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posted by janrinok on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the ms-goes-mac dept.

Microsoft has launched the Surface Studio, a 28-inch all-in-one PC reminiscent of the iMac but with touchscreen capabilities and other accessories for "content creators":

The thin aluminum 28-inch Surface Studio desktop PC that Microsoft trotted out here Wednesday isn't going to make it into most homes anytime soon. Not at $2,999 to start, and on up to $4,199 if you don't hold back on the specs. If you simply must have it, Studio goes on preorder today; it'll be available in limited quantities by the holidays. There's no question this innovative machine, which at that price is clearly aimed at business users and a more affluent subsegment of potential home buyers, is well worth paying attention to for the way it can leverage the "early 2017" arrival of Windows 10 Creators Update.

At first blush, the design brings to mind Apple's iMac, though the differences are apparent soon enough, and not just because Surface runs Windows 10 and Macs run macOS Sierra. For starters, you can push down on the Surface Studio and via its zero-gravity hinge, angle it at 20-degrees and effectively turn it into a drafting surface. When upright you'd likely use it for more typical Windows computing.

And since Surface Studio like other Surface computers uses a Windows 10 touch-display — Apple hasn't brought touchscreen capability to any of its Macs, and I'm not banking on that happening when it holds a press event for new Macs on Thursday — you can also draw or write directly on the screen using a special Surface Pen. It boasts 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity plus an eraser. Microsoft has also unveiled a hockey-puck shaped accessory called Surface Dial along with Surface Studio itself. You can rotate the puck to summon tools and zoom in on and manipulate objects on the screen; it takes advantage of a radial menu. You can directly place Surface Dial onto the the Surface Studio surface, or use it off the screen.

Also at Ars Technica, http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37787493, and PCWorld.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by drussell on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:38AM

    by drussell (2678) on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:38AM (#420025) Journal

    People who do REAL WORK generally don't need or even remotely want some bogus, trivial touchscreen interface garbage.

    This seems like another attempt at solving a problem which doesn't exist. The people who actually create content and the programming and engineering that goes into the stuff that creates that content are not generally of the tablet-consumption-touchscreen-mantra mindset. Complete fail from that perspective.

    Woe is Microsoft... :facepalm:

    • (Score: 4, Touché) by EvilSS on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:10AM

      by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:10AM (#420036)
      Depends on your work. Wacom doesn't sell their Cintiq line of pen displays for the lols.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:52AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:52AM (#420043)

        Some prefer normal Wacoms or equivalent tablets: no hand obscuring anything, no scratches (IIRC some Cintiqs had that issue in serious way) or grease to get rid, not eyes at short distance of work or not crouching over, no all in one that must be replace if any part goes bad even if the rest is fine. You can even get "paper feedback" by just placing cardstock over the normal tablets.

        • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:19AM

          by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:19AM (#420049)
          Some people prefer . The Cintiqs have a pretty good size market of people working in illustration, film, graphics, animation, etc. Like I said, they don't make them for the lols. They make them because they can sell them.
        • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Marand on Saturday October 29 2016, @02:03PM

          by Marand (1081) on Saturday October 29 2016, @02:03PM (#420109) Journal

          Some prefer normal Wacoms or equivalent tablets: no hand obscuring anything, no scratches (IIRC some Cintiqs had that issue in serious way) or grease to get rid, not eyes at short distance of work or not crouching over, no all in one that must be replace if any part goes bad even if the rest is fine. You can even get "paper feedback" by just placing cardstock over the normal tablets.

          I have both types on my desk right now (though the pen display isn't a Cintiq), as well as one of Samsung's Galaxy Note tablets (the 12" one from a couple years ago), so some thoughts:

          (Note for clarity: I'll be referring to cintiqs and similar as pen displays, standard types as tablets, and I'll attempt to distinguish clearly between graphics tablets and tablet computers)

