So Microsoft has released its new Surface tablet to mixed reactions. Whilst it seems to have been received as a solid piece of kit, many people are questioning Microsoft’s ability to compete with Apple’s iPad, the current market leader of the tablet market.
It is clear that Microsoft have put a lot of time and effort into the Surface – it’s a well built and well designed piece of hardware and it comes boasting the latest incarnation of the beast that is Windows – but is it enough to get the public interested and away from Apple’s iPad?
Microsoft is not exactly a newcomer to the Tablet market. They launched their first (and arguably the first) tablet, the aptly named Tablet PC back in 2001, however it wasn’t until 2010 when Apple unleashed its iPad – along with its mighty marketing machine – that the genre of computing became mainstream. Since then many other companies, mainly making use of Google’s Android operating system, have been pumping out tablets into the marketplace. But they have made little to no dent in Apple’s leading position, despite some of the end products actually being quite good in their own right.
There are interesting times ahead; Microsoft appear to be throwing themselves behind the mobile/tablet market, but will it be enough to stand up beside Apple? Time will tell, however Microsoft do not exactly have a great track record of competing with Apple in the mobile market (anyone remember the Microsoft’s iPod rival the Zune)?
At the end of the day, more choice is good. Especially if the choices are good, and this time around it seems like they just might be!
