1. IF they buy them, tons of people are going to return these when they realize they can't run x86 Windows applications on them and also be disappointed at Microsoft for it. That disappointment will be contagious. This is poor marketing by not clearly differentiating architecture platforms. Not to mention the fact that they used an x86 based tablet in the keynote launch and will also sell it under the "Surface Pro" moniker. OSX is not iOS and nobody thinks that it is.

2. Microsoft is so ubiquitous that it is hard to think of anything MS as a specialty/luxury product. They should have created some mystery in-house brand with lots of viral marketing and kept Ballmer publicly as far away from it as possible. Oh and don't pilfer the product name from a previous technology associated with making people look awkward on TV in front of unnaturally large touch screens.

3. For the way they are putting the spotlight on it, ALL devices should come with the keyboard cover. It's almost like selling it without a charger. It's just a disappointing out of the box experience rather than a delightful surprise. Or at least something like the first million devices get a free keyboard cover.

4. Apple has all the mindshare as the "spent more money than I needed to and I'm proud of it" computing brand. Android has all the mindshare as the "got my money's worth" mobile brand. There's not much else to think about. Where can MS achieve significant mindshare and make the customer feel like they are winning?

Honestly I like the device and think I would enjoy owning one but I feel no urge to order one.

http://slashdot.org/story/06/07/13/0822206/darpas-cortically-coupled-computer-vision-system

http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/imaging/a-brainy-approach-to-image-sorting

If you DIY you can probably accomplish a lot for under $10k and the pros would probably charge you 10x that for similar functionality. The following categories should represent the major considerations:

Infrastructure - How are you going to connect everything?
- WiFi Everywhere
- Server box for storage & to run some home automation software & scripts (small embedded linux or more powerful)
- Main equipment location & as much distributed wiring as you can do cheaply & easily yourself

Entertainment - From where will your source content & how will you present it?
- LCD/Plasma Monitors
- Multiroom audio
- Rokus or other cheap streaming boxes?
- Whole House DVR systems from cable/satellite? (Dish Hopper/Joey, etc...)
- HDHomeRun or other DVR capture cards?
- A/V matrix switches & distribution? (monoprice)
- Programmable remotes (ipads, cheap android tablets, logitech harmony, etc...)

Comfort & Convenience
- Lighting (X10, Z-Wave, Insteon, UPB, etc..)
- HVAC (thermostats)
- In-house communications (intercoms, pbx)
- Misc automation (window shading, garage doors, locks, etc...)
- Weather/Environmental sensors (oregon scientific, lacrosse)
- Programmable remotes (ipads, cheap android tablets, logitech harmony, etc...)

Security
- Alarm system (2gig, honeywell, etc..)
- Cameras & DVR

The wow factor usually comes from complex actions resulting from simple inputs (scripting) so plan ahead for how everything is going to work together & communicate (sticking to fewer protocols will be easier, though maybe not always cheaper). Have a controller/server you can program yourself and don't get locked in to a proprietary system.

IMHO, a bunch of ipads plastered into the walls really aren't that useful or impressive so skip that.

Yep probably CVD Parylene treatment like Golden Shellback aka ZAGG HzO.

People who may be in the market for an upgrade to their PC may choose to spend that money on a tablet instead and keep their current PC. People who want a tablet and a PC may choose to buy a cheaper used PC so they can afford both. These seem like they should be important considerations for a PC manufacturer.

This will just leave more room for the increasing numbers of people who go to college for the coeds and parties aka the social education. For them it's really just an expensive sleepaway camp but the students/parents will pay the tuition because of the accreditation of the university. Hopefully alternative education platforms that help separate education from institution will bring about new standards that make individual achievement in higher education easier to evaluate. But this will also devalue the standard diploma leading to aforementioned "students" unwillingness to pay premiums for rubber stamped degrees and this loss of funding could have a negative impact on the real value of these institutions, depending on how those university economies work.

The patent standards need to be evolving with the technology itself. So the number of things that fall under "obvious" should be increasing as quickly as the pace of technological progress is by the law of accelerating returns. Also the patent expiration period should be decreasing at the same rate.

"What do you mean he's not in there? The GPS tracker clearly shows Jesus should be inside the tomb."

Kind of strange that I saw this story whilst watching "First Men in The Moon" where they also happen to find gold on the moon.

Don't see anything for Voice in there, but thankfully there's already http://code.google.com/p/pygooglevoice/

Seems like a nice thing to do, but I'm pretty sure that is prohibited somewhere in the TOS you agreed to when signing up with your service provider.

Might be Microsoft's most successful attempt at stopping self-replicating code.

They are very poor programmers. Almost nothing works in retarded clam shell (rcsh).

Ubiquity Rocket M2 and M5

Scalability: 300+ subs per sectored base station