          • The hand obscuring problem of pen displays and tablet computers like the Note and Surface is overrated in my experience.
          • Using a pen display lets you more accurately target areas of the screen, such as for UI interaction. Good calibration is important but it's a huge difference to be able to just poke UI elements or drop the pen exactly where you want it.
          • In contrast, a tablet requires a more mouse-like interaction, where you move your hand around to get the cursor where you want it. it's not as natural.
          • The previous point also affects making consistent, correct movements such as brush strokes. It's a lot easier to get a motion right when you can see your hand and the pen interacting directly with the screen. Using a tablet is more hit-or-miss and a lot more undo-prone.
          • Your mentioned scratching concern with pen displays is mostly overrated, though if that's a fear you can put some sort of protective surface over it the same way people do for phones.
          • You don't necessarily need cardstock over a tablet to get that feel, some of them have surfaces intended to provide similar feedback. Wacom's Intuos4 (the tablet I have) touted this. It has a good feel, I'll admit, but...
          • Unfortunately, a rougher, natural surface can wear nibs down insanely quickly. This was a major complaint with the Intuos4 line, in fact, and I've found I prefer the slick, low-friction glass/plastic feel anyway. So when I use it, I use the lower-friction plastic nibs instead of the rougher, more natural ones.
          • While scratching is mostly overrated* (as I covered already), it's not just a pen display problem. Tablets can scratch too, which was another complaint about the Intuos4's rougher surface. The Intuos4's surface caused heavier wear on the nibs, which could, if not evenly distributed, sharpen the nib and potentially gouge the tablet. The Intuos4 is probably the most-maligned tablet Wacom has shipped due to nib wear and scarring problems, yet the one I have is still fine years later.
          • Hunching over the screen probably indicates you need to rethink your setup, because that's not a requirement of using a pen display. Get a monitor arm, prop the thing up, something.
          • Greasy screen is easily mitigated with some kind of glove. You can do anything from cutting the fingers or tips off a cheap pair to buying one specifically used for this sort of thing, like this [smudgeguard.com]. A glove also helps mitigate extra friction from skin against the surface of whatever you use (tablet, pen display, or tablet computer)
          • A bigger issue with pen displays is the heat the display gives off, honestly. But even that isn't a big deal in my experience.

          Something of a tangent, but tablet computers like the Note line and the Surface (and whatever that iOS device is in the same niche) are an interesting sort of hybrid approach. The ones with 10" screens still feel a bit small to me, but I really like the Note Pro's size (12.2" display) and how easy it is to carry around and use in ways I wouldn't even consider trying with a tablet or cintiq. Tradeoff is a less powerful system and an inferior software ecosystem, since the selection of pressure-sensitive applications is much worse. Not that what's there is bad, it's just a less-evolved market and it also hurts not having extra hardware buttons, keyboard shortcuts, etc. You could use a Surface and use the same software, but I believe that ends up being a huge battery-life tradeoff.

          Too bad there hasn't been a refresh of the Note Pro, it's stopped getting software updates (the wifi version at least has) and there's been no sign of another one of the same size yet :/

          All that said, I use all three semi-regularly and would say that pen display is the most comfortable way to go, with the tablet and Note Pro somewhere behind with different tradeoffs. The biggest problem with the pen display for me is that I also use it as a monitor when I don't need the pen functionality and sometimes it's just not worth rearranging and repositioning things to use it, so I end up grabbing the tablet or Note Pro for quick stuff where I'm less likely to be frustrated by the software or the hand/eye disconnect.

          That's not to say my take on it is the only correct one. Some people prefer tablets to pen displays, possibly because they've spent a long time with them and can't adjust, possibly other reasons. I'd say that if anyone's considering trying a pen display out, either try one first if you can, or look into alternative brands before shelling out on a Cintiq. You can get a proper, full-sized (19" or higher) pen display from another maker for a quarter of the cost of a Cintiq. Much less of a risk when you aren't sure, or just a dabbler. There are trade-offs, of course, so it won't be as polished a product...especially with the drivers. The Huion-based ones seem to be in the best spot right now, but my experience has been that they're still pretty bare-bones on the driver side.

          (Works well in Linux, though, and the Huion/UClogic kernel driver actually works with the Xorg wacom driver, so you can use xsetwacom with it. Huge bonus, since that means you can use xsetwacom's MapToOutput option instead of fucking around with matrix math for xinput's Coordinate Transformation Matrix setting...)

          * I think the scratching fears for tablets and pen displays is overstated because some people are just really hard on their hardware. It's not stonecarving, you don't have to etch your lines into the tablet...

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:37PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:37PM (#420202)

            After using them, and seeing others using them (it was a studio with 5 tablets), the coordination issue is minor after your brain realizes the thing that moves is the pointer is still you, but not seen. There was no mousing at all, everyone had it in full screen mode, always, no relative or window modes; some even used it for all the computer interaction. It's like driving a car or bike, you don't move the vehicle, you move something, your eyes are elsewhere, and something happens anyway. Human brain gets it quickly.

            The paper trick worked fine with normal nibs and Intuos 3 or older. Studio had from Ultrapads to Intous 3, money was not flowing to be changing things they day they launch and discard things that still worked; you may have heard of "country special prices" (GB, Australia or Latin America are not getting the same deals than USA, and it's not just about import taxes or VAT/GST/etc but also distributor policy). One of the Ultrapads outlived computers and monitors.

