[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]Here's why Surface Pro will fail. If a 10" screen is not big enough for you to work on (most people are used to 15"), then it won't replace your laptop, it's going to be your second laptop... at $1000 or more.~~ Netbooks sold not because they're portable or because 10" screens are just right, but because they were like $300. Surface Pro is going to cost more than three times as much, and unless it can be the only computer for a lot of people, it's going to be a niche product (and fail).[/citation] I think you are right about that. The current Win7 tablets (which can run Win8x86) are typically $1200~1600 from HP and Samsung. They are heavier, they are not instant like Android/iPad and their battery life is 4hours at best. Which would have made them useless for our needs as a sales tool on convention floors.
I use photoshop, which is barely usable on a 14" notebook... but on a 10" screen?!
I use my iPad more than my notebook... but I also use it at home. I also use my ThinkPad for content creation on the road. Sticking in the iPad in the same bag with my ThinkPad is not a big deal.
The Windows Slate market is a narrow niche market, I see people drooling for Windows8 Slates about HOW much they need such a device, yet they have been on the market for 2 years and the tablet/notebook convertibles have been on the market for 10 years. They always sucked, they were heavy and the battery life sucked. We replaced those with normal Thinkpad notebooks.
As we see the article today about idiots buying Samsung tablets thinking they were ipads, imagine how many people who actually buy the WART tablets and find out they can't actually run ANY Windows software and have to dig through a list of 1000+ fart apps. Think they will be impressed that their $500 tablets (with no WAN option) are mostly useless and have to upgrade to the $1000~1400 models? People are stupid and they will think it was bait and switch.