Microsoft is in a tough spot. Windows RT is all but dead in the water. But Microsoft has approximately a zillion and a half Surface RT tablets collecting dust in warehouses. And so Ballmer and Co. continued its ignorant fight against Apple and the far more successful iPad with another TV spot that pits the two against each other.
Spoiler: The Surface RT is declared the winner.
Like in previous commercials, the Surface RT’s legitimate advantages are touted over the iPad and iOS. And in many cases, Microsoft isn’t exactly deceitful. The Surface, and with that, Windows RT, has clear advantages over the iPad. At first blush Windows RT feels more productive and advanced than iOS. But after a couple of swipes left and right on the Start Screen, the novelty wears off.
Of course Microsoft failed to stack Windows RT’s apps against those found in iOS.
Windows RT was a dog from the start. And now that Asus pulled back from the market, the little brother to Windows 8 will quickly fade into irreverence. With Asus out, just Dell and Microsoft remain as the only Windows RT hardware providers. Samsung, HTC, HP, and Lenovo previously pulled plans for a Windows RT tablet.
"It's not only our opinion," CEO Jerry Shen remarked to the Wall Street Journal. "The industry sentiment is also that Windows RT has not been successful."
At this point, with Windows RT’s support quickly drying up, Microsoft is doing consumers a disservice attempting to pawn their unsuccessful tablet onto unsuspecting buyers shopping on specs alone. The Windows RT product segment will soon be dead, and with it, the little developer support it currently has will quickly follow suite, leaving consumers with a tablet that will be stuck in the past.
Like I wrote in June, Microsoft, stop trying to make Windows RT happen.
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