Apple’s dominance in the tablet market was in no small part down to their early entry. Is this dominance about to change, this year Microsoft revealed its own strategy for taking on the iPad: the latest version of its Windows operating system, Windows 8, has been billed as a new breed of hybrid tablet PCs.
Inspired by Apple’s touch-based iOS system, Windows 8, which launched this autumn – is radically different from its predecessors. The system doesn’t even have Microsoft’s iconic “start” menu. Instead, applications are spread displayed as tiles, resembling road signs that can be easily navigated using its touch-sensitive screen display or with a keyboard that includes an in-built mouse pad. The tiles also provide an update of the activity occurring in applications that are connected to the internet, such as email.
The new operating system is versatile meaning it can be used to power computer tablets as well as traditional desktops. Following on from the launch of Windows 8, Microsoft soon after announced the release of its new flagship tablet, called Surface. The aims of which is to answer the main criticism of the iPad, particularly among educators; that it’s better for consuming content than creating it.
The Surface tablet attaches to a removable razor-thin, touch-sensitive keyboard that acts like a book cover. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer explained that Surface is a media consumption device that doesn’t compromise “the productivity that PCs are uniquely known for.”
Should Schools Consider the Surface?
Let’s look more closely, yes the keyboard is a stylish add-on, the touch-screen display is easy-to-use and the fact that it is a Windows operating system with office pre-installed, there is much in the way of temptation for students and teachers alike.
However, in an age of austerity and with the recent budget announcements failing to create much confidence for schools, price is an increasingly important factor. The Microsoft Surface although billed as the iPad slayer has done little to differentiate itself on price with its entry-level 32GB version costing £399.99 (exc. the type cover keyboard – £104.99), while the larger 64GB tablet will cost £599.99.
Parking the issue of price for a moment, another critical clue to whether the Surface will be suitable for schools was hinted at during the New York launch event of its Windows 8 operating system in October. The pitch, lasting 48 minutes, mentioned nearly every buzz word associated with commerce, business and enterprise. Yet education was not one of them. This may seem trivial but it questions whether Microsoft views the Surface as an evolutionary system, like Apple when they released the first iPad, the education sector doesn’t seem to be their principal and immediate concern.
That leads us to answer; should we or shouldn’t we consider the Surface as a classroom learning device? In our opinion, cost is the decisive factor and given the huge price tag it’s difficult to see how schools can afford to offer widespread usage. The risk is that some schools will invest in certain areas/departments and/or subjects, in order to reduce costs. The effect is that students end up in a bifurcated environment, in which 2 teachers for example can offer lesson plans supported by the new tablet device and 4 cannot, due to department cuts. Guess which teachers I as a student, a digital native am going to respond to best.
As well as the budgetary implication, another significant point pulls the argument back to Apple vs Microsoft, Windows vs. iOS – Microsoft Surface doesn’t have the ecosystem and vertical integration that Apple has nurtured for so many years and let’s face it brand appeal also has some weighting here.
So although the Surface doesn’t seem to offer us a solution, or at least not an immediate one to the investment associated with digital integration, it is visually enticing, functional, but more importantly Microsoft is showing us that there is another big innovator out there. And it’s from one of Apple’s biggest competitors.
We wanted to bring you ground-breaking news but in reality advances in technology are incremental and evolutionary. The Surface tablet may not be suitable for education right now but if Microsoft can create a lighter, cheaper alternative, Windows 8 would gain immediate momentum in its challenge against Apple iOS.
With schools with sufficient budget, they will most likely choose the Surface due to its ability to run a huge slew of programs, including Microsoft Office, which completely blows iWork out of the water.
Typing documents and presentation is critical for students, and with MS Windows, Office isn’t the only option, whereas with iOS, iWork is the only suite that properly functions.