Surface Tension

Microsoft has a new, cheaper version of its Surface tablet. The Surface Go is a 10” table for C$529, which puts it close to the cheapest iPads. That seems like a good move. I never understood Microsoft’s early attempts at a tablet. In general, I don’t understand why they feel the need to make tablets, but that’s another issue. The first Surfaces were very high-end, and I wondered how much market there is for tablets that are more expensive than nearly all laptops. On top of that, there’s the question of how many people want a super expensive tablet but haven’t bought them from Apple. It’s like when VW periodically tries making an expensive car; it may well be a nice car, but I’m not buying a luxury vehicle from Volkswagen.

But with the Surface Go, Microsoft seems to have taken a sensible approach to deliver an inexpensive but still powerful tablet, so they apparently think there’s a good market there. That’s interesting, because it’s been about ten years now that computer makers have been fussing around trying to make a new computing format, something that’s portable, affordable, and convenient.

First we had the netbooks. They started off as microscopic laptops with flash memory and custom Linux-based operating systems — essentially they were small versions of today’s Chromebooks. That seemed like an intriguing idea, but people weren’t ready to make such a big break with the past, and soon netbooks had hard drives and Windows, which made them less cheap, portable and usable.

Then tablets took off, and while they’ve been popular, they haven’t been super-profitable for manufacturers. And as a personal observation, they’ve been kind of an awkward proposition: you can get a really cheap tablet which you can use for many things, but it will be far from a replacement for a laptop/desktop. You can use it for e-mail and some web surfing, but many web pages won’t work well on a small screen and underpowered processor. And slightly larger jobs like typing this blog entry won’t be easy.

But there seems to be a new format coalescing: you can get a 9.7” iPad with a keyboard case for about $500, and now Microsoft is aiming at a similar price-point. I find that tablets at this level are much more capable what with their screen and computing power, and an unobtrusive keyboard opens up many more uses, while still keeping the device more portable than a laptop. And sure enough, I’m typing this on one of those iPad/keyboard pseudo laptops.

So I think we’ve finally figured out the formula for a new computing format. I don’t see this replacing anything: there’s still things laptops are better at, smaller tablets are significantly cheaper, and phones are much more portable. But the 9-10” tablet/keyboard is a very useful setup. My apologies to that kid in the “what’s a computer” Apple commercial. You were on to something. But it’s still a computer.

My Reputation Precedes Me

There's a lot of talk about how much advertisers know about us. Of course, there's not a lot of respect for privacy, and companies want to assemble as much data about us as possible so they can give us the most targeted ads. My response is that I wish my ads were targeted to me. No, I don't want to download Candy Crush! What have I ever done that would make you think I want to play that? Being human sure, but the point is, it's not really a good use of the data about me.

But on the other hand, there's plenty of data out there that we hand out voluntarily. When I tried using Microsoft's new Edge web browser, I was shocked to find that it presented me with a list of recent scores of my favorite sports teams. How did it know? My phone knows my favorite teams, since I put them into the "Google Now" feature to get updates on them. But that's a Google product, and they don't talk to Microsoft.

 
So here I was, worried that my laptop had hacked my phone, all in an effort to please me. But then I remembered that had inputted my favorite teams into Windows 8.1 to get scores in one of those squares in that weird tile interface. Of course, like most people, I tried to avoid using that interface, so I forgot all about what I'd told it about myself. But apparently, in some Microsoft computer somewhere, there's a notation that I'm looking for Raptors scores. And that my affinity for Minesweeper somehow translates into a desire for Candy Crush. (Completely ridiculous - Minesweeper is true strategic, intellectual timewasting.)

But this brings up a question: how much other information have I left out there. I can't count how many sites I've signed up to, or created a log in for, but no longer use. I remember using a movie recommendation site in the nineties. So somewhere out there a computer knows all about the movies I liked as a twenty-something. But we've probably all left a digital impression of ourselves behind us. I don't know if anyone tries using that data, perhaps trying to link the info in abandoned accounts with the information they have about us today. Who knows how accurate that process is. They could be confusing me with an old GeoCities account for a James Roe. And he really loves Candy Crush.

Computer, End Program

Contrary to what you might think, I don't think of myself as the only intelligent/sane person in the world. One of the few intelligent/sane people in the world, sure. But there are times when I feel like I'm alone. A good example has been the talk about the upcoming Windows 10.

First of all, there's a distinct flaw in the premise which no one seems to be noticing. The story from the media has been that Microsoft knows it needs to hit one out of the park, so they've designed an interface that will be suited for the PC, tablet, or phone. Am I the only one who noticed that the reason Windows 8 sucked was because the tried to give it an interface suited for the PC, phone or tablet? They're trying to fix a problem by repeating what caused the problem. 

Then there's the new HoloLens that they revealed along with the preview of Windows 10. There was tremendous excitement about it. In fact, the wow-factor seemed to deflect the cynicism that usually accompanies a Microsoft product announcement.

I have to admit, HoloLens does look like it has potential. And it's refreshing to see Microsoft doing something other than playing catch-up. But didn't Google just fail at pretty-much the same thing? I know, HoloLens is more sophisticated than Google Glass, but it does seem to have the same downsides: a (presumably) high price, a dorky, intrusive design, and vague usage scenarios.

