It's called obfuscation Mary Jo.

My latest Microsoft Watch column, "Trouble in Tablet Land?" created a lot of trouble of its own. While few readers disagreed that Microsoft needs to improve its Tablet marketing, more than a few erroneously deduced that we had pronounced the Tablet DOA.
For the record, I didn't declare that Microsoft has decided to ax the Tablet PC. Nor did my colleague Mark Hachman reach this conclusion in his companion news story. Instead, what both of us noted is Microsoft is distancing itself from the slate form factor (which originally was expected to be the ultimate showcase for the Tablet PC) and instead is moving to fold back into Windows the features that distinguish Tablets from plain-old notebooks.

She then continues ...

From our perch, it seems Microsoft is engaged in some fancy footwork (not to mention a rewriting of history) to keep Tablet momentum building.

Yes, Microsoft obfuscated by exaggerating to the absurd and then bouncing the questions on their hind legs, twisting and twirling the words until no one really knows what is happening.

However, I disagree with Mary Jo on the statement that this is all marketing. Marketing is very important and a vital ingredient to the success of a product. Matt Carrell writes exactly why MS needs to market the success of the Tablet PC -- otherwise the positive messages will be drowned.

As far as I am concerned, MS should keep pushing the Tablet PC -- into every corner of the market.

Does the Tablet PC Have a Future? Readers Weigh In

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This reminds me of an old salesman trick ... so please indulge me as I explain the old trick for some of you new kids on the block ...

The story goes that houses sitting next to railroad tracks were not selling well. People didn't want to be disturbed by the noise of the train as it passed several times a day. Many sales people attempted to sell the houses but all failed.

One day, a pompous young man intentionally invited potential owners to a house next to the track. The timing was very important to the sales routine as well as the number of "potential" buyers. During his presentation, he built up the houses as "special" because they had something that other house owners could not enjoy. Just as his story was to climax, the train arrived.

He let the train pass and then explained how this train passing signified a special time in America. From this sales routine, potential buyers could see that these home owners could see part of Americana pass by each day - enjoying the moments as the train passed.

The salesman then explained there was a small premium for these special houses. All of the houses sold at the higher prices.

Now - let's just pretend you don't like that story. Here is another one.

A small and unknown fast food place sold tacos for a cheap price. No one wanted them because they were cheap. The price of the tacos were increased (tripled) - and today - many people "run for the border" at lunch time and don't think twice about paying the tripled price for those tacos.

From these two examples, you may now agree with me that Microsoft needs to grab the marketing horns and start pushing the Tablet PC - not as a part of a whole - but as something special, powerful, and natural. After all, Tablet PCs are the ultra-portable desktops.

Always market your weakness and never your strength. Once people accept the weakness as something good - they will see the stronger parts - and then justify their purchase. It's the oldest trick in the (sales) book. And it works every time.

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Yes!

As you know I've kept lists of the "no" reasons for someone not wanting to buy a Tablet PC and "yes" just for this reason. Though some of the reasons are constant, the reasons do keep changing. Most of the reasons on the 101 not to are gone now. More will be gone as soon as Tablet PC Edition 2005 final release is out.

I'm thinking about sharing one of my price comparison sheets because the myth of Tablet PC pricing seems to keep growing versus stopping. I think there are a few reasons for this, including:

a) It is difficult to find information on forum, news, and blog format sites that may be specific to your particular questions without searching

b) When you search you end up with a mix of old and new information. Of course, there is more old than new and so the old myths like price get perpetuated.

When I replied to a person on the MS Tablet Newsgroup about a price comment I realized that this has to stop. I laughed to myself when I realized that the Tablet PC considered pricey was less expensive and higher performing than one of the most popular notebooks general consumers have bought in the last several weeks (based on US sales info).

Price is generally used to end a buying conversation because of some other discomfort or unease. It's not the primary reason for loosing a sale. Choosing to work with enterprise markets is a sheltered approach that was appropriate for the first year and a half of the Tablet PC cycle. Now, it's time to move into general consumers. Not home digital theaters, but everyday use.

1 - take control of your life - recover that lost room & desk space - space saving - put it in a drawer when you're done with it
2 - download movies with MovieLink and forget that cumbersome DVD player at home when you're traveling
3 - use same computer at work and home (good for small business people)

Those types of things. Anyway, these aren't meant to be the catch phrases, just the ideas. They promote the weakest points.

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Oh, and #4 - for less than $6 a day you can type, write, draw, chat, talk, work, play, etc. anywhere, anytime. ($6 x 365 = $2190 - higher than average price - including tax or extra software bundles - than most Tablet PCs)

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-- Lora Heiny

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What would the price be if a Tablet PC cost the same as a movie ticket?

An average movie ticket costs $6 for one adult. The movie will last approximately 2 hours, equaling $3 per hour of enjoyment.

The average computer user spends 40 hours per week on the computer. Let's assume the cost of the movie ticket per hour ($3 per hour). This equals $120 per week for the computer equipment. In one year the user should spend $120 x 50 weeks or $6,000.

Did you spend $6,000 this year?

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LOL So a family of 3 would spend $18,000 on computer equipment. Eeek.

Tower PCs with two Pentium Pros, 64MB of memory, etc. used to be in the $6000 range. Remember the days of $1200 per processor and $800 motherboards? Luckily, it's not quite so painful now.

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-- Lora Heiny

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In the late 80s ag companies bought 300 MB hard drives for $3,000. They bought them for their servers because the network was cheaper than their minis.

A technology advances are great fun.

:whistling

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