This post feels too short for the argument he is pushing. If the surface is a laptop killer, what is radically different about it compared to the other countless tries of putting a keyboard with a touchscreen ?
I am asking genuinely, because I haven't touch or seen one yet. So far the reviews aren't stellar, there seems to be the same shortcoming as before (always moving between the keyboard and the screen to type and click on things), and the software doesn't seem to push the limits of what you can do on a tablet.
My question would be, my parents hated using an iPad with a keyboard, would they be better off with a surface?
>what is radically different about it compared to the other countless tries of putting a keyboard with a touchscreen ?
It is not one thing, it's multiple:
1. Software. In iOS/Android keyboard support is limited, most of applications are not designed with it in the mind and some don't work at all because of faked input controls instead of native. Windows superior in keyboard support over iOS/Android and in touch support over own previous versions.
Also almost full Office suite on RT is not such joke as any editor on iOS/Android.
2. Integration. Power is supplied over connector, I2C has lower delay than bluetooth and full n-key rollover support, there is automatic lock of screen orientation based on accelerometers in both keyboard and tablet and so on. It's impossible to leave it at home by accident.
3. Quality. Surface's keyboards are thin and better in quality than most of competitors. They have almost standard layout and key size.
>My question would be, my parents hated using an iPad with a keyboard, would they be better off with a surface?
Nobody knows. It's depends of reasons of their hate. Surface's keyboard is still compromise even if better than iPad.
i’d say the big differentiator here is the software. iOS isn’t optimized for keyboard input (and, as far as i know, doesn’t support mouse input at all). Windows RT however, being essentially the same as Windows 8 in this regard, is efficiently navigable via keyboard and mouse input alone. so beyond having the physical keyboard there to replace the on-screen one for typing-out long messages, it also serves as an effective navigation tool and with all the traditional Windows shortcuts available. the Surface covers also include dedicated media keys and have function keys assigned to the newly introduced charms as well as full trackpads.
an iPad with a physical keyboard tacked-on actually degrades ease of use as the addition changes the form of the device while not providing an alternative means of interacting with it suitable to that form. as a result, beyond the single action of typing, all navigation becomes less efficient as you have to reach-out and touch the screen in a less-natural way than accustomed to. i've found that even the typing experience here doesn’t feel that much better as you still get interrupted when having to make what would be otherwise minor adjustments (moving cursor, selecting text, formatting, ...) by having to reach-out to the screen.
on a Surface though, the cover provides a complete and efficient alternative means of input. this has less to do with the particular implementation of the cover/kickstand (which is great by the way) but rather, that it runs essentially the same OS as the majority of (non-touch-enabled) desktops and laptops to be sold in the coming years. regardless of particular views on Windows 8 and whether it is less efficient than previous versions, it still is a fully functional traditional OS, and interacting with it as such works very well.
using a Surface for a few days now, i really do think the form factor lives-up to the claim of no-compromises. you can navigate entirely via touch or entirely through the traditional mouse/keyboard combo and not even know that the other existed. and (the most likely option) somewhere in-between works exceptionally well. while i traditionally use the cover while in the desktop or typing-out a long message (like now), i find the input method option it affords is also great to have for when i just happen to be sitting at a desk or want to use the device standing-up on my lap. in that sense the particular implementation on the Surface’s cover/kickstand really shine as it makes switching between form factors effortless.
What it comes down to is that eventually it's better to have 1 thing than 2 things that serve a similar purpose. Many (most?) computer people today have 2 things because the gap is too great. Eventually the gap closes a little, and although it will never close completely, it is better to have 1 thing than 2 things, so you make compromises. I think that is what Jeff is saying here, the gap is closing just a little, and eventually a tablet becomes good enough as a PC.
Yes, exactly. What often happens to me now is 1) I do something on my tablet...an email comes in, I start to respond, then I get in a little deeper and need to research something for a proper response....then 2) I reach for my laptop to finish off the email, likely involving the task of referencing other documents/web pages, to compose the intelligent reply. Better multi-tasking and quick access to a keyboard on a device improves this common use case scenario.
Also, when I travel, I have to take both a laptop and a tablet. As tablets become a little richer in functionality, I could see less of the need to take both with me.
I think the fundamental premise is actually wrong. It often is not better to have a compromise device than specific devices. Can you get along with a compromise device? Sure, sometimes. But the difference between no compromise devices can be surprisingly large in my opinion.
Most people I know haven't given up having a saw and a screwdriver and a pair of pliers just because they can buy a multitool that "does" all of that.
I also feel that a tablet has far more in common with an ebook reader or a smartphone than with a computer. I've yet to see a tablet do a task that a smartphone can't do, and I have to wonder if the "phablet" (god do I hate that term) won't be the convergence you're looking for rather than a convergence with a laptop.
I have yet to talk to a laptop user who wants to trade it in on something that isn't a general purpose computer.
That's a much better argument. Tablets are sofa consumer devices; notebooks are desktop work devices. Surface is trying to bridge that gap. But we should not kid ourselves this is not a laptop replacement, it's a tablet improvement.
Well of course this is true if you don't have an OS designed with touch in mind, and you don't have hardware that supports these interactions. I wasn't a believer in this interaction model until I went to the Microsoft Store last week and played with all of the Win8 devices. Now I want all of my screens to have touch on them.
I am asking genuinely, because I haven't touch or seen one yet. So far the reviews aren't stellar, there seems to be the same shortcoming as before (always moving between the keyboard and the screen to type and click on things), and the software doesn't seem to push the limits of what you can do on a tablet.
My question would be, my parents hated using an iPad with a keyboard, would they be better off with a surface?