Right now MS adverts for the surface are nothing more than hipster dipshits dancing on a boardroom table and spining the Surface around. There is nothing infomative, nothing to tell the consumer why they might consider purchasing this vs. an Ipad or a decent Android tablet.

MS can't act like Apple. People already know why they might like to have an iPad. They either own one or have a fiend who does. Surface doesn't have familiarity to fall back on. It looks like an overgrown Zune and unless MS tells people otherwise they will assume it's just an "also ran" in the tablet race.

Slashing prices it nice but it reaks of desperation. I might be tempted to think they are dumping existing inventory prior to dropping the product line.

>> 'I think what we're trying to do is the equivalent of what you've got in the Internet, which is horizontal integration rather than vertical integration...'

It's always fun listening to a suit try to describe the interwebs using MBA terminology.

Next we can look forward to listening to health care issues described as "target markets" and "economies of scale".

"They said 'California is the place you outta be' so she loaded up he spooks and she moved to Beverly..."

>> "Hmm... Apparently, NSA employees don't realize that information they post online can be revealed."

I admit to laughing at this.

Most people run 7 because not because they wanted to (they skipped Vista) but they were forced to by XP's end of life.

I imagine man users didn't know what to expect. Microsoft has the worst advertising and promotion I can think of. For instance why would people in the market for a tablet buy a Surface? All they've seen in the advertisements is hipster morons dancing on a table in a confrence room. No product knowledge in the advert.

Apple runs an assortment of campaigns. Some inform, others are touchy-feely. The best ones put the camera right on the device and quickly demonstrate the ease of use of a single app or function. Even the Mac vs/ PC ads usually conveyed something useful.

Now Google is in the consumer hardware market with the Nexus tablets and Chromebooks. The tablets are amoung the best in class. the Chromebooks are inexpensive and an attractive alternatives to MS and PC laptops. If you're not a gamer and just want bread and butter features it's a big savings.

MS under Ballmer doesn't compete. They expect you to care enough to inform yourself. The market shows most people do not.

I left out how most enterprises are STILL USING XP because Vista, 7 and 8 are all considered consumer grade operating systems by IT people.

Knocking down the silos in an organization is generally a good thing. That said I doubt Ballmer knows what to do next. The smartest thing he could do is choose a successor.

Ballmer doesn't have vision. He doesn't understand the mobile market. Windows 8 was a disaster and MS continues to lose ground to Apple. The introduction of XBoxOne couldn't have been worse - great hardware crippled by licensing BS. Surface is overpriced and underselling next to Ipad and Android tablets.

I'm only suprised he hasn't been forced out.

Plausible.

Most people when meeting somebody from Montana wouldn't be able to tell if they are "living" or "living dead".

When they mod a package it no longer matches the APK signature. On many Android phones if you install a custom (unsigned) kernel you will get a yellow triangle during boot.

The funny thing about medicine... as long as there's money to be made in selling the treatment you can be sure there won't be a cure. The treatment will always follow the bigger money.

A patient of chemo for cancer will take many thousands of dollars each year to combat their disease, so this is where cancer treatment seems to have stalled out in the US.

The "AIDS cocktail" has become quite inexpensive and costs a few bucks a week (until you get insurance numbers involved) so it's no surprising to see a more expensive treatment appear. A Stem Cell Transplant is a cash cow, with related costs adding up to $150-300k USD.

All hail the KING of the NORTH!!! All hail the KING of the NORTH!!!

Weekly? Bi-weekly seems to be the most common in the US.

I've been thin for cash during that second week enough times, I can only imagine how much worse it would be to go a whole month.

Nintendo sold 118m Gameboy handhelds. The DS has sold 157m worldwide. Android dwarfs both of those numbers.

I doubt all Android owners are all gamers or that they all have a device worth playing on. Still, nothing changes the fact this is a neglected, potentially huge market for quality gaming. The big names in game development are staying away in droves.

You're right that I'm still running 4.1.1, I wan't aware the Wiimote app had stopped working. To be honest, it's not a big picture solution to the problem.

Ultimately for gaming to expand on Android players need to know when they buy a game
1) It will work on their device.
2) The controls will be more that a hodge-podge of shakes and swipe actions. It's time for bluetooth joystick support to become standard. When you buy computer hardware it usually has stickers "Compatable with..." and then all the flavors of Windows and OSX. There should be an Android sticker there too.
3) I've paid 5 dollars for games on my tablet (one of those - Asphalt 7 - has never worked on any device I've owned. Gameloft sucks.) I don't mind paying for a decent game as long as it's not buggy. Low price points are an idea created by the app store mindset. We all know real games are going to cost more. If there were a good port of an Arkham title I'd buy it without hesitation.

Google needs to step up here.