Entelligence: Will Surface ever surface?
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted March 18th 2010 7:00PM
posted March 18th 2010 7:00PM
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
The Surface concept was great. It was a Windows PC inside a table with a 30" touchscreen on top, and cameras that could sense what's happening on screen. The result is you could use a Surface device just by touching the screen with your finger -- but unlike other large touch screens at the time, Surface was multitouch, so you could use all your fingers at the same time. More importantly, multiple users could engage with each other. It was a PC but didn't look or run like a PC, which was genius -- you'd never know it was running Windows, but there was no development learning curve. It was totally optimized for that big honking touch surface area, and applications that worked with it -- I'm sure it could run Office, but that's not something it's was ever likely to do. Surface was PC evolution happening in real time. It's really something you needed to see up close and in thirty seconds before the light bulb went on. Sadly, most people have never seen or worked with a Surface unit. Beyond a small retail rollout at AT&T stores in NY that seems to have ended, the last time I saw one was the Edelman PR offices, where it sat like a large coffee table and did pretty much nothing.
Surface could have been an extremely important product for Microsoft. First, it showed innovation was alive and well in Redmond. Second, it showed the market in a clear and concrete way that Microsoft can still take conceptual ideas and turn them into
Sadly, Surface ultimately showed that Microsoft still can't figure out markets and how to get products into the hands of real users. |
This is exactly the type of thing Microsoft should do well. Five years ago, you couldn't build this type of unit for any price. Today, it's cost effective for business and pretty soon, it could be consumer-ready. By leveraging their expertise in software, Microsoft should be able to take the concept of personal computing to the next level. Forget Windows 8 and one more evolutionary OS play. Surface could change the way people can interact with a computer; it offers a very compelling vision of the future. Personally, I can't wait to get this stuff built into my next desk. Unfortunately, I doubt I ever will. Maybe I'm wrong and Surface will eventually re-surface, but right now it looks like another big idea gone abandoned.
Michael Gartenberg is a partner at Altimeter Group. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at gartenberg AT gmail DOT com. Views expressed here are his own.
I just had a thought: What if MS is seeing how people will like the 'slate' form factor first?
This would make a good HTPC cleverly disguised as a coffee table. There are a few details, but it could work.You would need a good wireless video conection to a tv or projector. And best of all it would be right in front of you, no worring about lost remotes and having to get up to change the channel. There would just be that pesky power cable to have to get rid of though.
Michael Gartenberg (the author) you are my hero.
I used to work for a major tech company that actually designed and built something very similar to Microsoft Surface, but a few years before them. Apparently their user trials were less than favourable so they never took it to market, seems the consensus was that it was an annoying addition to an otherwise useful coffee table.
It's painful seeing how slow this technology is getting rolled out. I've wanted something like this for decades and now that proof of concept was finally made it's just dragging along.
I don't think I'm going to happy until every surface around me is digital. Remember the scenes in "The Island" where they had a surface-like table? That one wasn't real, they made it look and act like a surface with post production, but basically that's what I'd finally be satisfied by, a good 4' x 6' surface table that would allow digital documents to be spread out like a regular desk.
As someone else mentioned, you don't just want one surface, you still want an upright screen, but if you had a whole workplace that was fully digital and you could blend analog style organizing of papers with digital versions, all in an arm length space, then you'd finally be able to achieve aneurysm levels of multitasking.
I'd put one in he living room. I'd get high style points for doing touchy-screeny stuff with one hand while holding a glass of scotch in the other.
And another one right in front of the toilette. Imagine all the fun. I could even browse while I wipe.
If you go to disneyland you can play with a Surface, it's in the inoventions building. It's ok, they have chess and couple other boring games that are made fun by having a giant tablet to play them on. The building also has a ton of other microsoft products; xboxes, giant windows media center setups, and a random karaoke thing that may or not be by microsoft.
Why not try and put Surface on a Slate PC?
At JWT's New York office there's a Microsoft Surface computer in the lobby. It is so awesome to play with, the interface is snappy and it is a pleasure to interact with because this one is set up to be used while standing.
Vaporware is the new fud for microsoft. Keep the sheep happy with vague promises and mock up animations of what might be available in the future if you wish hard enough. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaha.
WTF????
Its available for sale!
http://www.microsoft.com/surface/Pages/HowToBuy/HowToBuy.aspx
Isn't this what they have set up at the Vancouver Aquarium?
Surface is a testbed for MS. The multi-touch operations you see in Windows7 and hopefully in Courier are derived from the big-ass table.
Surface in it's original state is fairly useless for consumers. But the same technology built into consumer oriented devices? that's win.
And that's exactly what MS is doing.
If you're a BMW showroom, buy the big-ass table. If not, forget about it.
JFYI, there's a working Surface in the science and engineering library at Ohio State, or at least there was one there a little bit ago. Don't know its current status.
The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles has one that you can play with for freeeeeeeeeeeeee.
http://www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org/about/microsoft_surface.asp
I would absolutely buy one of these and use my current coffee table for firewood. This thing would be awesome to have in my living room.
My company just bought one of these for $10,000.00. Complete waste of money. It's a novelty product and that's about it. However, you can play chess on it!
I think most of the issues with surface are lack of software, but yes I still believe MS has their head up their asses and have no idea what the hell they are doing and get this product out the door at a decent price.
There is a Surface sitting in the lobby of my office building. Not sure why we even have one as usually it just runs a screensaver with the company logo floating in water, though I have seen people play what looked like air hockey or something similar on it before.
I have been waiting for a device like this to hit the architectural world for a while now. Microsoft should be marketing architects, drafters, 3d modelers, etc with this product. I started drafting on the drafting table, then of course migrated to the desktop, but the optimal place to draft is still on a table. The Surface would be perfect for doing architectural drafting, just have it setup to draw with your fingers, no mouse needed. If you can get the table to tilt, raise and lower like the good ole drafting tables you would have an instant hit in the architectural world.
I had the opportunity to meet with Microsoft last week and talked extensively about Surface. Here are my thoughts:
http://robertstanke.com/blog/2010/3/22/microsoft-surface-will-surface-when-the-time-and-market-is-r.html
Bob Stanke