Acer Sternly Warns Microsoft Over Surface Tablet

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I don't see what their issue is. While they've been doing better lately, Acer has always been synonymous with low end, cheap crap. The Surface is by all accounts definitely a high end product. I'm pretty sure Microsoft isn't going to be luring anyone away from Acer's target market if the estimated price range for the Surface turns out to be correct. If I were the CEO of Acer, I'd be more worried about the people who have been beating me for years already (Samsung and Asus) before worrying about someone bringing out a product I couldn't hope to compete with in a million years.
 
"Microsoft's business is built on a large ecosystem that works in perfect harmony."

Wait. What?
 
If you want a thing done right, do it yourself. That's basically what MS is doing here. It's a fact that all of these manufacturers that are whining would've HALF-ASSED a Windows 8 tablet. They are known for making low quality crap and like somebody already said, the only thing that holds them up is Windows
 
Am I missing the point here? Why you guys are complaining about surface?
It's a $1000 piece of hardware!
For that kind of money I would buy an ultrabook any time!

Sure, it's "touchy" but can it live up to the expectations? Not really.
People tend to forget that the x86 hardware is a resource/battery hog. 2 to 3 hours on video (movies), at most on most notebooks, imagine that on a 'surface'....

And lets forget the gamers. x86 hardware on such small form means no gamers, so my bet will be: it will fail.

Why does the iPad (and now Android) are the hot topic? Because we can play casual games and even some hardcore games there. Do you really think that the surface will be able to match that? Take a look at the 'Marketplace' and see if you find AAA titles there such as Nova? The FWD had just turned open source so I might be wrong (MSFT has hopes for it) but will it be enough to turn me away from my Android devices? Or my GF/Sister from iOS?

Anyway, who is willing to pay more for games? On the Brazilian Marketplace I was seeing games going as ! LOW ! as US$2.5.. How's that for a market that has fewer AAA titles than other app stores?
It took me 2 generations of Android phones to make me move away from my Symbian devices, and we are seeing the 3rd generation of Windows Phones (and now tablets) and we are still low on quality of apps...

Conclusion? As a gamer on the desktop and someone that uses Android to work all those caveats will make me wait until I'm sure that the next "big thing" will be using Windows on phones/tablets. If you can't convince the reviewers/gamers that it's a good thing than your device will be the new RIM: Good for the workplace, not for your everyday use.
 
I would respect and take their views more seriously if they didn't make crap products.

Also, while I have an android phone and an android tablets, the android platform as a whole is not good. I think MS is addressing a legit significant of the market. As of now, if people want simplicity, they can go with an ipad. If they want versatility at the expense of stability and support, they can go with android. But there's a significant lack of stability and productivity that marries with versatility (and so-called device "freedom"). If the Surface is a threat to Acer, it's not because MS isn't good at making hardware--if that were the case, then Acer shouldn't be in the business either.
 
I don't see what he's worried about.

Surface RT will have Tegra 3 (available on the $200 Nexus 7), 1366x768 resolution, won't be compatible with existing Windows applications and will be as expensive as the iPad and Transformer Infinity.

Surface Pro on the other hand will cost around $1000, be dust breathing and too thick and heavy for a tablet. Also, no one is going to want to drop $700 on Photoshop or similar x86 applications to run on a netbook sized screen and a crippled ULV processor.

Which doesn't mean Microsoft can't make Surface 2 a success, and I think Microsoft's new Apple-like direction (walled garden, own hardware, fleecing fanboys) may kill lots of hardware OEMs, increase hardware prices overall and be bad for consumers as well.
 
[citation][nom]soo-nah-mee[/nom]I highly anticipate the release and my purchase of one of the Surface models. I have very high expectations, and if they are met, PC builders like Acer DO have a lot to worry about.Pre-built Windows PCs have long been cheaply made and flimsy products that have only had one real thing in common over the years. Microsoft. Windows has been what has made a pile of ill-fitting Chinese-made parts a user-friendly, working machine. In contrast, Apple devices, (although I generally dislike them for other reasons), have been relatively well-built pieces of hardware. If Microsoft can build products that are similar in build quality to something like a MacBook, then I'm all in.[/citation]


It sounds to me like you're complaining about your own personal shopping habits. Buying cheap sh*t and then blaming the manufacturer for producing said sh*t.

There have always been high-end well fitting Windows machines, Sony Vaios, Falcon northwest, etc. The problem being most people prefer the cheap trash.
 
