When is 32GB not 32GB? A lawyer has sued Microsoft in Los Angeles Superior Court for not providing the advertised amount of storage on its Surface tablet. Andrew Sokolowski filed suit after purchasing a 32GB Surface tablet and finding considerably less memory available for his content and apps. As is typical with PCs, tablets and other computing devices, a significant proportion of the storage space is taken up by the operating system. In the case of the Surface tablet, about half of the space is consumed by pre-loaded apps. Sokolowski’s attorney, Rhett Francisco, said in a statement, “Mr. Sokolowski’s lawsuit against Microsoft is about protecting consumers as we head into the holiday shopping season.” HE continued by saying; “Microsoft is misrepresenting the storage capacity and capabilities of its Surface tablet, and consumers should know about it.” Microsoft,, through a spokeswoman said that the lawsuit was without merit. “Customers understand the operating system and pre-installed applications reside on the device’s internal storage thereby reducing the total free space,” she noted. “Surface with Windows RT customers benefit from the ability to attach additional storage via the integrated microSD slot or full-size USB port.” Sokolowski is not seeking personal damages but wanted Microsoft to more clearly clarify the real storage available when a consumer buys a tablet. Is Sokolowski being unreasonable with his lawsuit? Don’t most people know that a 500GB drive or a 16GB smartphone will never have that amount free due to OS and other software requirements? What do you think?]]>
