Microsoft Surface tablet price NOT $1000: Bloggers wipe egg from faces

Contrary to idiotic reports, the Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Surface price hasn't been set starting at $1000. Some bloggers were careful to include weasel-words such as "if" and "maybe" -- but others run headlong into a silly-season trap of their own making. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers accuse other bloggers of click-whoring -- or worse.

By Richi Jennings: Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Eyelash Wish Log...
  
  
T'was Robert Brand breathlessly leading us down this path:

Swedish [store] Webhallen [has] Surface tablet pricing on its site. If these details are correct...the cheapest ARM based WinRT device [is] around...$1000.
...
[Even compared with] the higher end iPads...the Surface is going to be much more expensive. ...if these prices are indeed correct, [it] will be as expensive as an Ultrabook. ...if it cannot compete on price...then we have to ask, "What is the point?"      

       
Damon Poeter boggles at "that head-scratching price tag":

[It would be] more than $400 pricier than Apple's...32GB iPad with a Wi-Fi-only configuration.
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[It] appears to be a landing page for pre-ordering the Microsoft-built Surface. ... Either Sweden has a massive...import tariff we don't know about, or there's something really weird.      

And Sovan Mandal dives right in with both feet first in a china shop: [You're fired -Ed.]

...the only missing link, and perhaps the most important...is the pricing strategy that Microsoft will pursue. ...there is no denying the fact [that $1000 is] enough to put off many a Surface aspirant.
...
If the Surface is indeed priced anywhere near to what has been mentioned above, its certainly going to be a disaster.      

Predictably, here come the Apple fanbois. For example, Killian Bell:

Don’t Worry, Apple! Microsoft Will Kill Its Own Surface Tablet.
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How much?! ... If this is correct, Microsoft is wasting its time. ... As I’ve said before, the Surface looks great. ... But that doesn’t mean it can get away with a massive price tag.
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...everyone’s going to want the Pro version. ... Prices for this model start at...approx. $1,882. ...if they’re accurate, the Surface has no chance.      

Gasp! Paul Paliath actually talked to the store, which said:

Just to clarify, we have not recieved any pricing from Microsoft...and any people who have booked the Surface at this high price will of course have their order adjusted before any product is shipped.      

So Warner Crocker rolls his eyes at it all:

In the magical land of gadget blogs...fantasy sometimes seems like reality. ... A rumor starts, gets picked up, gets recirculated...to the point that it becomes...the truth.
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[So] within a few hours, there was a new truth about the price of Surface Tablets and Microsoft was doomed.
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Nature abhors a vacuum...the tech news scene one ups nature when it comes to vacuum abhorring.      

William Devereux too:

I’d venture to say that even Microsoft doesn’t know exactly how much Surface will cost. ... Sadly, the internet picked [$1000] up as fact and promptly claimed [it] D.O.A.      

Meanwhile, Steve Wildstrom documents "the Pathetic State of Online Journalism":

...the pursuit of news on an otherwise slow summer day seems to have overwhelmed...common sense. ... [It] undermines the credibility of all online news.
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The much maligned traditional media always had rules about sourcing and verification of information. ... It’s time [blogs] worried a bit less about being fast and a lot more about being right.      

      
And Finally...
Eyelash Wish Log

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. He's also the main author of Computerworld's The Long View and IT Blogwatch -- for which he has won ASBPE and Neal awards. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, Richi also publishes a full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.