Cheaper Surface appears on German Web site

 

Amazon in Germany is already advertising Microsoft Surface tablets, though they’re not yet available. Buyers are invited to sign up to be notified when they become available.

One surprise is a (presumably) lower-cost 32G version that wasn’t unveiled at the Surface launch last month. Is it enough to win customers over to a Windows 8-based tablet?

I doubt it. Metro-style Windows 8 will be a knockout on a tablet computer, but iPad loyalists won’t look and the uncommitted will probably go with a known quantity. Microsoft might get a portion of the undecided buying on price with the 32G model, but if that compromises performance, they won’t come back.

I think what could make inroads would be a 7-inch model, which Apple has thus far stoutly declined to offer. It’s my jacket pocket theory. About a dozen years ago, suit jackets started appearing with dedicated cell phone pockets as the mobile market began to really take off. If you have or have played with a RIM Playbook, you’ll have noticed it’s just a hair too big for most jaclet pockets. I believe menswear will evolve to accommodate seven-inch tablets, but not 10-inch.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Dave Webb
Dave Webb
Dave Webb is a freelance editor and writer. A veteran journalist of more than 20 years' experience (15 of them in technology), he has held senior editorial positions with a number of technology publications. He was honoured with an Andersen Consulting Award for Excellence in Business Journalism in 2000, and several Canadian Online Publishing Awards as part of the ComputerWorld Canada team.

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