Microsoft just wrapped up its latest Surface event, and it was packed with news — including the redesigned Surface Pro 8, a camera-equipped Surface Duo 2, and even a new flagship laptop that puts a hinge behind the screen.
There’s a lot of cool new hardware in here. I’ve always liked Microsoft’s Surface line of devices, and even own a few of them. They’re not much use to me anymore – Surface Linux support is spotty, at best, especially for newer devices – but for Windows users, they’re definitely worthy to take into consideration.
I wouldn’t willingly touch hardware which has limited cross platform OS support or with which the vendor would arbitrarily drop support. By that criteria no matter how shiny Microsoft Surface hardware is I don’t think it’s any good.
Back in the day people used to be task centred not application centred. Now Microsoft and Adobe et al have moved the market to where they want it it’s shifted now to the cloud and harware product lines. This is the wrong conversation. The conversation needs to be about standards such as rounded criteria, procurement criteria, security criteria, support criteria, and so on. That is something those companies will fiercely resist and jouirnalists will happily go along with because that is where the easy advertising revenue comes from.
It’s also worth noting that if you change the conversation here it can have knock on effects with other specialist areas like the environment or other political issues and that is what “they” do not want. They don’t want people discussing standards or developing critical thinking skills or criticism. The fact this isn’t even talked about shows how far we have fallen over the past 10-20 years.
“Back in the day people used to be task centred not application centred.” Citation needed.
“The conversation needs to be about standards such as rounded criteria, procurement criteria, security criteria, support criteria, and so on. ”
What is rounded criteria? And is procurement criteria around the how the workers that built the product are treated? If that is it, I think I’ve heard more about that in the last 10 years than I ever did before. And that’s what I worry about when a company like framework or another up and coming oem announces their big thing. You can get cheaper labor than Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and Google but I’m not sure I really want to participate in that. As a whole its the larger oems that can demand better treatment of workers, and afford any minor hikes in prices for non slave labor. They aren’t perfect but its something.
The coolest thing for me is the haptics in the slim pen. I was interested in a Remarkable for the paper-like texture of the screen, but recreating that friction with haptics is a genius idea by Microsoft if it works. It makes for a better touch-display and less wear & tear on the nib.
It certainly works in my MacBook as you’d swear you were pressing a physical button until the machine is completely switched off and it becomes weirdly dead feeling. I think we now know what’s going in the Apple Pencil 3. Start your photocopiers Cupertino, etc…