This Digitized Society

Surface as a Laptop Replacement

Microsoft unveiled their two new “Surface for Windows” tablets yesterday which has started people talking about how the Surface for Windows products will replace the laptop in a manner that the iPad never could.

Sure Microsoft stole borrowed the brilliant concept of a magnetic connection for the device’s cover and then built upon that idea by offering keyboards with trackpads on the underside of the cover. This addition allows users who don’t want to type on glass with a software keyboard to feel more comfortable with a physical keyboard, though I don’t want to imagine how oily and smudgy that screen will be without any kind of cloth material to absorb the oil and dirt from a user’s fingers.

Note: It still seems as though the rapid adoption and success of iOS still hasn’t convinced Steve Ballmer or the Microsoft team that you can have a business machine without a physical keyboard. Blast from the past. There are only 2 Windows Phones that provide the user with a hardware keyboard and they are from HTC. None of the Windows Phones from Nokia/Microsoft have physical keyboards.

The keyboard cover is a novel concept for which I applaud them, but I am not exactly sure how this is supposed to replace the laptop. Microsoft’s way of implementing the keyboard and building a kickstand into the Surface product gives me the sense that this “portable/mobile” device is best suited for a table or a desk. Better yet, the Microsoft Surface for Windows seems better suited for a surface than being a “use anytime/anywhere device” like a laptop.  If you are going to compete with the laptop you need to have a plan for the main feature of the “laptop” computer, which is “if you dont have a surface to place the computer on you can place it on top of your lap and still be ‘productive’”.

The fact that the keyboard cover, unlike some of the iPad keyboard covers/cases or a laptop, doesn’t provide a rigid foundation for the device to sit on/in makes me think that the keyboard cover and kickstand are worthless without a table, desk, or surface to place the device on.

On top of that, at least the apple “smart cover” folds back to prop up the iPad on a slight angle in order for the user to have a nice solid way to prop up the iPad while you are working in the park and place the iPad on your lap. I have a feeling that users won’t feel comfortable using the kickstand to place the Microsoft surface on their lap while they sit on a bench or sit on the ground, unlike a laptop or an iPad with a smart cover.

I bet you won’t see people using the Microsoft Surface any differently than how they would use an iPad, software keyboard and all, when they are in an environment without any solid flat surfaces.