The latest Microsoft TV ad for their clickety clackety keyboard wielding Surface tablets features a teacher talking happily about how all his students have the new MS tablet.
He emphasizes that the tablets have Office and a ‘real’ keyboard – ‘so they can do real work’. They doing real work is the recurring strapline for all of the Surface TV ads – because allegedly the silly iPad can’t do any.
A couple of questions spring to mind here:
— When’s the last time you heard a young student say ‘Boy I wish my school would help me do more real work’?
— When’s the last time anyone heard of any major school or school district using Surface tablets? Oh, I know – never.
The iPad has recently been said to hold a 94% share in the education arena in the US. And I’d happily major that the vast majority of the remaining 6% is taken by Android tablets. Which would leave Microsoft and the Surface with a miniscule percentage at best – just as their overall market share for tablets is.
It baffles me that anyone at Microsoft thinks THIS is an area for them to try to brag about.
Patrick Jordan
Founder and Editor in Chief of iPad Insight. Husband, father to a lovely daughter, Commander of the Armies of the North, dog lover (especially Labs), Austinite, former Londoner, IT consultant, huge sports nut, iPad and mobile tech blogger, mobile apps junkie.
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Isn’t this the point of advertising? You know to get your product where you want it to be?
You’re article is nothing more that a terrible personal opinion.
It always strikes me as a bit “misleading” when they make a big deal about a “real keyboard,” yet you have to read the very small print at the end to find out the keyboard is sold separately! Heck, you can buy “real keyboards” for the iPad separately, too, so what’s their point? Not to mention that I’m fairly certain this guy is just an actor, you never see real students actually using the device in this ad. Apple, on the other hand, has many videos on their educational site that, while professionally made, show real teachers & students at real schools (they are sure to include the relevant info in the videos) using the iPad. This Microsoft ad just seems cheesy in comparison.