I see what you're saying about business not needing tablet/laptop hybrids, but at least within my network: we don't buy crap laptops. The Lenovo Thinkpad we'd normally deploy for a user requiring mobility, is similarly priced to a Surface Pro (somewhere in the $700 - $1100 range). Buying the Surface gets you a great build, and a dual purpose machine, that functions as both a laptop and tablet with very little/no compromise.

Generally we don't buy cheap, because the build quality necessitates early replacement. Spending an extra few hundred dollars usually buys several years of additional useful life for the device.

The app problem is still concerning though.

You're wrong. Dead wrong. Your anecdotal evidence doesn't outweigh others experience. The Surface makes a fine business machine. Windows 8 isn't incapable of running within a business environment. Old, Luddite tech people are simply unwilling to try it. Windows 8 runs just fine, and is very similar in operation to Windows 7 within an AD domain, with GPO and all. Seen it, done it, doing it. It's working well.

Consider the ever growing culture of BYOD, it's even more plausible to use Windows 8 and the Surface in a business environment.

As someone who's actually using the Surface Pro 2 for business and who needs to be mobile, I think it serves the purpose better than a laptop or desktop.

Windows 8 may be the next Vista, but I think the perspective of most people commenting on this story is skewed. As is normal for human beings, ones existence generally alters ones perception.

I work in a large organization, developing software (primarily) and performing IT support duties (secondly). I think the paradigm shift that Win8 introduces is actually a positive thing for users like ours!

Watching 90+% of our users; they're already self-imposing all of the "restrictions" of Win8. If we "took away" multi-tasking, it'd barely be noticed at most desks. Most users here open a single program (full screened), use it, close it, and open the next, sometimes going back and forth between applications by fully exiting the prior app several times! Most users don't truly take advantage of window arrangement, tiling or cascading. Things like copy/paste and minimize are still *advanced* to them. For people who don't live and breathe computers, simple is better. Focus on a single task at hand! So the model that Win8 presents is almost easier, and certainly no more difficult than the way I see things rolling on down the road currently! In fact the full screen start menu, etc, actually brings a level of focus, that I think makes the computer easier for basic users.

Now as a developer, fuck no. I will continue using Windows 7 for a while at least. I run 3 monitors, and arrange dozens of windows to make software development easier. For it's integration, between phone tablet and PC, I will definitely use Win8 casually. I'm actually excited about the platform integration between phones, tablets, Xbox and PCs!

Thank you! As a fellow Montana resident, I agree. Sorry urban folks, who exclaim "move to cities, use mass transit", the urban lifestyle is supported by the rural lifestyle and visa-versa. Farms and ranches require space. Our economy is partly supported by the rural sprawl as well. Not to mention some of us want to live in a place that's clean, near nature and safe. Oh and the people here make less money and STILL are nicer in general. True story.

Well I'm sure Apple will be looking you up, the next time the CEO position is up for grabs...

First of all *every* company is *worried* about what's next; any smart company is worried about dominating the market segment they participate in. (Why else would they release an iPhone 4S? To capitalize on the lower-end market. Not to mention Apple is all about selling the hype. Their biggest and most important event every frickin' year is WWDC. I'd say that is Apple, showing that they are *worried* about "what's next".)

Now: in response to "They sell top spec'ed devices": Yes they can and sometimes do, but that's not their primary market. Neither the Macbook nor the Macbook Air lines are top-spec'ed. Sure you can configure them as such, but the normal machines they are selling are fairly average as far as components go. It's the chassis, the OS and other small details that set them apart and make them great PCs.

By the way, Apple is not "maintaining" 30% market share. There may be Android devices in the "low cost, pre-paid space", but that is not their primary market. The end. Period.

Next, the Galaxy Tab didn't copy the iPad any more than than the iPhone copied the LG Prada. All of this bickering between Samsung and Apple misses the basic point: it doesn't help the consumer, and that's what it's truly all about. Apple doesn't need lawyers to sell it's products, they sell themselves for the most part. All of this legal crap is just crass, it tarnishes their name and shows they're worried. If you believe otherwise, considering the evidence to the contrary, you're just a shill.

As for the legal stability of Android, I'd say Google has it under control. Google's primary point in picking up the HUGE patent portfolio in the past months was primarily to defend itself, Android and it's OEMs from attack. Currently the only credible threat to Android is Oracle, and that mess is just a licensing deal away from being settled anyhow.

In short: you sir, are a fanboi. I am not. I just wanted to clarify that for you and anyone else who cares to read this.

Disclosure: I own multiple Apple products and multiple Google products. As a matter of fact: I own a lot of products, produced by a lot of companies and I like them all.

Your'e funny and simply indoctrinated by Facebook. Changing your profile pic is easy, if you don't follow the Facebook model. It's under Settings > Profile! Whoa hard, right? I think if you use a computer in general, G+ is not only easier on this front, it's *STANDARD*. Jeezus.

Second, I'm not sure that you can post on other peoples walls. Is that bad? I'm not sure. It's just the way it is there. You can't advertise your crap agenda within other people's spaces. I kinda like that.

Third, yes it absolutely does tell you who your posts are shared with. Every damn post, from you and every one else, has an indicator on the top line of the post. All mine usually say limited. Click it, it'll tell you EXACTLY who it's shared with.

Just cuz you can't do it, and aren't willing to *explore* doesn't make it bad.

*Whine* I don't like it cuz it doesn't copy Facebook.
*Whine* I don't like it cuz it's not original.

Can't have it both ways, just judge it on it's own merits.

No I'm not a Google apologist. I'm just a Facebook hater.

The numbers could be high, but in my opinion Chrome is the superior browser, thus has faster adoption. It's what I install on all computers I can. I rarely install Firefox unless it's on a Linux box. It's lightweight, extensible and the lowest barrier to entry (unless you count IE which has no barrier as it's pre-installed). Honestly, browse to google.com/chrome, you install it with just a few clicks. For the technically illiterate, that's a huge step forward. It may not seem like much to download and install Firefox, but it's markedly harder than Chrome. Plus Firefox only had grassroots behind it at the beginning (Chrome has a huge corporation behind it). Firefox was also plagued by memory leaks and general "heaviness" at its beginning and still, to some degree, has those problems today.

I'm not sure where you shop, but produce is one area I DO see things like $0.98 / lb. In fact I just bought bananas last night for $0.46 / lb. Cucumbers were $0.62 / each. I would find it much more strange, at least where I shop, to find produce priced using the $x.x9 strategy.

Not that I completely disagree, but I have to say I actually have run across people who intentionally gone out of their way to have Flash installed. Guess who? Linux users. In the last 60 days, I've moved 7 people over to Ubuntu, SuSE and other varying distros, as their home, primary use PC (which has been overwhelmingly successful thus far, BTW, minimal support and headaches).

One of the things I always forget, as I disdain Flash, is to launch Firefox and ensure Flash has been installed. But as these people are using their PCs as home machines for FaceBook (aka Farmville) Flash is a necessary and deliberate installation. One thing I have not thought of: I do typically install Chromium (I personally dislike Firefox) as a browser option and allow the user to choose which to use, I'm not sure if Chromium auto-installs Flash or not...

This isn't a drilling rig, so I believe the capping point is moot, it's a refinery rig. It handles refinement of crude from a drilling platform, along a pipeline, IIRC. Shit happens, this company is being blamed for having a 'history of bad saftety practices', when in fact they only have had a few violations since 2005. Bad reporting. The violations are very routine stuff, someone fell cleaning the outside of the rig, ding, violation. It's just an inopportune time for it to happen.

... profit?