            Overrated scratches? Some results of "scratched wacom tablet" image search http://www.yjstudios.com/blog/2011/11/10/how-to-fix-and-repair-scratches-on-a-wacom-cintiq-21ux/ [yjstudios.com] http://www.overclock.net/t/1531204/2010-wacom-bamboo-pen-and-touch-tablet [overclock.net] http://www.overclock.net/t/1531204/2010-wacom-bamboo-pen-and-touch-tablet [overclock.net] No big problem in the tablets if the scratch is just cosmetic, but nasty if it can be feeled, or if it is in a Cintiq.

            As for stone carving or bad posture, that is how some roll. So it had to be workarounded or even "unlearned", paper protection or different posture by unlinking input and output and forgetting about traditional penciling.

            But yeah, some people can go with the Cintiq and treat them so they last.

            • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Sunday October 30 2016, @12:59AM

              by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 30 2016, @12:59AM (#420391)
              Looking at that first link, the scratching appears to be caused by some shitty plastic film Wacom uses over the display. I would hope the MS device is just glass like every other modern touch screen. There is no way a digital pen designed for a touchscreen should be able to scratch glass unless the nib is designed by a moron. I have a windows tablet with a pen and I've never scratched it. It isn't even possible with the way the pen is designed.
            • (Score: 2) by Marand on Sunday October 30 2016, @02:45PM

              by Marand (1081) on Sunday October 30 2016, @02:45PM (#420520) Journal

              After using them, and seeing others using them (it was a studio with 5 tablets), the coordination issue is minor after your brain realizes the thing that moves is the pointer is still you, but not seen

              I wasn't saying that graphics tablets are hard to use. Like you say, the coordination issue is minor, but my point was that it's still there. I used one for ten years before getting a chance to use a pen display, and the pen display still felt more natural almost immediately.

              Sure, that's not the case for everyone, because sometimes people get stuck on doing things one way and don't adapt well, but it's still something anybody that uses graphics tablets should at least try at some point. It's just more natural and a generally awesome experience

              Overrated scratches? Some results of "scratched wacom tablet" image search

              Yes, overrated. I mean that in the sense that it's a fairly rare issue that's massively overblown by a minority of users. It can happen, but it's not that common, and with a few exceptions -- like the Intuos4 nib wear making it easier to cause -- seems like it's more of a problem with how people handle their hardware than the hardware itself.

              Like I was saying with the stonecarving joke, some people are just really hard on their devices, and basically abuse them instead of learning to work with them. If that's the case, yeah, it's probably better to stick with a tablet instead of a pen display so you aren't pissing away as much money when you destroy your device.

              I have a similar problem with keyboards, actually; due to typing speed (>150wpm) and heavy use of spacebar in games, I tend to wear it out on my keyboards. I have to pay more attention to what hardware I buy and sometimes rig up special fixes to get the spacebar working again because it wears out faster than the rest of the board. That's not the fault of the hardware, though, and I just accept I'm not going to be able to reduce the wear on them without slowing down a lot. I think the only keyboard I've used and haven't destroyed the spacebar on is a Model M...

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by rhodin on Saturday October 29 2016, @12:35PM

      by rhodin (4915) on Saturday October 29 2016, @12:35PM (#420096)

      As EvilsS replied, it really depends on your work. As an artist, I would love something like this, and have long ogled the Cintiq line from Wacom. I've had a Wacom tablet for years; it is essential in my work, and the ability to draw directly on a screen is much better, even when contending with grease and scratches, etc.

      The bigger concern with this unit for me (ignoring the dread Win10) is what the hardware is like under the hood. It uses a Skylake-based i5 and an Nvidia 900-series. Nothing to sneeze at perhaps, but unlikely to be upgradeable. In that way, the Cintiq may have more longevity, though that remains to be seen. Penny Arcade's Gabe seems to think the Surface Studio's a big step in the right direction however: https://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2016/10/28/the-surface-studio/ [penny-arcade.com]

      • (Score: 2) by Marand on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:45PM

        by Marand (1081) on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:45PM (#420132) Journal

        As an artist, I would love something like this, and have long ogled the Cintiq line from Wacom.

        If you just can't justify the price of the cintiqs, maybe try one of the non-wacom competitors. Competition and product quality has improved a lot the past ~5 years or so in the area. Display hardware is pretty good, pens aren't as good as wacom but better than the last n-trig one I used, but the drivers are often less polished. Still, for 1/3 to 1/4 the cost, I can deal with some driver rough edges...

