5 Ways Microsoft Could Screw Up the Surface Tablet

Yesterday Microsoft previewed its upcoming Surface tablet, a thin, lightweight, gorgeous black slab designed to run Windows 8?Microsoft?s sleek, fast, and gorgeous reinvention of its core operating system. Yet the company?s decision to name the tablet Surface, giving it the same name as the touch-enabled computer tablet launched four years ago, is ominous, an inadvertent nod to Microsoft?s missed opportunities of the past.

You see, I remember being in Redmond, Wash., a few years ago, getting an early preview of the original Surface table. It was a technological marvel (and a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award winner). At the time, nothing like it existed?it was a large format, multitouch, multiuser device designed for consumers. It had the potential to change what we thought about computing. As I questioned Microsoft?s executives about the tablet, however, I could tell that I had higher expectations for its future than they did. I asked about embedded intelligence in furniture; corporate boardrooms with interactive collaborative tables; and touch-enabled kitchen countertops. But then I learned that Microsoft planned to put this thing in casino bars, hotel lobbies, and AT&T stores. It wasn?t the future of computing; it was an interactive kiosk. Since then, the product has become larger and flatter and has been renamed PixelSense. It also has become a commonplace and completely unremarkable retail technology with plenty of imitators?an also-ran in the category it created.

So here comes the Surface tablet, a piece of hardware (well, two pieces of hardware) that blur the distinction between tablet and laptop in a beautiful and beneficial way. These are the first devices to offer a fully realized and completely different alternative to Apple?s iPad. Surface has the potential to deliver on the one-device promise?it?s a tablet when you want to consume media and browse the Internet, yet it?s a full Windows computer when you want to do something productive. But if you read between the lines of Microsoft?s sparsely detailed announcement, you can see all the unanswered questions that could kill this dream in its infancy. Here are the ways that this promising technology could go wrong.

1. Multiple, Confusing, and Frustrating Product Lines

You can already see this happening. Microsoft isn?t launching one Surface tablet but two: the ARM-based Surface RT and the Intel-based Surface Pro. Both have 10.6-inch screens and handsomely crafted magnesium cases. The RT version is a thin and light tablet at only 1.5 pounds and .37 inches thick. The Pro is thicker (.53 inches) and heavier (just under 2 pounds) and has USB 3.0 and an Intel Ivy Bridge i5 processor in it. Both are beautiful machines, but having to select between them makes each one seem like a compromise in comparison. I want something as svelte as the RT, but it?s not going to be a true laptop replacement; I want something as powerful as the Pro, but it?s probably going to be almost double the price of the RT. Then there?s the business about the screens. According to Microsoft, the RT has an HD screen, while the Pro has a "full HD" screen. That?s marketing shorthand for 1366 x 768 (HD) and 1920 x 1080 (full HD), respectively, but it really means that Microsoft isn?t trying to compete with Apple?s high-pixel-count Retina screens.

2. Stupid and Unappealing Pricing

So far, the only thing we?ve heard about pricing is that the Surface is going to be "competitive." But competitive with what? The idea is supposed to be that the RT will be competitive with tablets while the Pro will be priced in the ultrabook price range. But both tablets and ultrabooks have a pretty wide price swing. An Amazon Kindle Fire is only $199, while a top-end iPad costs $830. Similarly, a cheapo ultrabook such as the Lenovo U310 costs only $800, while a fully loaded 13-inch MacBook Air goes for $1500. I?ll say it now?a base-model RT should cost no more than $450, and Surface Pro should start at less than $900. Premium pricing for Microsoft tablets only makes me start thinking about alternatives with highly evolved app ecosystems.

3. Expensive Accessories

The hands-down coolest thing about the Surface tablets is the magnetically attachable, pressure-sensitive Touch Cover that functions as a keyboard and a touchpad. It?s a brilliant accessory that makes these tablets true laptop replacements, adds a beautiful touch of color, and serves a protective function as well. You know the best way to turn the Surface into just another tablet? Don?t include the cover and make it a $150 accessory.

4. A Crippled Operating System

Another unsettling fact: Windows RT, the flavor that runs on ARM processors, is not going to be the full version of Windows. It will support the cool new Metro apps and features such as Semantic Zoom and Live Tiles. But it features only a limited desktop won?t support the legacy software you know and love. That last part is not exactly Microsoft?s fault?all that software would need to be rewritten for ARM?but it reinforces the idea that the light, portable, affordable Surface RT is not really a laptop replacement. It?s just another iPad competitor.

5. Balky Release Dates

Surface RT is expected to release in the fall, concurrent with the launch date of Windows 8, but the Pro version won?t be available for another three months. Microsoft, if you want me to get excited about the launch of Windows 8, make the coolest hardware you?ve got available on day one. Instead, your message is: "Hey, look at our cool, highly capable, and beautifully designed operating system?except our own equipment runs only the light version. You?ll have to buy a third-party device to get the full functionality. But you really don?t want to do that, because we?ve got a much better piece of hardware coming down the pike, so our best advice is . . . you know . . . hold off for a few months before you buy."

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