It’s an aspirational concept, both for users and for the company itself. Flatly, a $1500 laptop is never going to reach the bulk of Microsoft’s customers, most of whom will probably use sub-$1000 Windows 10 machines from third-party manufacturers. But it’s there as a totem, representing an idea anyone can buy into.
That’s why I consider this to be Microsoft’s iMac moment. A lot of people will not only love this but also spend their hard-earned cash to buy a Surface Book. The majority of home-Windows users go to Staples and buy the cheapest notebook that they can and that’s why tablets are selling so well. Sub $500 is a fantastic market and makes up the majority of personal computing devices sold from phones, tablets and laptops.
Apple and Windows hardware ASP is starkly different but less so if you add in tablets (aka iPad clones). Microsoft is taking a chance and I respect them for it. If this thing didn’t run Windows, I’d be sold. Then again, that’ll never happen. I think the Surface Book looks great!