do. On top of that, when you use something like Adblock Plus or Ublock Origin (not Adblock or Ublock!!, those are owned by shady corporations now, just like Ghostery by the way) it's extremely difficult to install crap without deliberately trying it.
Also Windows 10 has one the best/long security update policies and Windows Defender is adequate to.

 

[jnjroach]

I know many who would disagree. especially if you have to deal with the fallout of nconveniences. may be 2 different planets?

Well if on your planet they are still using Win 9x or XP...I could see your point but we are talking about a world-view that is at least a decade in the past...

 

[anon(10409867)]

I will not be surprised if it fails considering the past record of Nadella. Every product launched under him is either canceled or is not performing well.

 

[quietskies78]

I think it will do "okay".

It wins on apps, period. Yes, it has the same Microsoft apps that iOS already has, but you need to make the argument with Win32 apps that iOS can't match. I am sure there are education specific apps that are better on Windows or flat out absent from iOS (CAD, computer programming, photo editing).

It is further boosted by being easily managed and updated with Microsoft domain services.

Price is a problem, because if you can't afford it, it was never an option to begin with. Ports are also a problem, because what school is a USB-C friendly environment?

 

[ZhekaDrummer]

So, my thoughts about the Win on ARM. The x86 on ARM emulation technology opens a huge number of well coded apps support. But we need to understand, that only ARM-coded apps will use the full potential of ARM processors. The performance requirements will grow in the same way as the functions requirements. So will the x86 on ARM give such performance grow? We have to see.

 

[Giwi]

So you are conditioning kids to use ipod pads when the business world uses Windows PCs? Hope you get sued.

Wait...What? I know that the States has bred itself a ridiculous system that has everyone out to sue each other, but what exactly would be the grounds for a lawsuit in this case? Don't get me wront, I think using Apple at school is pointless but not sure about the link you draw. Perhaps being a non-American I simply need it explaining to me