        Penny Arcade's Gabe seems to think the Surface Studio's a big step in the right direction however

        Keep in mind his opinions are going to be skewed by Microsoft's tendency to give him free shit. They've been doing that since 2013 (Surface Pro), and even in the link you posted they 1) had him visit MS and try one out on-site, 2) gave him one to play with 3) came to his house to set it up. I don't think it's shilling, per se, but when a company tends to give you free units to use, try, review, and/or own it can affect your perceptions.

        Doesn't mean he's wrong, it might be truly awesome like he says. Just keep in mind that he's not going to be a particularly fair and unbiased source here.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:46AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:46AM (#420027)

    Give a demo unit to Bill Belichick.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Snotnose on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:49AM

    by Snotnose (1623) on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:49AM (#420029)

    In my some, jeez I been at this a while, almost 40 years of software development, I have never once thought a touchscreen would be any of (choose any box):

    useful

    helpful

    convenient

    Of course, YMMV, but I'm guessing no. Just holding your hand up to hit the touchscreen, as opposed to letting it sit on the mouse/keyboard, just shouts out FAIL to me.

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:05AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:05AM (#420034)

      Developer workstations.

      It is a Wacom tablet+AIO computer. Decent chance it is a wacom stylus grid behind the screen (Same as the Samsung Galaxy Notes BTW!) Wacom's 'input tablet' devices are expensive as it is, and the only models with an integrated screen cost 1000-1200 dollars. When you compare to that, and add in the bonus of having a full turnkey system built into it intended for exactly the sort of creative work you would otherwise be doing on the much smaller and clunkier Wacom units, and be able to adjust it to work on like a regular drafting surface with a similiar physical depth to the display, it could be quite useful to subset of graphic artists who have the disposable income for technically advanced sketching hardware, and an immediate need for it to help them be more productive.

      • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:15AM

        by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:15AM (#420038)
        Actually those 27" Cintiq displays from Wacom run about $2,500 give or take, and they are only 1440p. But you are right, this is aimed squarely at the creative market, one Macs hold a lot of sway in. It's a beast of a display, and if Wacom was selling it, it would probably go for near $4,000 all by itself. Problem is the computer attached to it is weak by comparison to even high end iMacs and I think Microsoft is underestimating the hold that the cult of Mac has on these users.
    • (Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:47AM

      by dyingtolive (952) on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:47AM (#420041)

      Maybe they're just trying to get you to improve your upper body strength.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
      • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Sunday October 30 2016, @02:25AM

        by Snotnose (1623) on Sunday October 30 2016, @02:25AM (#420414)

        What, by punching the touchscreen out of frustration?

        --
        Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
  • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:03AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:03AM (#420033)

    I'd rather hang myself with cum filled tube socks.
    -
    HorseFucker.org saved me from depression.

    • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:08AM

      by Snotnose (1623) on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:08AM (#420035)

      That actually sounds like something you've been thinking about. I'm gonna recommend you talk to John Gage, Roy DeSoto, and Dr Brackett, whilst checking out Dixie's tits, stat.

      --
      Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @10:14AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @10:14AM (#420076)

        Dr Brackett

        If mentioning Nurse Dixie McCall, I would have chosen Dr. Joe Early (played by torch song singer Julie London[1] and her real-life hubby Bobby Troup).

        Trivia: Bobby Troup wrote the tune "Route 66".
        He also wrote another fun (jazzy) tune that I like: "Lemon Twist" [showmelyrics.com]--which not nearly enough folks are aware of.
        (I've never heard a recording of it that's better than his own.)
        He also wrote "The Girl Can't Help It", which was a smash for Little Richard (Penniman).

        [1] More trivia: Julie London was previously married to Jack Webb (later the "Dragnet" guy.)

        Man, I'm old.

        -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:33AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:33AM (#420040)

      scads of rants against Micro$hit on the green site.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:51AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:51AM (#420042)
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:57AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:57AM (#420045)

          Posting about Microsoft on /. back in the day was kind of like going to one of today's Trump rallies. It didn't accomplish much, but maybe it felt good.

          Oops, forgot... we have a bunch of Trumpsters here on SN.

          Another thing I remember is that Beowulf clusters were considered the ultimate cool thing to be involved with.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:29AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:29AM (#420052)

            Wasn't a cluster of Natalie Portman clones the ne plus ultra?

            • (Score: 2) by Unixnut on Saturday October 29 2016, @11:13AM

              by Unixnut (5779) on Saturday October 29 2016, @11:13AM (#420087)

              Only if hot grits were included...

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:56AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:56AM (#420062)

      They invented the combination of a scroll wheel with a mouse button:

      A microswitch may be mounted within the housing, and a switch engager on the axle may be arranged to depress the microswitch when the wheel button is depressed, thereby providing a button signal.