[citation][nom]Jerky_san[/nom]If you get enough money behind something anything is possible.. Imagine a sudden influx of billions into ubuntu development. Steam switches and many developers switch to opengl. Office programs start getting wrote for ubuntu and manufactures start pushing it. If you have enough money anything is possible.. And if they think MS is threatening that much the money will flow..[/citation]

Except steam won't switch and neither will developers.
 
[citation][nom]soo-nah-mee[/nom]I highly anticipate the release and my purchase of one of the Surface models. I have very high expectations, and if they are met, PC builders like Acer DO have a lot to worry about.Pre-built Windows PCs have long been cheaply made and flimsy products that have only had one real thing in common over the years. Microsoft. Windows has been what has made a pile of ill-fitting Chinese-made parts a user-friendly, working machine. In contrast, Apple devices, (although I generally dislike them for other reasons), have been relatively well-built pieces of hardware. If Microsoft can build products that are similar in build quality to something like a MacBook, then I'm all in.[/citation]

Why are you idiots upvoting this comment?

APPLE CRAP IS MADE IN CHINA TOO!
 
[citation][nom]Kami3k[/nom]Except steam won't switch and neither will developers.[/citation]


Valve has already announced a client for Ubuntu + source is being ported to it..
 
[citation][nom]freggo[/nom]Microsoft can not compete with Apple when it comes to style, perception or 'coolness'.That's like Honda trying to compete with Rolls Royce.Microsoft builds for the masses, Apple for 'ego' oriented minorities.[/citation]Bad analogy... Think more Kia vs honda. iPad costs the same as any other high end tablet from the other companies. HP, Lenovo, dell all sell upper end notebooks that cost as much or a tad less than apple. Apple also only has about 5% of the world pic market.
 
[citation][nom]webdev511[/nom]Hmm, no I don't see that. I see MS stepping up with Surface because when it comes to tablets the hardware OEMs have done a good job of missing the mark for almost ten years. Surface gives OEMs both something to shoot for and a swift kick in the pants.[/citation]How long have you've been doing crack? Exactly what ARM class OS has Microsoft been selling in the past 10 years that we don't know about that you are referring to? Even when MS released WP7, they didn't have a tablet version. MS insults their partners with such statements as blaming them for not selling a tablet... With no OS.

IF the OEMs like Acer and HO start pushing Linux and people start actually buying them, especially with windows8-Rape edition... It could be a death spiral for MS. They make their money from two things, windows and office. If you don't need office, you don't need windows. Once that happens...
 
[citation][nom]Kami3k[/nom]Except steam won't switch and neither will developers.[/citation]
Why wouldn't they? As the above mentioned, steam is already being developed for linux. Steam has already explained their concern over windows 8 (no doubt because steam is hoping to further monetize software sales through their interface beyond just games--and that directly competes with the Win 8 store).

I wouldn't be half-surprised if steam has internal projects seeing if building their own OS is a viable path to go down.
 
Anyone else noticed that Acer seems to be the only one huffing and puffing about Surface? That says a lot right there.
 
Personally, I think that Microsoft should just get another vendor to build the surface (say Acer, Asus, etc) and then slap the Surface name on them. Kinda like the Droid name with Verizon.
 
[citation][nom]everygamer[/nom]Personally, I think that Microsoft should just get another vendor to build the surface (say Acer, Asus, etc) and then slap the Surface name on them. Kinda like the Droid name with Verizon.[/citation]
The problem isn't that MS itself is making the tablets (no doubt they're just going to get someone like Foxconn or similar to actually build them). The problem is that MS has decided to have the Surface be a "closed" product. Meaning that they won't license the use of the OS to other hardware manufacturers, and MS is going to retain control of the hardware platform and software. Acer is trying to complain that this is essentially cutting into their customer base and revenue stream--because Acer's business (currently) relies on being able to make products and slap on an OS A Windows 8 tablet won't be an option for them.

That might be true, but as of yet, having a diverse set of hardware available had made android a frustrating platform for both users and developers. So long as MS doesn't "pull and Apple," I'd sooner give them a shot to try to solve some of those problems for the users.

Regardless, Acer's laughable criticism of MS not being good at making hardware is like the pot calling the kettle black. MS can make hardware just fine--so long as they don't contract with manufacturers that try to save $0.25 per unit on a good soldering job or better cooling.
 
