Surface Pro release date? Where is it available?

(Note: I did post this in reply to a story today on NBCNEWS.com as "WhatsThatMean". That was me. This is not somebody else copying that post)

Dear Microsoft:

RE: "The Surface WIndows 8 Pro will be available for purchase on February 9th"

Not for me.

This is just one data point, and I know how careful you need to be with anecdotes and single data points. All I ask is that you capture this point, combine it with all the other points, and connect the dots. If your metrics are telling you that it's all good, then consider me an outlier and pay no attention. If not, then when you drill down to find out why, which invariably leads to reading verbatims, I hope you find this one. I started out today with $1,300 or so in my pocket to upgrade my core mainline desktop/laptop technology. I fully intended to come home with a Surface Pro, Type Cover, Wedge Mouse, appropriate accessories, and an Office 365 subscription. Most of the profit to be had in that would have gone to Microsoft with perhaps a bit of a commission going to Best Buy or Staples if I ended up there. Instead I came home with $1,300 and none of those things. I am not sure I will go out tomorrow or anytime soon with that $1,300 pointed in your direction. If you care to know why, read on. If you could care less, which is how it feels to me, you probably have not gotten even this far.

I am not a Microsoft fanboi, but I am a fan. I am also a fan of Apple, Android, and Linux. I have been building, designing, delivering, software, or managing those activities, or services based on software, or selling these for 45 years. I have kept up. I am not railing about the loss of the Start Button, believe me. I have a physical stack of Microsoft product registration cards almost 2 inches thick which stopped growing only when boxes shrunk, then disappeared altogether. I have smaller piles from Apple, various other developers and publishers. I have currently running Linux builds, Widows Server builds, and a pile of mobile devices I have acquired and used over the years. Point is simply that I am not blind, and I have no predisposition to love or hate a product on anything but its merits. But I am a technology fan and I know something great when I see it. I am a day 1 Surface RT user, have upgraded all my Windows machines to Windows 8 and have been using it since Preview. I did not expect the Surface RT to run all of my Windows applications, and I find the speed, growing app store, and Office implementation there to be MORE than adequate for a tablet. I attended Windows 8 developer tech sessions. I have a Windows 8 phone. I have jumped into the new Windows ecosystem for its features, improvements, and integration. I have even posted extensively (for someone who is not a journalist of blogger) about it. Really nice job on all of that. You have leveraged your considerable research capabilities and talent pool to leapfrog the competition in almost every way. Except a very crucial one.

You are still exceedingly hard to do business with, direct-to-consumer. You DO want to succeed direct-to-consumer, right? I am not misreading the attempt am I? Well, if you do YOU ARE FAILING MISERABLY. Here’s the thing, why do I care? I mean, for almost all of my needs, with Windows I can still get a lot of compute power and functionality from a host of sources and a reasonable price. You have succeeded in that arena by creating a proprietary product line that is also “open” in the critical sense that add-ons, apps, applications, API’s, etc. are available, generally clear, and while not “free” have the distinct advantage of extensive available support and stability. The reason I care is that I am about to reinvest to re-use that stack of product cards – or recreate it. Since the 80’s, I have probably spent 10 times or more on software (just for personal use) than I have on hardware. I don’t still use all of it but I still use a lot of it or variations of it. But, there are plenty of new things and paradigms usefully based on touch and tablet form factor. The Surface, technically, represents the most innovative thing ANYONE has done in years to address that. Both versions. The idea that I could carry, in total, 3 lbs of “stuff”, including accessories, and go from office, to home, to cramped airline seat, to cab ride – and have the full range of what I need to store, connect to, and run my stuff is incredible. I figured that in time, many, many other folks in my shoes would discover the same. And that made me think, “what an extraordinary market opportunity for me and others like me.”

