While reviewing my archives about the original Surface Pro, I came across some interesting marketing materials. Key among them are two videos, which I’ve posted to YouTube. Each is an interesting peek at Microsoft’s earliest Surface Pro marketing efforts.
“The Vibe” is a confusing follow-up to a confusing commercial that Microsoft aired for the original Surface device, now called Surface RT. The theme then, as with “The Vibe,” is the clicking sound that the Type and Touch Covers made when connected to Surface. You were instructed to “click in at a Microsoft Store” to learn more.
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And my God, is this nonsense. It features the same dancing actor that we saw in the Surface RT commercial, but he’s apparently graduated from the Glee-like community college he attended previously and now has a job. Get it? Surface Pro! This time, the emphasis is on the pen, which was unique to Surface Pro, so the clicking isn’t as pronounced. I can only assume this commercial made everyone as uncomfortable as it made me.
This more traditional product overview highlights the new and unique features in Microsoft’s first “real” PC. You had a choice of two “ultra-thin, revolutionary keyboards that double as covers. You could switch to the pen—not yet called Surface Pen. It ran “real” Windows apps—e.g. “the programs you use everyday,” unlike Surface RT—or “great apps from the Windows Store.”
Surface Pro came in 64 GB and 128 GB variants, provided a USB 3.0 port and a microSD card slot for expansion, and it had a “dual-purpose charger” that could charge the device and your phone at the same time. Obviously, they showed a Windows phone, because that’s what everyone used back then. Surface Pro had a 1080p display and could display externally via miniDisplayPort.
It was, in Microsoft’s words, “new and exciting” and “trusted and familiar.” Using this device, you could “click-in and do more.”
Stooks
<blockquote><a href="#244977"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a></blockquote><p>The iPad out sells the entire Surface line. How is Apple desperately trying to turn the iPad Pro into a Surface Pro??</p>
Stooks
<blockquote><a href="#245168"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a></blockquote><p>Nice try Mike. </p><p><br></p><p>Surface sales declined 18% in their 4th quarter. Total surface sales for that quarter 748,000 for all surface devices. For the same quarter Apple sold over 10 million iPad's.</p><p><br></p><p>The whole reason for the Surface was iPad envy. Apparently customers never got the memo.</p>
Bats
<p>This proved how a game changer the Apple iPad was. Let's get real, without the iPad, there would be no Surface. Perhaps it can also be argued that without the Samsung Note (powered by Android) , there would have been no Surface either, because of that pen. The only thing Microsoft contributed to this form of technology was the detachable keyboard. That was cool! Like I have said many times before, when the iPad (and Android tablets) came out, there seemed to have been a demand for a keyboard. It seemed that the onscreen keyboard wasn't good enough. Kudos to Microsoft to actually INNOVATE something that actually made sense. A keyboard that was detachable AND a screen protector at the same time….that was good. </p><p><br></p><p>WHY Surface has struggled and has seen so little success is beyond me. </p><p><br></p><p>Surface RT bombed. Surface Pro 1, bombed. Surface Pro 2, bombed. These models were EXPENSIVE and FLAT OUT no good. Surface Pro 3, from what I have read was a huge improvement, BUT was a commercial failure. LOL…Microsoft's reason for it's inability to sell their stock, reminds me Lululemon's "Sale Section" on their website, "We Made Too Much." (LOL). </p><p><br></p><p>As for Surface Pro 4, according to Microsoft, it was a commercial success…..? That's what they kept saying right? Of course people like Paul, Brad, and the rest of the Microsoft bloggers had to go with that info and run with it, but …. has it really been successful? The latest bad news about the product has me wondering, what happened to it? I almost bought it, until I saw the really elegant Ash grey/gold HP Spectre X2 and bought that instead. Is it because of the looks? Because I've always said, it's a very "blah" looking device. OR…..could it really just be Windows? If you ask me, I thinks it "All of the Above" and most importantly, the price. </p><p><br></p><p>It's funny how Windows fans just don't get it. They just don't. This is not to make fun of Paul again (for being wrong), but remember all those comments he made? (I paraphrase) "Oh…..The Surface is going to convert Mac people over to the Windows side, because the PC has better technology and it's touch screen,…. and creative artists are better off the 'touch screen' and the "dial" , and the pen…..blah, blah, blah, etc… etc…." I have said this then, and I'll say it agin, people who seriously use Macs have invested an enormous amount of money into that whole Apple/Mac ecosystem. These Apple "creatives" will not turn their back on their Aperture, Final Cut Pro, or Garage Band or whatever….! Really, it just makes no sense for them to spend a whole bunch of money to switch to Microsoft branded hardware. </p><p><br></p><p>All in all, I think it's going to be very interesting to see where the future of Surface is headed. Like I said, the only real innovation Microsoft came out with was that keyboard. I am not giving them anything else, because we were heading in the direction of better battery life, higher resolution screens, etc….. ANYWAY. The keyboard was a great idea, because prior to the Surface release I saw a lot of empty space in the shelf area of bluetooth keyboards for the iPad. This tells me that there was demand for that kind of keyboard kudos for Microsoft for inventing one that does not require a bluetooth connection. </p><p><br></p><p>If Surface continues to struggle, then changes probably need to be made at the higher level. That's starts with Panos Panay. </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#244992"><em>In reply to Bats:</em></a></blockquote><p>I don't think there's any evidence that any tablet was a "game changer". This April it will be 8 long years since the iPad was introduced and it's clear that Jobs' vision of tablets replacing PCs (or Macs) isn't going to happen. Consider how much faster smartphones took over the feature phone market after the iPhone was introduced.</p>
wocowboy
Premium Member<p>I have never understood how anyone could think that Surfaces are useful in any way. The things are completely unusable as a laptop on your lap because of the flimsy keyboard/kickstand design, they must be placed on a hard, flat surface, so why not just buy a regular laptop or a reversible/convertible laptop/tablet thing and be done with it? They simply do not make any sense in a usability case. </p>
wocowboy
Premium Member<blockquote><a href="#245082"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a></blockquote><p>The kickstand itself is not flimsy, but the whole Surface is flimsy and unstable when used on your LAP and likely to fall off your lap if you move your legs, that was my point. Using a Surface on your lap requires a delicate balance and placement of flexible keyboard, the body of the device, and kickstand that must be contained within the length of your thigh. The distance between the front edge of the keyboard and the kickstand is far too long for most people which causes this instability to be even worse. With a normal laptop, all you have to worry about is the depth of the keyboard and that distance is significantly shorter than the keyboard-to-kickstand distance of the Surface, plus the keyboard being a part of the machine and not a flexible thing that moves every time you press a "key" makes a laptop a stable device when used on your lap. I get out plenty and find the Surface unusable as a "laptop". It is made to be used on a hard surface like a tabletop, not on a human being's lap.</p>