[citation][nom]teh_chem[/nom]The problem isn't that MS itself is making the tablets (no doubt they're just going to get someone like Foxconn or similar to actually build them). The problem is that MS has decided to have the Surface be a "closed" product. Meaning that they won't license the use of the OS to other hardware manufacturers, and MS is going to retain control of the hardware platform and software. Acer is trying to complain that this is essentially cutting into their customer base and revenue stream--because Acer's business (currently) relies on being able to make products and slap on an OS A Windows 8 tablet won't be an option for them.That might be true, but as of yet, having a diverse set of hardware available had made android a frustrating platform for both users and developers. So long as MS doesn't "pull and Apple," I'd sooner give them a shot to try to solve some of those problems for the users.Regardless, Acer's laughable criticism of MS not being good at making hardware is like the pot calling the kettle black. MS can make hardware just fine--so long as they don't contract with manufacturers that try to save $0.25 per unit on a good soldering job or better cooling.[/citation]

Um... What? Microsoft will be licensing Windows 8 to anyone who wants to make a device for it, just like they always have. It's about the fact that it costs OEMs around 90 bucks to pre-install Windows on their device, but it won't costs Microsoft a dime because they don't need to buy a license from themselves.

Acer will be more then welcome to build Windows 8 devices, just like all the other OEMs are already doing.

The complaints about Windows becoming a "closed system" that everyone keeps throwing around are based around Windows 8 RT, which is the ARM version of Windows 8, which of course is only for Mobile devices. The x86 version will be no different then all version of Windows before it as far as software development goes, so these complaints are of course baseless.
 
[citation][nom]super d spamalot[/nom]Um... What? Microsoft will be licensing Windows 8 to anyone who wants to make a device for it, just like they always have. It's about the fact that it costs OEMs around 90 bucks to pre-install Windows on their device, but it won't costs Microsoft a dime because they don't need to buy a license from themselves. Acer will be more then welcome to build Windows 8 devices, just like all the other OEMs are already doing.The complaints about Windows becoming a "closed system" that everyone keeps throwing around are based around Windows 8 RT, which is the ARM version of Windows 8, which of course is only for Mobile devices. The x86 version will be no different then all version of Windows before it as far as software development goes, so these complaints are of course baseless.[/citation]
Uh...dude...this whole article is about the Surface Tablet...Tablet ^_^
 
[citation][nom]teh_chem[/nom]Uh...dude...this whole article is about the Surface Tablet...Tablet ^_^[/citation]

I'm aware of that, that's why I was talking about the Surface and tablets in general. Even if I wasn't, your information is still incorrect. Windows 8 RT will be "closed" as you put it (And, by the way, the only reason it's unable to run normal windows apps is a quality control measure, not a method of "closing" the system. If they allowed normal software, they'd never hear the end of it when some idiot tries to install photoshop or a CAM/CAD suite and their ARM tablet and wonders why it doesn't work properly), but normal Windows 8, which is going to be on the Surface Pro (Which is a tablet...Tablet).
 
Who the hell is going install Adobe CS and CAD CAM Onto a tablet? A $1200 tablet at that. Win7 tablets have sold like poop for years, windows Rape won't do better. (8 sounds like rape)
 
I think Microsoft is crap, forcing people to upgrade to windows 7 professional, just to backup to a network drive, something that any basic operating system should have the ability to do, I am also not pleased at windows not allowing me to RAID my cheep thumb drives, to get faster writes! But just as Microsoft's "Modern UI" sucks hot Poop, Laptop OEM's are just as bad, Customizing the Intel HD graphics drivers on ypur laptops, so owners can not update the drivers at the Intel HD graphics driver update website! Laptop users are forced to wait for the Laptop OEM's to update the Intel HD graphics driver, which most laptop OEM's will never do! Hay laptop owner, you want new drivers, you got to buy a new laptop to get the updated drivers, SUCKERS! Yes Poor laptop OEM's, Microsoft's going to take over screwing the laptop owners, and your just sooo upset they're getting your sheep for dinner, Oh the big bad wolves, stealing from the other big bad wolves! How unfair! Oh! BOHoo, Oh! you poor little laptop OEM's
 
I really have no interest in ever buying a microsoft or apple tablet , when i do get a tablet it will either be a kindle fire used mainly for reading and watching amazon movies , or it will be an android based tablet , not a windohs 8 or OSX based tablet.
 
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