Surface Go Will Fail in the Education Market

[HeyCori]

Succeed or not, the Surface Go will have at least one educational victory under its belt.

https://www.windowscentral.com/micr...sen-official-tablet-law-school-admission-test

 

[jnjroach]

I'm aware of some very large School Districts in the US that looking at purchasing the Surface Go for their students, we're talking thousands of machines per district.

And when this thread says it will fail, you miss the point of the device and what success for Microsoft is with these....

 

[darrell reimer]

So it looks like my sad prediction is coming true: news of Windows 'Lite' on the horizon leaves Windows S spiraling to the same fate and demise as Windows RT (and Windows 8/8.1), there is no way the Surface GO will have any impact on the Education market. The battle for schools has been fought and won - by iPads and Chromebooks. This is a repeat performance, just like in mobile, where 'you know who' said there was 'no point having a third operating system'...

Update: so I'm watching the Lakers/Clippers game on TV going into OT; they keep showing Steve Ballmer in crowd, jumping up and down when his Clips score. I'm so conflicted when I see him. I remember back during his time, I was using a SAMSUNG ATIV SE phone running Windows 8.1 - super awesome! ; I bought the first Surface RT tablet and thought it was so cool. I loved my xBox music; things in the Windows/Microsoft world were so exciting and promising....and now

 

[Insti Gator]

So it looks like my sad prediction is coming true: news of Windows 'Lite' on the horizon leaves Windows S spiraling to the same fate and demise as Windows RT (and Windows 8/8.1), there is no way the Surface GO will have any impact on the Education market.

I think you're missing the point...

Microsoft sells software and services. The Surface hardware makes up less than 5% of MS's total revenue (sources below). Less than 5%. They DO NOT CARE about selling Surface Go. They want to sell Windows 10. The Surface line is a way to demonstrate to other OEMs (HP, Dell, Lenovo) what products will exploit Windows 10 capability to the fullest extent. That's why every Surface device is of the highest quality and uses the most features of Windows 10 (namely digital inking input).

So MS doesn't need, care, or want Surface Go to dominate the education market. They want the product to have some sales success so that HP, Dell and Lenovo see that these machines have something to offer education markets and then those OEM's will be incentivized to create more affordable machines that meet education needs. MS's strategy is called "Halo Devices" or "Reference Design". Products that, while good in their own right, are not intended to sell in mass volume but to inspire others or be a "Halo" for others to aspire towards, which in turn sell more Windows devices boosting MS's operating system presence.

MS only care about selling more Office suite and Windows 10 to education market. Surface Go is just one of many ways they are trying it, since it comes with Windows 10S and they cannot fail because they don't have any significant market share. Therefore they have nothing to lose. If they do not gain education market share they remain the same (no loss). If they do gain market share they increase/win.

https://forums.windowscentral.com/e...FFY-2019-Q1%2Fsegment-revenues&token=OJ4Mmwnf

https://venturebeat.com/2019/01/30/microsoft-earnings-q2-2019/

https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/24...1-2019-earnings-cloud-services-surface-gaming

 

[HeyCori]

So it looks like my sad prediction is coming true: news of Windows 'Lite' on the horizon leaves Windows S spiraling to the same fate and demise as Windows RT (and Windows 8/8.1), there is no way the Surface GO will have any impact on the Education market. The battle for schools has been fought and won - by iPads and Chromebooks. This is a repeat performance, just like in mobile, where 'you know who' said there was 'no point having a third operating system'...

Windows in S-mode isn't dead. Windows Lite is S-mode. First, you have to consider what S-mode truly is - it's full Windows. The only limitation of S-mode is it can't run 32/64-bit applications. But the ability to do so is easily unlocked because, again, S-mode is just full Windows.

Windows Lite will actually be what Microsoft intended to do with S-mode, and that's offer a computer with a lightweight operating system that can only run UWP and PWA applications. You are going out of your way to turn this into a bad thing. It absolutely is not.

Furthermore, Microsoft actually increased their market share in the education market last few quarters. And that's not to take anything away from Chrome OS which is still kicking tail, but it's not a two-horse race with both Google and Microsoft eating into Apple's lunch. Windows Lite will further help Microsoft compete against both companies.

As for your Surface Go comments - do you know when Windows Lite is coming out? Next month? This year? Next year? No one knows. So trying to equate the announcement of Windows Lite as a sign that the Go won't have an impact is a flawed argument. Insti Gator is much more on-point as to what "success" means for Microsoft. Success means getting Windows into the classroom, not getting a particular device in there.

 

[cknobman]

I love the Surface Go but just dont see it succeeding due to price point.

My boys school district (which is large) dropped Windows and converted to rugged Chromebooks.

 

[darrell reimer]

No mention at all of Surface GO at yesterday's big Microsoft event...