CRN has an interesting piece this morning in which Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer essentially says the company will pay itself a royalty to use Windows on its upcoming Surface tablet. Ballmer understandably claims that the strategy will level the playing field for Microsoft’s manufacturing partners, which would otherwise find it very tough to compete with the Surface on price. But Microsoft is charging between $50 and $100 to license Windows 8, according to a Boy Genius Report yesterday. If the company truly does pay itself in that ballpark, it’s going to be very difficult to compete with the iPad. Which means it will be very difficult to compete in the tablet market at all.