Speed is certainly one issue, but the ergonomics of typing for an extended period favor separate screen and keyboard components. I too use a table for typing and while I'm pretty quick at it, I can't find a comfortable position that lets me do this for more than half an hour at a time. For this reason alone, the inclusion of a keyboard has certainly made me take notice of Microsoft's offering.
Personally, I think there is some traction in the Transformer style tablet - but the surface cover seems gimmicky. We'll have to see - if it works, I'll be thrilled.
It's also what you're used to. Some people can T9 pretty darned fast because of experience.
I'm not sure if that will translate to marketshare for the surface, however.
It slows you down if you're writing code instead of English words.
Having punctuation characters hidden away probably reduces the overall complexity of people's passwords as well. I strongly suspect that people switch to alphanumeric-only passwords for anything they would enter into an ipad/iphone keyboard.
I'll put the people that would never buy anything without an SD or MicroSD card slot. Again, useful but to a very small and select group of users.
I wish people here (supposedly smart and intelligent folks) would have the common sense to put themselves into the shoes of a TYPICAL user and make their comments relevant to that viewport.
These are the Windows RT tablets (ARM-based). Presumably a lot of Windows x86 software won't have ARM versions, so I'm not sure these will be popular even among the Microsoft shops.
(For all I know, it might still be the best available word processor for tablets; I have never used Apple's "Pages"; but previous versions were ... lacking)
Way to go Microsoft!
It probably won't click with casual content consumers (web/email), but for people that create and write content, it does seem to provide advantages over a typical tablet without being a full laptop. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
So I'd certainly guess there is a product here, between tablets and laptops, and it will be interesting to see how the Surface fills that role.
No 3G / LTE.
That's the iPad 2. If it's comparable to the Surface, then your point is valid.
The cheapest iPad 3 with 3G costs $629.
And while YMMV, I don't require 3G on my tablet. I already have 3G on my phone, which is always in my pocket, and I can create a personal hotspot if reqd.
The new iPad has a Retina display but beyond that ? (I'm talking about hardware)
You can't even buy an iPad 2 with more than 16GB anymore.
The good thing about the keyboard covers is that Windows RT supports mouse input unlike the iPad and a track pad is included in the keyboard covers. This will help alleviate some of the gorilla arm issues if you're trying to get work done. Native remote desktop with RemoteFX[1] support is good when you have WiFi access, say at Starbucks.
The Surface RT does some things better than the iPad. For example, it has a MicroSD slot and a full USB port. The side-by-side multitasking view is pretty nice to put a chat or Twitter client while browsing/working etc. The built in snap out stand is also pretty cool.
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RemoteFX
PS: Funny to see this story as well getting flagged down. Stay classy HN.
The funny thing is, and this is totally in the realm of personal opinion-- I think all of the advantages you mention are actually detractions. Mouse input on a tablet? Seems like a big mistake (but I know, MSFT chose to go with a "windows mode" rather than port their office apps to touch) MicroSD slot? I'd rather that space went to more battery capacity or something more useful. "Full" USB port? If I could plug a mouse into the iPad I still wouldn't.
The snap out stand is something that I forgot about, but might use if the iPad had it. Finding a good case that supports all the different usage modes for the iPad is a pain. But still when I saw the stand shown off, it felt like a gimmick that makes the Surface feel cheap. That might be a marketing misfire, since this is actually a feature I might wish the iPad had, maybe if presented better.
Anyway, all just our opinions based on our preferences. If you buy a surface, I hope you love it!
For the SD slot, I think they absolutely have a use. Like transfering photos from your camera. Yes, you could do it over wifi, but then you'd still need to transfer them to another computer first. If you have one...
Even the USB slot can be extremely useful for some usecases. Look at the hacks people put up with for the ipad to connect external devices. Square use the audio jack both for powering their perhapial and to transfer data. It's riddiculous. And you sacrifice all sound while using it.
But the big take-away innovation here, and the center of their marketing campaign, is that it has a keyboard cover.
This seems to be about 5 years out of sync. 5 years ago, everyone expected the iPhone to fail because it didn't have a physical keyboard like the blackberry.
But after I got my first iPad, the original, I found that I could type at nearly the same speed (possibly faster due to autocorrect) on its on screen keyboard as I can at a regular keyboard... my finger just go to the place the key is, and while feeling a physical key would be nice, the end result on the iPad was about the same speed.
I think this will sell well into markets that are heavily invested in microsoft infrastructure... but I don't see how it is going to take marketshare from the iPad.
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Edit to clarify, since several have responded on this point:
I'm not saying that keyboards have no use. I recognize that many people buy an extra keyboard for their iPad, and prefer that for significant typing.
The point I'm making is what is the differentiating feature here? The UI is different, true, but then its the keyboard.
There are two keyboard covers- one is flat, with no keys which I suspect would be much like typing on the iPAd screen (though of course, not actually on the screen... so a little different) and the other has keys, so similar to buying an external keyboard for the iPAd, only it is slightly more integrated.
Is that really compelling? Compared to buying a wireless keyboard for the iPad, the price is about the same (or cheaper for the iPad).... and the advantage of the Surface is that the keyboard connects to the tablet with magnets?
I just don't see that as being significant enough to really take significant share away from Apple. That's all I was saying.