January 19th, 2013
Remember Andrew Kim? The guy that rebranded Microsoft for free. Well, now he’s going to work there.
I can’t talk about the details of how things fell into place but the choice became obvious. I’ll be designing for Microsoft as of summer. I promise that I’ll make the my greatest work ever while I’m there.
Web creative types take note… sharing your work, ideas, and thoughts will lead to good things. Share more.
November 20th, 2012
MG Siegler reviews the Surface for AOL TechCrunch:
After using it for over a week now, it’s hard to come up with a lot of nice things to say about the Surface. Don’t get me wrong, there are some solid things here. But by and large, it’s a strange, buggy, and clunky product that I simply can’t imagine many people buying after the initial hype wears off.
He lasted a whole week. I didn’t last more than a few minutes.
November 20th, 2012
The UI is littered with swipe ambiguity, where similar (or identical) gestures have different outcomes depending on subtle details in how they’re activated or executed. For example, start swiping from the right to the left and you will either scroll the screen horizontally or reveal the charm bar, depending on exactly where your finger first touched the screen. This was very confusing to the users in our study.
Obviously, I wholeheartedly agree.
November 16th, 2012
Actual judgements about the hardware aside (since, unsurprisingly, these aren’t yet on the market) this looks like the best work to come out of Microsoft since the Xbox 360. This isn’t me grading on a curve either. I’m not giving them extra points for finally making something that looks like it could be good. I’m saying that this device actually looks like it could be a great, viable, product line and could bring Microsoft up-to-speed on many many fronts.
You could say I was optimistic yet skeptical. Like many other product debuts at Microsoft I actually thought the Surface may never see the light of day. But it has. They’re shipping them. They exist. Yesterday, while at Viddler HQ, I was able to play with a Surface for a few minutes.
I could have played with it longer. But I wouldn’t want to. The Surface is terrible. Even if you’ve never picked up an iPad or an Android-powered tablet you would think the Surface is pretty slow, hard to use, and heavy; three things a tablet device should probably never have said about it.
I know, I know, some may think because I’m such an Apple fan boy that I wouldn’t like the Surface even if it was truly great. Remember, I said “this device actually looks like it could be a great, viable, product line” for Microsoft. And I think it still could be. When playing with the Surface yesterday I said that I thought it still belonged in a lab – not being sold to the public.
When I first grabbed the Surface the running joke in the office was “Open Mail.” At least two people told me to open the mail application. I tried. After waiting about a minute for the mail application to launch I gave up.
Then I tried Word. Surely this should be a simple, easy-to-use version of Word where I would launch it and immediately be able to begin typing, right? Wrong. Tapping on Word opened up a version of Windows 8 that looks like Windows Vista and then launches Word just like you would see on your desktop computer. Once the canvas loads where you can begin typing the cursor pops up and sits there, flashing at you, waiting to be used. Only, there is a problem, there is no keyboard.
Like the iPad, a physical keyboard does not come standard. The Surface has a few optional keyboards that could be purchased with it but they are pretty expensive and since this is simply a testing unit for Viddler our Head of QA decided we didn’t need the physical keyboard. Arguably, though, the physical keyboard is one of the main reasons why someone would want a Surface.
Anyway, back to Word. So the traditional, desktop version of Word is sitting there – cursor blinking – and there is no keyboard. I’m used to how iOS and Android work so I thought that simply tapping into the area where I’d like to type would be enough for the OS to know that I’d need a virtual keyboard. Only, I’m in the part of the OS (the Windows Vista-looking part) that isn’t smart enough to know this. So, after a few moments of panic, one of my fellow Viddler team members had to run over and show me that there was a button to ask for the virtual keyboard. The entire experience was really quite jarring.
Next, I opened Camera. Camera is one of those applications on Surface that you have to figure out how to use by experimenting. There is no apparent way to do anything. Not even take a photo or record a video. Rather than there being any interface for the application the entire Surface becomes a window to the world around you. Which seems nice in concept but I found it very frustrating. To take a photo you tap the screen. OK, that seems discoverable enough. But, how do I view that photo after I’ve taken it? How do I share it? How do I send that photo to my mother? Well, going into the Photo library application doesn’t show you the photos you’ve taken with the Camera. So that’s not it. Oh, the video I shot with the Camera? That isn’t in the Videos app. This is what you have to do; you have to five-finger pinch within the Camera application to pull up a “slideshow” of your photos/videos that you’ve taken. This is not-so-discoverable.