Except you have botched both Surface launches. And I am not sure you will recover. So, I am holding onto my $1,300, but that is just the tip. I am now rethinking whether I want to make any further investment in the ecosystem. Oh, I want what it offers – integration across hardware and locality, truly smooth cloud integration, subscription options for software and media so I can tap just what I need when I need it, pay for only what I need, and be continually up-to-date. But, it is now more crucial that the ecosystem I jump into will be around and be growing. There are other alternatives, each with its own issues, and perhaps not quite as well integrated, that are capturing the hearts and minds of consumers. I will need to reinvest in a lot of software to make the leap there, but today’s experience has convinced me I need to check them out. What was that experience?

First, tried to order Surface Pro 128G direct from you. No dice. Sold out. I was watching for my pre-order opportunity. Unfortunately, I could not spend full-time doing that, so if it existed, it happened very recently and I missed it. So, I tried the other two options: Best Buy and Staples. No dice there either. Not online anyway. So I drive to a decent-sized version of each of them. Staples: they have the new aisle-cap display at least. One Surface out, two keyboards. An RT connected to one Touch Cover, next to it a Type Cover connected to --- nothing. No Pro in sight. No salesperson in 5 minutes to ask. Price tags out for all the Surface models except the Pro 128G. They don’t even stock it apparently. Next, to Best Buy. Get there as the store is opening. Small crowd waiting outside. I already know where the display and supply is because I went in last week and played around with the 64G Pro they had on display (also the nicer separate aisle cap side-by-side). So I figure I can get my hands on what I need because half the crowd will be there “checking it out”. Doors open, I follow crowd in. By the time I get to the Surface display area, the rest of the crowd has peeled off elsewhere and I find myself alone at the display. Alone and starting at two Surfaces, both “preparing” themselves. Preparing, rebooting, preparing. 1%, 4%, 10% .... this is launch day, right? Since there is no crowd to fight with, I wander awhile looking for the accessories (only some Surface RT and Touch Covers on display). Find the RT accessories. Nothing for Pro (suppose it would only be display port adapter or extra power supply.) Go looking for Wedge Mouse. None in store. Not sure when they will arrive. Go back to display – Preparations complete, Start Screen waiting. No pen (I can get that – would not last long I suppose). Find sales person. “Oh, let me get you someone who knows about these”. That person gets the pen. THIS IS THE BIG MOMENT. THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. OneNote on a tablet with a “real” pen with palm block. Sound of rain on my parade. No OneNote. No Office at all. Understand is not included, but not even ON THERE? Launch Day? Salesperson: “And even if I put on, it will get deleted by the demo software we have running. You know we can’t just let people download any app they want.” I don’t want to do that. I want to test the Pen in OneNote or Word or something. THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. Salesperson: “We’re supposed to get Office when our Microsoft Rep stops by next. I think that will be in a couple of weeks.” This is LAUNCH DAY right? Ok, well there is a return policy so maybe I bite the bullet and take it home. After all, I DO have Office, and I know the Surface is easy to bring back to factory state. “OK, I’ll take the 128G and a Type Cover”, I say. Salesperson: “We don’t have any 128G here. You had to pre-order.” Me: “Wha? Huh? When did I miss that opportunity?” Salesperson: “Well, we only had it a few times, you kinda had to be here in the store because we did not advertise it and it was not online. Anyway, we had five pre-orders, and we only got one in. So there are four people ahead of you. I have no idea when we will get more. I’d be happy to check with the rep when they are here in a couple of weeks. Would you like to pre-order, and maybe see if we can get you a Wedge Mouse?”

Me, a bit stunned and entirely deflated: “You know what, I think I’ll just wait. Thanks.” Stopped at Starbucks (where the number of glowing Apples was not lost on me, and remembering that I am seeing more and more iPads in meetings, connected to corporate networks). While firing up my HTC 8x to pay with app, noticed I had two apps ready to update. Start update. Get some Hex error code. Try again, as instructed. Same message. THIS IS LAUNCH DAY, right? Drove home, and wrote this.

Microsoft, I hope this gets read and does somebody some good. I am rethinking our relationship and whether I still want you in it.