Surface 2 Is About Specs And Power - May Not Be Enough To Overcome "Experience" Factor Users Want From iOS and iPad

Did Microsoft mess up with the Surface 2 introduction and the Surface 2 itself?  I hope articles like this because the writer seems to suggest that they know better.  I've been guilty of this but I tend to be more optimistic than other writers and I always give a product or service the benefit of the doubt before making bold predictions.

Here in this post from Read Write, the writer suggests that Microsoft has failed once more with the Surface 2 by not connecting it with the users.  Instead, it walked about what kind of horse power it has.  I admit that at one time, that would have been enough to sell me on it.  But no more.  And for the more sophisticated mobile society we have today, that is also true.

There is one main issue here and that's the effect the iPad has on the user.  There is an element of joy that you get from using the iPad that is not matched like other tablets. The same can be said of the iPhone when you hold it in your hand.  You want to do something with it.

Whereas with my Windows Phone device, it somehow feels different.

A lot of times with my iOS devices, I feel it is such a waste if I'm just using it to watch a video.  I feel that as well when I'm using the iBooks app.  I feel that while Apple's mobile devices are good for these things, it feels beneath them.  Maybe this is why some users feel inspired and creative with Apple products than with others.

The main point of the Read Write post is that Microsoft is trying to convey an PC message to a largely tablet market.  Power and speed.  Oh, and it has Office.  None of those are enough to dislodge the iPad aura that Apple has created. If anything, Microsoft would serve the Surface better by demonstrating the Surface can be empathetic with the users.  There just doesn't seem to be a lot of joy that users experience when they're on devices Apple's competitors create.

Recent Surface commericals comparing the Surface with the iPad and using Siri as the whipping boy is a good move away from the clicking Surface keyboard ads.  Those were awful and many thought they were actually ads for the iPad.  And while these newer Surface ads reminded me of the Mac-verus-PC ads, it's still not enough.

Over all, I think we do have to take a wait-and-see attitude towards Surface 2 and give it a chance.  Perseverance, after all, is Microsoft's middle name (last name?) and while many, if not all, of its products are not the best on the market, it's "good enough" philosophy has been very successful.  It'll be keep coming at the market until it finds a way to win.