By this time I was fed up with the Surface. I poked around a bit more and only got more and more frustrated with the device. For instance, I didn’t find a single application that supported portrait-mode. So the device had to be in landscape all the time. Obviously Microsoft intends on you using this thing, kick-stand out, sitting on a desk with the $129 optional physical keyboard attached.
As of today the Microsoft Surface isn’t a tablet. It is a thin PC that still needs a physical keyboard that runs a pretty cool touch OS that should be called Metro and an ancient and terrible OS called Windows. And it is heavy.
October 16th, 2012
According to The Verge:
“Microsoft listed its Surface pricing at its online Microsoft Store this morning, indicating that pre-orders will be available shortly.”
And then, promptly:
“Update: Microsoft’s online store listing has now gone offline.”
So, they tried. That was nice of them to try.
July 3rd, 2012
Andrew Kim sets aside three days to rebrand Microsoft. Holy crap.
June 22nd, 2012
John Gruber, on why Microsoft needs to be the one making Surface (and not a third-party like HP or Sony):
The intention is obviously to slow the iPad down, but the radical shift in Microsoft’s strategy is about the fight over the profits that remain after Apple’s. The math no longer works out for the Windows you-sell-the-hardware-we-sell-the-software model. It works for unit share (cf. Android), but it doesn’t for profit share. Nothing works sustainably in business without profit — profit is the oxygen companies breathe.
His take and Horace Dediu’s (who could ever argue with Horace?) make perfect sense to me. Microsoft is now doing what Apple began to do in the early 2000s. Begin chasing profits not marketshare.
June 20th, 2012
I think Microsoft should focus and invest in making this their flagship product…
Joshua Topolsky of The Verge on Microsoft’s “shift” with the Surface:
That’s a big shift, and it’s an important one. The announcement of the Surface shows that Microsoft is ready to make a break with its history — a history of hardware partnerships which relied on companies like Dell, HP, or Acer to actually bring its products to market.
I’m really hopeful that Surface is a true competitor to the iPad. Competition is good for everyone – especially the consumer. The 45-minute keynote – although very distilled and way, way too over-rehearsed – really did give you a good demonstration that Surface could actually be quite good. Quite valuable. And extremely versatile. Yes, perhaps even more versatile than the iPad.
And, yes, Microsoft could be going solely after the Enterprise market – the business class – with Surface. Though in the keynote Ballmer did repeat, a few times, that people like “to consume”, “to play”, with devices like this.
But, as my friend Om Malik reminded me on Instagram, we haven’t yet used the Surface. No one really has. Microsoft has come out and made a magnificient demonstration of a product that they have no idea how much to charge for, have little idea of when it will be available, and will not allow anyone to touch. I, forever being an optimist, have to keep something in perspective – This is Microsoft. This is Microsoft. This is Microsoft.
June 19th, 2012
Microsoft Surface, a name that was reserved for Microsoft’s table-sized device not that long ago, is now a tablet device that runs Windows 8 and comes with an ultra-thin keyboard.
Actual judgements about the hardware aside (since, unsurprisingly, these aren’t yet on the market) this looks like the best work to come out of Microsoft since the Xbox 360. This isn’t me grading on a curve either. I’m not giving them extra points for finally making something that looks like it could be good. I’m saying that this device actually looks like it could be a great, viable, product line and could bring Microsoft up-to-speed on many many fronts.
I think Microsoft should focus and invest in making this their flagship product and, instead of saying that they aren’t trying to compete with the iPad and just trying to set a good example for OEMs, say that they are trying to compete with the iPad. I think this is an excellent iPad alternative. It is so much different it could actually be great. By learning how to make this product great with excellent builds of Windows 8 that do not eat battery life, Windows Live products (email, cloud syncing) that work flawlessly, and – dare I say it – an easy to use App Store they could be well on their way to being a major part of this post-PC era rather than a relic of the PC era.
Side note: The intro video is pretty good. Unlike other ads from Microsoft it focuses on exactly what it should – the device. I do wish they turned the device on earlier than the last few seconds and showed a little interaction. Remember the first iPhone and iPad commercials showed, in detail, how people used their fingers to work the device. This is a whole new device for Microsoft and the ads could educate people how they’ll be used.
