Surface Go Kids Bundle Targets An Unlikely Audience

Microsoft has always positioned its Surface products, especially the Surface Pros and Surface Laptops, as a great mobile computer for students. Now, however, it seems to be aiming its smallest Surface to the smallest computer users. Microsoft is offering a Surface Go Kids Bundle that may, on the surface, looks like a pretty ordinary marketing strategy. If you think about it, however, it might not be that effective one either.

The deal lets you "build your bundle", which isn't really much considering the choices. First, you buy a Surface Go at full price, which means either the $399 4 GB RAM/64 GB storage model or the $549 version with double the memory. No LTE version is being offered since those young users shouldn't probably stray too far from your home Wi-Fi while using the device.

Then comes what really makes the bundle "for kids only". You get to choose bright-colored accessories at almost half the price. Those include wired or Bluetooth versions of JBL JR300 headphones and blue or dark purple Gumdrop FoamTech case for the Surface Go. You can also add other accessories, like the Surface Type Cover or the Surface Pen, but those don't come with discounts.

While there's no stopping adults from buying the bundle (and kids shouldn't be buying it without adult approval and supervision anyway), the accessories do try to earmark it for younger customers. You can possibly just give the JBL headphones to your young ones without the Surface Go but the $30 Gumdrop FoamTech case would be a wasted purchase unless you put it on.

While it's not unusual to see tablets marketed for kids, it's a rare thing for a Windows 10 tablet. Android and iOS have loads of touch-friendly apps and interfaces to make them usable for a younger audience while Windows 10's more desktop-like UI and lack of child-friendly touch apps could end up frustrating kids instead.