So I picked up my Surface Pro 2 tablet at around 11am today and I think the picture above says a lot.
There was absolutely no line for the Microsoft Store this morning and I wasn’t sure I was even in the right place for a while because there were so few people.
I thought it might have been due to the fact that a lot of folks had preordered their units but when I asked the nice lady behind the counter, she indicated that they had every model available.
It was also that very awkward thing that happens when you walk into a store and there are 8 sales people all standing around waiting for customers (AT and T store in Pasadena). Just looks weird.
Now this is just one location so it’s anecdotal but it was pretty low energy and there were 2 other customers the entire 10 minutes it took for me to buy the unit.
Interesting.
So tell me, did any of you go to check out the Surface launches in Microsoft Stores? Was it higher energy?
Use the comments below…
All Comments
And I bet you did not do diddly squat to help, They probably read all the negative “journalism” you have made. I went to a Microsoft store around my way a few weeks back and there where people and I quickly jumped in to help them myself by telling them how great this OS is. I was at a best buy the other day and I did the same thing. On Facebook i have been battling posting every positive article I can find and re-posting high energy posts from Nokia and MS. I am at least trying to battle the year long lies and misinformation that has been spewed about windows 8.
I agree. Media has much more effect on products these days than ever before. That being said, you can’t base things off one location, nor can you compare everything to these nuts who park outside of stores for days in order to buy a new iPhone or gaming system. All products are simply not sold that way. Bloggers and not journalist. Journalist are not even journalist anymore. They have a duty to report misinformation and refrain from adding to it. They have a duty to look beyond the surface and not glaze over facts and opinions like a normal consumer would.
It’s just anecdotal from one store. Not a big deal…
That’s just the thing, these bloggers and tech journalist are more than adding to the misinformation , they are inventing it. I can’t tell how many times I am on my HTC 8X, or my ASUS vivotab RT doing this that and the third, and reading someone who claims to be an expert on windows say that windows phone or RT can not do the same this, that and the third that I would be doing while reading the article or blog. Its mind boggling.
New iPad and Surface 2 coming out at the same time. Massive media coverage of the iPad release. Virtually nothing on the Surface 2. The Apple sheepie mentality still prevails.
I have also formed my own opinion, and really like and have embraced Windows 8 and the Surface tablet, which i gave to my husband as a special birthday present this year.
Dude, a $900 million writedown means that people aren’t buying the darned things, at least not n the kinds of numbers they are buying the iStuff and the Galaxy stuff. Reality is reality. I have 5 PCs in my home and have bought over 100 in the past 2 decades, so I’m far from an Apple fan-Man. However, don’t let passion get in the way of reality. Journalists have an obligation to the latter more than the former…
True and not true, did they lose money on the surface, yeah, and isn’t really a surprise. It has promise, but it will take time to catch on if it sticks. Here however he is talking about buying the Surface Pro. the higher model of the original surface pro had trouble keeping up with demand. At this point pre-order for the 512 models of the SP2 online states it will be out December 15th because there was high demand for those, and despite what some MS Store employees might have thought, at least around here, I learned from management that here at least the SP2 512s aren’t even making it to them yet. While it was low key during the workday, things were busy at the Indy MS Store around lunch.
They have actually lost $0 on the devices. not $900 million. the write down means they did not meet expectations and projections, due to them making too many thinking that these were going to immediately sell out in this market were Ipad is supreme (because of perception and sheep mentality) and because of the misinformation and straight UP LIES that were written by almost every tech source. AKA Brainwashing. The fact is they still have the tablets to sell and make a profit from.
Journalist have an obligation to be objective and not spread misinformation. This article is not as bad as most of the others. Factually speaking this one is a true observation. But you have to be dreaming if you think the perception the media puts out has no effect on the adoption of products or even people. The candidates in politics the media shows the most bias too usually ends up being one of the front-runners. The media is really bad for dogging products like Windows 8 or Surface then later on, especially if the product starts to see a little success, say “you know maybe it’s not as bad after all. Being somewhat anti-Microsoft has always been popular at least as far back as the Win98 days. Back then it didn’t matter because you almost had to buy a PC or whatever Windows was the latest. it has a much bigger effect when you’re trying to enter a new market already dominated by a couple of competitors. You have to be seeing what you want to see the way people pick and choose facts and word things when comparing tech on most sites. This site and WinSuperSite are pretty even when it comes to it. They’ll give Microsoft credit but also call them out on the things they don’t like. But most of these other sites, it’s like listening to politicians talk about their candidates. There is always a negative or a less-enthusiastic slant when talking about Microsoft products, but at the same time they’ll act like a blue iPhone is the greatest invention in the history of phones. I just think journalist don’t do their job when all they do is repeat the same things over and over like tv anchors constantly repeating a movie catch phrase. If we didn’t come to sites like this specifically dedicated to Windows products, you’d think Windows doesn’t have have a Facebook or Netflix app the way they keep saying “Windows has no apps at all” for example.
As for the 900 Million writedown, all that is not just about devices not
selling, although actions in my earlier points don’t help. Everybody is
losing some money on hardware. The only ones who aren’t is Apple on the
iPhone because sheep continue to pay 3 times what the phone is worth.
That being said, it’s not all about it not selling. Microsoft always
over-projects. Also, much of that was the price cut that was about to
come up, but all companies sometimes overestimate future profits. I have
no idea why they expect a product launch to have some big first quarter
of sales numbers like Apple products. Someone obviously didn’t do their
research to think that the most expensive product on the market would
sale well when it has no previous track record. They should have done
then what they should also be doing now,they need to have a big sale on the devices throughout the holiday season while people are in the buying mood, then when the sale ends they can say they still had a premium product at a premium “listed” price. But at the same time give people a price they can stomach, but I’m sure they’ll never do that.
Do you like it?
“I wasn’t sure I was even in the right place for a while because there were so few people.” Is this true, you drove there, seen all the Microsoft signs in the store and you still where not sure where you were?
The day you walk into an Apple Store and see it with two clients, you’ll double check the sign on the door…
That didn’t really answer my question but saying “The day I visit an apple store” show that You really do have a great sense of humor. They won’t let me in an apple store, I don’t have enough class. 🙂