May 25th, 2012
Each month, Google removes more than 1 million links to infringing content such as movies, video games, music and software from its search results — with about half of those requests for removal last month coming from Microsoft.
Interesting stuff. I’m surprised that number is so low. I’m not surprised that Microsoft is really out there squashing infringements.
May 21st, 2012
Like Mahdi Yusuf’s month-long foray using DuckDuckGo Farhad Manjoo spends a week with Bing. His first impressions were good:
The new Bing is like the old Google—your results are presented on a clean, uncluttered page consisting of a lot of links and a few unobtrusive ads.
But, like so many others, he realized how trapped in Google’s products he’d become:
The most striking thing about switching to Bing was how enmeshed I remained in the Google universe. During my week with Bing, I found myself reaching for lots of Google products beyond its Web search engine—Gmail, YouTube, Google Calendar, Google Books, Google Scholar, Chrome, Picasa, and probably a few others I’m forgetting.
A few things strike me about these attempts to switch away from Google. First, good on Google for realizing that search wasn’t enough to “keep” people around. Manjoo himself said it was extremely simple to switch from one search engine to the next. Google building other applications, that you can use for free, really does mean you’re more likely to stick with Google search. Second, is that I think it stinks that when something is made well that the proceeding versions of it must get more and more obtrusive for it to be lucrative.
Google’s search results have gotten better and better and better over the last decade plus. But arguably the way they display those results has, in some ways, gotten worse.
January 6th, 2012
Robert X. Cringely predicts that Eric Schmidt could be Microsoft’s next CEO replacing Steve Ballmer. I’m not saying it wouldn’t or couldn’t happen but I will say it would be an even worse move than when the Board decided Ballmer was a good choice to replace Bill Gates.
At the end of his piece he says “Who would you pick?” This may sound like a really, really odd choice but I’d choose Jon Rubinstein to lead Microsoft. He may have not done a great job with running Palm as a business but I think he’d bring a level of taste to Microsoft that has simply never been there above C-level.
Microsoft knows how to run a business. They’ve got that down. What they need is a clear direction to build amazing products instead of just announcing them. So bring on someone who demands good taste. Rubinstein fits that.
October 12th, 2011
There is a lot of talent inside of Microsoft. It is everything that happens above the talent that inhibits that talent’s ability to make really great things.
While the Arc Touch Mouse is very, very interesting and seemingly well done it is still based off an old “mouse” (read: move around your desk and move the pointer) paradigm. The multitouch touchpad from Apple is, in my opinion, much better and more forward-thinking because it is getting us closer and closer to having all touch-based interfaces for our computing devices. It is why I switched from using a mouse. I never want a mouse again.
I don’t want to take anything away from the people that worked on this mouse at Microsoft… but I’d like to know if Microsoft would have let them work as hard and long on creating a next generation touch device rather than only a slimmer mouse. And then actually be able to ship it.
March 23rd, 2010
Apple vs. Microsoft was a tech war for the ages. The two companies battled each other vigorously. Who won? Some would say Microsoft clearly won based on marketshare while others think they simply sold out and made an inferior product to Apple. However, the clear winner was neither company – it was us, the consumers, because some of the greatest advancements in technology and in particular software were made during that conflict.
Now, it appears, Google and Apple are at war in the mobile space and perhaps even other markets. To be honest I like both companies and their products so I don’t care who loses – I just know that I’ll be winning again because surely some great stuff is going to come out of the conflict.
July 20th, 2009
Roz Savage, the Ocean Rower I linked to the other day, recently mentioned that she was a feature on Bing.com’s home page. Since I’m a few days behind on reading her posts she was no longer featured on the home page by the time I got there.
I noticed that Bing.com’s home page features have little arrows in the bottom right where you can, or seemingly can, go back and see past home page features. There’s just one thing – when you try to go back to previous home page features you get this message.
Essentially: You need to install Microsoft Silverlight – which is Microsoft’s competitor to Adobe Flash – in order to see the home page archive.
No thanks Microsoft. Although I’d love to page through Bing’s home page features I’d rather not install Silverlight. I’m not sure why I can see the current home page feature without it installed – but I’ll chalk it up to the developers of Bing being pigeon-holed into using Silverlight instead of JavaScript and/or Flash to create the home page archive.
