Microsoft Targets the iPad mini in the Latest Attack Ad

Microsoft just can't seem to get enough of advertising the iPad. In their clumsy attempts to poke fun at it, they just make themselves look even more pathetic. 

Don't get me wrong. I have absolutely no problem with a good, funny, hard-hitting, competitive ad. Microsoft has the funny going for them. What they don't have is an ounce of integrity. Let's start with the finale to all of these commercials: the price. Microsoft is meticulously handpicking tablets that cost less than iPads, but that is not so easy in real life. Still, the grand finale to all of these ads is, If you are not impressed with any of the other junk that we've shown you, at least it's cheap." 

Unfortunately, cheap comes at a price. Even the price is a deception. It is based on the size of the total storage in the unit. Apple starts at 16 GB for $329. Windows tablets start at 32 GB. Therefore, the ads use the price for the more expensive iPad. Sounds fair, but it's not. You see, the reason there are no 16 GB Windows tablets is because Windows takes up far too much space. For the end-user, there is only about half the space available, putting it in the same category as a 16 GB iPad. If that bit of truth were factored into the equation, the real price difference would be $30. That wouldn't make for much of a finale. 

Another part of the price deception (not so much in this ad) is that in most of these ads, the Windows tablet is shown with a keyboard. Think, Surface. However, in no case does the keyboard actually come with the tablet being shown. The keyboard is at minimum, a $100 add-on. Microsoft fails to mention this in the Surface ads. 

Most of these ads feature Microsoft Office as a key selling point. What they fail to mention is that, to this day, there is no version of Office actually designed for touch input. iWork for iPad, however, is designed, from the ground up, for use with fingers on a touchscreen. While Apple provided their tablet-based solution from day-one, the Windows world still awaits Microsoft's entry into the tablet productivity space.  

Finally, Halo? A game? On a tablet? You don't say! There is no bigger, better, more profitable gaming platform than the iPad. As for First-person Shooters, the iPad App Store is loaded with great choices. This is Microsoft's first entry into a crowded space. Anyway, just watch the ad. Better yet, don't bother.

David Johnson