But the other aspect that I can’t believe no one noticed: Microsoft had previously said they’d be offering info on Windows 10 that day, and used the opportunity to show a flashy new technology that no one knew about. Doesn’t that seem suspicious? Essentially, they stole their own thunder, distracting the world’s media from reporting on their big product. I’m assuming that they meant to do that, wanting to avoid people parsing every aspect of the new Windows. That would have lead to people realizing that it won’t give them much reason to abandon Windows 7. Or XP, for that matter.

Imperfect Ten

Microsoft has announced the new version of Windows, which will be called Windows 10.  People have accused Microsoft of being complacent and arrogant, and if they feel like they can skip number nine just 'cause they feel like it, then perhaps they're right.

The good news is that it's going to be more like the older versions of Windows that people actually use, rather than force-feeding us something resembling their mobile operating system.  But the question is, will people upgrade? It used to be automatic that people would start shifting to the new version.  But after a succession of at-best-mediocre editions, that's not so true.  Just over 12% of users currently use the latest (Windows 8 or 8.1) while half of computer users are still using Windows 7.  Funnier still, Windows XP (which is essentially Windows 5) still has twice as many users as number eight.

The fact is, it's been a while since Microsoft gave anyone a good reason to upgrade.  XP finally made it reliable, and since then there really haven't been any compelling new features.  And the only User-Interface improvements have come when they remove their old interface changes.  I don't blame anyone who hangs on to XP.  They do have an interesting new feature: multiple desktops.  It's been available on Linux for years and recently on MacOS, and it's probably the feature I miss the most when I have to switch to using Windows.

Although Windows 10 is moving away from the mobile-style interface used in Windows 8, Microsoft is still crowing about how the new Windows is one common platform for all devices.  What they mean by that is that they're making it easier for developers to develop the same applications for both PC's and mobile devices.  Wired seems to think this is a brilliant aggressive move. 

Though I doubt it will work.  Lots of developers already use Microsoft software to develop their applications, and Microsoft has tried to use that to their advantage by making it easy for those developers to make Windows Phone apps.  But it hasn't helped, because there just aren't many users of Windows Phones.

And there doesn't seem to be much call for having the same apps on a phone as on a PC.  Even if you are going to work on the same data (say, a document in the cloud) you're probably going to use it quite differently.  That is, you wouldn't want the same word processor on your phone that you use on your laptop.  So all-in-all it looks like Microsoft is continuing to produce so-so PC software thanks to their misguided attempt to take over the phone.

A Second Act In An American Life

As you can probably guess, I have mixed feelings about Bill Gates. I admire the great philanthropist Gates for his tremendous generosity and willingness to bring new approaches and enthusiasm to efforts that had become moribund and cynical. But I hate the businessman Gates, with his mediocre and over-marketed products and business strategies of questionable legality. But we don't have to worry about the latter, now that he's retired and the founder's company founders.

The philanthropist Gates released his annual letter recently, in which he makes the case for aid to the developing world. It's a refreshing read, not just for its optimistic tone, but for the practical approach he brings to the subject. He doesn't fall into the rigid ideologies or extremism that dominate current politics, and faces it with intellectual honesty.

One might be tempted to see his pragmatic approach as a product of his background in software. But I find that many people from science and engineering are actually quite ripe for the picking by simplistic ideology. The exact-science nerd is used to intellectual discussions that don't have a lot of vested interest at stake, and trends to have an unrealistically simple view of human psychology. Thus they fall prey to neat and tidy political ideas that are not rooted in the real world.

So I think gates does deserve credit for his humanitarian work, in which he makes me feel like they're is some how for the world.  I never thought I'd feel the developing world has a brighter future than Microsoft, but somehow he's done it.

Get The Cyber-Grout

Just wondering, who decided that the best way to arrange things on a computer screen is through a bunch of barely organized tiles.  It used to be that everything was organized in a simple list.  But that's passé, apparently.  Google+ used to be a list, but now it has the tiles too.  Facebook is probably like that by now, I should log in again and check.

What worries me about this is that as far as I can tell, the trend started with Microsoft.  They introduced the tiles for Windows Phone, and the new interface for Windows 8 that everyone hates.  Flickr just adopted it for it's relaunch, and it's slowly spreading.  

That's just not how this is supposed to work.  Apple is the one you copy user interfaces from.  Maybe everyone assumed that with Microsoft so boldly adopting the new paradigm, they must have copied it from Apple.  But is Apple using tiles?  No, their products still use nice elegant grids and lists of things.

Worse, when I just looked it up at Wikipedia, I find out that the whole thing comes from the Zune!  Why not copy Windows Vista while you're at it?

You Can Use Windows 8 To Read This Post!

Microsoft has a pretty spotty record when it comes to advertising.  There was the infamous ad with Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld:



Yep, I just watched it again, and it doesn't make any more sense than I remembered. 

There were all those "To the cloud" ads, none of which actually used cloud computing, and this one was bragging about a feature everyone had already seen from Photoshop at least ten years earlier:



And that seems to be their problem now.  Microsoft has lost sight of the idea that people want technology to do new things.  Like this ad that has thankfully finally stopped running:



The message being that a Windows PC can search the internet, play videos, and run Angry Birds. You know what else can do that? A three-year-old iPhone. 

That's the format for most Microsoft ads: a big song and dance about really mundane things.  We've got a tablet with a keyboard, isn't that amazing?  Not really, it's just a funny-looking laptop.  Microsoft has become that out-of-touch relative that finally notices new inventions years after everyone else.  Great, I have to show Aunt Sarah how to check her e-mail.  Then I have to explain Twitter to Uncle Microsoft.