My suggestion: Go with JavaScript so that everyone can see the home page archive and there is no real competition argument to be had.
June 2nd, 2009
What the Wii brought to gaming can not be denied. Movement, realism, and let’s face it – fun. Project Natal, for the Xbox 360, is going to attempt to do the same thing but with less hardware – meaning; absolutely no controllers.
What makes this project even more interesting is that the guy behind the 3D Wii interface is working with Microsoft on this one.
I like that Microsoft is doing more with the Xbox 360 and not just creating a new console system. The Xbox 360 is a great platform and I think it could serve as a great entertainment hub for still years to come.
May 18th, 2009
Ben Parr of Mashable.com reports that, according to current trends, IE will be going the way of the Dodo in 2021. Or, at least, it won’t be the leading browser. This, in and of itself is great news – but do we really have to wait that long? Ugh.
November 9th, 2008
So you use Windows. I’m ok with that I guess. Oh, you also browse the Internet with Internet Explorer? Version 6? Well, I just can’t live with that. In fact, I doubt you and I would get along at parties.
But, such as it is you are here, reading something on my site, and so I should – at the very least – show you a site that you can read. I didn’t say that I’d cater to you. No no, none of that here. But I will try my best to have my site display just well enough that you can read this – and perhaps switch to another browser.
While at Podcamp Hawai’i I pulled my site up on a screen in front of an entire theatre full of people. There was only one computer available to me that was already hooked up to the projector. I thought “How bad could it be?”. Well, it was pretty bad. My site looked like this. Yeah, that bad.
So today I pulled out a ton of negative margins, a few class specifications that, for reasons I will probably never know, Internet Explorer does not support – and now you can see that the site looks relatively normal in IE.
I could probably do better with my site’s document code and styling to set myself up for multi-browser success. I know this. But, seriously. You could do much better if you’re using Internet Explorer as your browser-of-choice. So there.
September 4th, 2008
Google’s Chrome, the new Web browser by Google, has been getting a lot of attention because of its simple approach to browsing the Web. Â But there is more here than meets the eye. It is all about the approach.
The new application has its flaws, for sure, but what it gets wrong it makes up for in what it gets right. Â Google has long been an advocate of speed. Â ”Speed is a feature.” Â Many other browser manufacturers, namely Apple, Microsoft, and Mozilla, have continuously strived to push the needle on speed, faster page loading time, and overall memory usage of their software products. They’ve done this while also trying to jam more features into the browser. Â What they’ve ultimately failed to do though, is what Google succeeded at; removing the application from the application.
Google’s approach here is interesting. Â This is the first real step towards making the Web the application, and the browser just the “thing” that loads it into view. Â Over on Daring Fireball John Gruber quoted this bit, which I find really interesting:
“In the long term, we think of Chromium as a tabbed window manager or shell for the web rather than a browser application. We avoid putting things into our UI in the same way you would hope that Apple and Microsoft would avoid putting things into the standard window frames of applications on their operating systems.”
You know how the iPhone or iPod touch loads web applications with nearly no UI unless you scroll up? Â That is sort of the approach that Google Chrome is taking. Â Just render the page in an insanely fast and stable way – that is the goal.
Is Google Chrome a “Single Site Browser” the way the next version of Safari is going to be or the way that Fluid already is? Â Sort of. Â In the “Page control” menu (not sure I like that name either) there is an option to “Create application short cuts”. Â You can install these shortcuts on your Desktop, Start Menu, and Quick Launch bar. Â Personally I think it would have been neat if they automatically asked to setup Gmail, Google Reader, Calendar, etc. when I installed – but everyone knows that they would have caught some serious heat for that if they did. Â For those of us liking the SSB experience, Google Chrome works.
It is tough to say what Google Chrome “gets wrong”. Â I’ve seen reports of various rendering problems, but I don’t think that is something Chrome got wrong. Â That is fairly easily fixed in the next version so long as they iron out their use of Webkit.
To sum up; the approach Google is taking here is refreshing. Â Clean, simple, and fast. A feature for feature comparison of Google Chrome against any browser would not be a fair way to gauge its affect on the marketplace. Â Time will tell.
Now, when they release a Macintosh version, then I’ll really kick the tires.