Andy Jacobs | Page 2 | World Tech Today

A few months ago, Microsoft spilled the beans on everything we needed to know about the second-generation Surface Tablets intended to right the many wrongs of the first round.

Cold comfort can be taken from the fact that it would be difficult for any slate to fair worse than the Surface RT and Pro did over the course of the year. However, the more Microsoft talked up the new-generation versions, the more we began thinking they had a fighting chance…which they do.

It’s an impressive tale of huge improvements to performance, advanced hardware and an all-new name for the Surface RT – now known simply as the Surface 2.

Which poses the rather pressing question at this crucial time – given the fact that the Surface 2 is by rights a Windows RT device, what was Redmond’s motivation for ditching the ‘RT’ branding?

After all, you’d be forgiven for putting it all down to shame and embarrassment associated with the OS, which doesn’t exactly bode well for a new device running RT once again.

So, what gives?

Well, Microsoft has tried its very best to clarify the matter, though to be frank it’s still about as clear as mud. Jack Cowett from Microsoft’s marketing team had a word with ARN this week in an attempt to set the record straight,

According to Cowett, there was “some confusion in the market last year on the difference between Surface RT and Surface Pro.”

So, as a means to make sure there’s no such confusion this time around, the Surface RT has been reborn as the Surface 2 and there’s no ‘RT’ handle in sight anywhere.

Anyone else not convinced?

First of all, it was far easier to work out the difference between the Surface RT and the Surface Pro than it would be for a newcomer seeing the Surface 2 and Pro 2 monikers for the first time. After all, there was technically speaking no Surface 1 in the first place.

The difference between the Surface 2 and Pro 2 really is night and day – we can’t help but feel they’re only making the problem worse by naming two such different products so similarly.

And as mentioned earlier, the fact that the ‘RT’ branding has been ditched entirely suggests to some extent that Microsoft is trying to sweep its struggling OS under the rug and out of sight.

Starbucks has made a polite request to its customers, asking them to kindly leave their guns at home when stepping out for coffee. However, the chain stopped short of actually banning customers from bringing guns into Starbucks stores outright and has now found itself thrust right into the center of the national gun control debate.

The firm’s Chief Executive Howard Schultz made the request in the form of an open letter, which came in response to a growing barrage of complaints being received by the Starbucks chain. Having always allowed customers to freely bring in and openly show their firearms in areas where carrying guns is legal, Starbucks has taken a somewhat on-the-fence stance by asking for the practice to be stopped, without actually enforcing any new rules.

Those in favor of gun control have long criticized Starbucks for not caring what its customers bring into its outlets. According to Mr Schultz, the open letter has been written and publicized in order to help cool an increasingly hostile situation where both sides of the debate are taking aggressive and even ‘threatening’ stances to try and enforce their own beliefs.

“For these reasons, today we are respectfully requesting that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas—even in states where “open carry” is permitted—unless they are authorized law enforcement personnel,” the letter reads, which has been published today in various US newspapers.

Starbucks chose not to follow suit with various other major retailers across the US that have already banned guns from their premises altogether, unless held by law enforcement official or other such individuals. Instead, the letter has been designed to “give responsible gun owners the chance to respect our request” in the hope that some middle ground will be reached and put a halt to staff members being put in awkward and potentially dangerous positions.

But even such minor moves in favor of one group or another have prompted overreactions from both sides of the fence. While those in favor of gun control have slated Starbuck for making a redundant gesture that achieves nothing, some of the more hard-lined gun-rights groups have vowed to boycott Starbucks and its products altogether.

So in a move that was supposed to be for the common good, Starbucks seems to have impressively managed to annoy both sides of the debate.

Clear as Mud – Microsoft Explains its Shunning of RT Branding

Starbucks Frowns on Firearms, Stops Short of Banning Them