When the iPhone first came out, there was no nonsense about the brand and emotion without substance. They made EVERYONE want one.
Microsoft may have chosen not to appeal to us. But Apple has shown that you can do both.
Asking that question is like asking an Olympic sprinter why he can't be as fast as Usain Bolt, or scolding a successful musician for not selling as many records as Lady Gaga.
Compared to Apple, pretty much every company sucks at marketing. So what? Apple is an extreme outlier in its PR success, owing to a number of unique factors other companies cannot realistically replicate.
How would you answer your own question? Do you think there's a simple solution Microsoft hasn't figured out?
For the iPhone maybe, except for the non-subsidized price, but this was definitely not true for iPod and iPads.
The general consensus was the iPad was a giant iPhone and was going to fail among techies and the tech media.
When it comes to successful marketing, companies like Apple literally manage to mess with your mind:
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/17/bbc-loving-apple-looks-like-a...
Here is the documentary about this topic. It is fascinating:
Perhaps it's because I haven't received my crystal ball in the mail yet (Soon! /crosses fingers), but people seem to be making absolute judgments of a few hours. Microsoft can have other ads and other ways to promote it; it wasn't 'one ad or die'.
My reaction? Looks neat; let's see what unfolds.