Summary: Much was made of last week’s “Triple Tablet Tuesday.” Within 24 hours, Microsoft’s new Surface 2 tablets went on sale, Nokia unveiled its Lumia 2520 and Apple unveiled the iPad Air and new iPad mini. With Microsoft about to close on its deal to buy Nokia, it seems like things are shaping to be a slugfest between Microsoft and Apple this holiday season, right? Wrong. The battle is not between Microsoft and Apple. The battle is between Google and Apple and, specifically, between Android devices and iOS devices. Microsoft hopes, wishes and prays to be included in the conversation, but the company’s just not there. Microsoft is trying to create a market for tablet computing as opposed to tapping the market of tablet users – it may sound like a semantic argument; I assure you it is not. Microsoft has missed all kinds of consumer opportunities. What they have to do is figure out how to beat Apple and Google at the game Apple and Google are actually playing – a game Microsoft clearly does not understand.