      --
      https://www.google.com/patents/US5912661 [google.com]

      Prior to their Intellimouse, not many mice had scroll wheels.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IntelliMouse [wikipedia.org]
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scroll_wheel#History [wikipedia.org]

      • (Score: 1) by Arik on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:43AM

        by Arik (4543) on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:43AM (#420068) Journal
        A scrollwheel isn't a bad idea. Making it do double-duty as the middle-click is a horrible idea. Thanks for reminding me who to blame for that.
        --
        If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @10:32AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @10:32AM (#420081)

          From my cold, dead hands.
          I tried a trackball for a while and REALLY missed my clickable scrollwheel.

          Sounds like you bought one with a weak return spring.
          ...or you're just naturally clumsy.

          -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

          • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @02:02PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @02:02PM (#420108)

            No, clickable scrollwheels are just a shit idea. If the spring in the scrollwheel button is strong enough to prevent accidental clicking, then you're going to move the scrollwheel everytime you click. If you then increase the tension necessary to turn the scroll wheel to compensate for this, you'll have a stiff scrollwheel that is a PITA to use. With this abomination of a mouse design, you just can't win.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @08:52PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @08:52PM (#420249)

              As another commenter in this (sub)thread indicates, there are bunches of us who use these things constantly to great effect.

              Sorry to hear that you got such a raw deal in the gene pool and lack normal dexterity|coordination.

              -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:46PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @03:46PM (#420133)

          I use middle click with my scrollwheel probably a couple hundred times a day.

  • (Score: 2) by archfeld on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:38AM

    by archfeld (4650) <treboreel@live.com> on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:38AM (#420054) Journal

    This is like a Mac only better all around. It has the sketch ability on the screen for drawing updates and multiple type of connectivity options, plus it still has an escape key. I wonder if it is internally upgradeable, e.g. video card, memory, and or SSD.

    --
    For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:28AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday October 29 2016, @06:28AM (#420060) Journal

    Yep, TFA says Windows 10. Fek it.

  • (Score: 2) by iamjacksusername on Saturday October 29 2016, @02:23PM

    by iamjacksusername (1479) on Saturday October 29 2016, @02:23PM (#420116)

    It is interesting that Ballmer is being vindicated in this respect. He was wrong about a lot of things and he had the wrong mindset for Microsoft but he absolutely understood the fundamentals of the existing business; he recognized that Apple was succeeding in the marketplace because they were the only ones innovating in the laptop / desktop space. Outside of Sony, none of Microsoft's partners were really interested in doing innovative things in design. And Sony never suceeded in building consumer mindshare in the US. Which is a shame - their hardware designs were a decade ahead. I configured a few UX series [notebookreview.com] for some pilots I knew. They loved them because ithey could install all of their maps and radio information and mount it in the cockpit. It was, more or less, the first tablet being used in a tablet capacity.

    Surface was an opportunity for Microsoft to show partners that they could make an innovative product with Windows. It being Microsoft, it took 3 revisions on both the hardware (Surface Pro-->Surface Pro 2-->Surface Pro 3) and software side (Windows 8-->Windows 8.1-->Windows 10) to get it right. I think they have succeeded. This Surface Studio is showing that interesting things can still be done in the All-In-One space; additionally, by creating an All-In-One like this, Microsoft is building a market for applications which can take advantage of the formfactor. Microsoft historical problem on the "touch" front has always been that, until Windows 8, there was roughly 1 application that actually took advantage of the form factor. Outside of some very industry specific applications, OneNote was it. Thus, the Tablet PC market never went anywhere because there was not anything interesting you could do with it. It took Apple to make touch interfaces mainstream and left Microsoft far behind a market they tried to create 8 years previously.

    Ballmer learned that lesson and so he created a hardware division so Microsoft could both create a touch software ecosystem for windows and also innovate for the future so Microsoft would not get left behind by another Apple. Ballmer at least understood that even if he was the wrong person to lead Microsoft.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @08:55PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @08:55PM (#420252)

      Sony never [succeeded] in building consumer mindshare in the US

      I would have said it differently.
      Sony shot itself in the foot with its criminal rootkit on its BMG products.
      ...and that rootkit only affected Windoze systems, so Sony shot their "partner" in the foot as well.

      Their batteries|laptops catching fire didn't help their reputation either.

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:13PM

    by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:13PM (#420165) Homepage Journal

    Who would have thought $5k computers would come back in style? Funny, my ~$200 laptops do everything I need a computer to do. I'm curious why anyone not running huge simulations needs such an expensive piece of equipment... is it just a "keeping up with the Jonses" thing?

    --
    mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org