I think the problem with Microsoft is what, inevitably, happens at large companies.
Everything becomes "departmentalized" with lots of fiefdoms.
So the folks building the Pro say "this is our enterprise tablet" and "we can't have the RT compete with it". So they turn off ethernet, turn off Exchange support, anwd turn off DVD support. Essentially they say "let home users use it, they don't need
{fill in the blanks}". Want Outlook? Tough.
Lost in all the buzzwords and marketing mayhem (and smoke and mirrors) is any understanding of the customer. The different fiefdoms end up spending tremendous energy and squandering lots of money trying to build devices to fit "different markets".
It's easy to loose track of what PEOPLE want when you are trying to sell to a MARKET. Markets are easy - they look great on PowerPoint, and are easy to segment.
People, not so much.
The bottom line is, instead of making it as good as they can, they try to "segment the market". What they have forgotten is that now, in the year of 2013, the home user is as often as not the home-office user. The difference is not just blurred, it's gone.
The RT is wonderful - I have one, and it's portable, peppy, and I have gotten to like the fast on off.
But I cursed the morons at Microsoft product marketing when I found I could not install Outlook - even if I were willing to pay for it! So I use it for what it is, but recommend people to look elsewhere. Microsoft shows no signs of trying to fix their
errors.
And the debacle with device support - I guess there is no one there from the OS/2 days who remembers how the lack of device support killed OS/2. So what if something is technically better? If it won't do what you need with what you need connected, well,
it's useless.
Truly, Microsoft has lost touch with its customers. A $1 billion dollar write down on unsellable RTs should be a clue to open it up, let people use it the way they want, and focus on making things as good as possible instead of "segmenting markets".
Segmentation HURTS.