Facebook
Twitter
Full disclosure: I’m a little biased.
While I appreciate all the fine design and intuitive features of Apple (NYSE: AAPL) devices as much as the next person, I continue to find typing long documents on an Apple computer or iPad a little bit challenging. Apple’s compact design and user friendly interface are appealing, but when I sit down to write on an iPad – even one with an attachable keyboard – it feels a little like I’m squeezing into a chair that’s too small.
And even when I work on an Apple desktop that has a large screen and keyboard and runs Microsoft Word, I find the experience to be less than seamless. I may be able to get the job done, but it’s not the comfortable work experience I’d appreciate. When it comes to sitting down to work, I’m in many ways more comfortable on a PC than an iPad … even if the iPad is a lot easier to carry around.
I figure I can’t be the only one. Even Apple seems to be struggling these days to identify the optimal computing device (smaller tablet? larger iPhone?) that’s both mobile and functional.
The Goldilocks Device
It’s that dilemma that makes me believe that Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) new Surface Book could be one of the best product releases that we’ve seen in a long time. The software giant once dominated the tech sector but has been suffering from an identity crisis for many years. I haven’t tested the new Microsoft Surface Book yet, but from the way it’s being described – one review called it a tablet with a great big keyboard – it seems to be addressing a gap in the market.
Yes, it is rather astounding to think that there could be any gap at all in a business that is so saturated with computers and devices large and small, all loaded with bells and whistles. But some of us have yet to find the computing device that is, to quote Goldilocks, just right. While the iPad was a game changer several years ago, iPad sales have been on the decline for a while. Many of us are using large-screen smart phones like the iPhone 6 Plus but the reality is that not all of us can do all of our computing work on a phone.
Microsoft’s Bold Play
Now, to be fair, Apple isn’t the only one that’s suffering declining sales from a key product. PC sales have been falling for quite some time and in the second quarter they fell 9.5% from the year-earlier quarter. This is a main factor in the identity crisis faced by Microsoft, whose Windows operating system comes pre-installed in most PCs, has long been the company’s flagship product.
Moreover, even with weak iPad sales, it seems fair to say the momentum is still with Apple, which generates a massive amount of buzz and consumer interest with every new product release. It’s far too early to say that the new Microsoft Surface tablet will be well received, let alone disruptive.
But Microsoft is making a bold play in a space that, it seems fair to say, is in flux. And I personally think its approach of offering a tablet that feels more like a PC than a phone is the right approach.
At the same time, Microsoft still has a fair amount of work to do to execute on its “universal application architecture” strategy to deploy a single operating system across multiple devices. Its 1-year-old Windows 10 operating system was designed to work on PCs and phones alike, but Microsoft’s foray into the smartphone market has been underwhelming in the years since it acquired Nokia’s (NYSE: NOK) mobile device business. Its latest Lumia phone launch comes with the support of only a single carrier, which has left some critics scratching their heads about how seriously Microsoft is taking mobile sales.
But it could be that Microsoft will gain ground not by building a market in PCs and tablets and mobile phones, but by acknowledging that the lines between all these segments have blurred. The Microsoft Surface Book , both sturdy and portable, seems to be doing just that.
Tesla, Apple and Google are creating this
When people think of Tesla, what immediately comes to mind is the world’s first electric car. It’s an astounding achievement. But what few people realize is that Tesla’s next technological wonder could easily put it to shame. Morgan Stanley says this breakthrough could save the American economy $1.3 trillion each year. And Tesla’s not the only one racing to get it out the door. Apple and Google are working on their own versions too. Get the whole story right here.