The Microsoft Surface Killer Feature: It's open.

Just got a chance to view the presentation here:

http://cdn-smooth.ms-studiosmedia.com/news/mp4_mq/06182012_Surface_750k.mp4

This could be a very telling probe into what consumers want. There is not disputing the fact that the Windows ecosystem dwarfs anything else out there. If I heard the numbers correctly, more Windows computers are shipped in a single year than the entire installed based of Macs. Not a put-down, just a fact.

As an iOS software and hardware developer one of the things that I continue to clash with is the nearly despotic hold Apple has on, well, everything. Developing hardware for any iOS device can be a very expensive and painful experience. For example, you can't develop a universal serial cable. Yes, there's a serial port on that connector but Apple will not let you use it without a decryption chip and you only get authorization to make a cable for a specific app. To think that in 2012 you can't get unencumbered API access to a serial and a USB port is just, well, unreal.

Microsoft Surface is, by definition, open. I will be able to run any and all Windows software on this device the minute it becomes available. That, again, dwarfs the Mac/iOS ecosystem. I will be able to run Solidworks on a tablet. How cool is that?

It'll be interesting to see how consumers react to this reality. I have a feeling that, if pricing is right, adoption will be swift.

Of course, we'll continue to work with and produce products for the iOS landscape, but it'd sure be very interesting to have an open option out there where you could experiment and offer things that Apple simply will not let you approach. It's about creativity, not technology.

EDIT: Apple is, of course, entitled to rule their own ecosystem as they wish. No issues there. Their toys. Their rules. Not complaining. Just presenting facts.