Posted on 06/20/2017 11:44:56 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
"If we're going to be able to create magical experiences with software, then the hardware will be the thing that people buy to go experience that," Microsoft corporate VP of devices Panos Panay told TIME during a recent interview. We were discussing his company's decision to release its first true laptop after years of selling hybrid computers, namely the Surface Laptop, which began shipping on June 15. "And [when] those two things work perfectly together in a seamless way, that brings elegance out," he added.
If that approach sounds familiar — using the sleek, shiny allure of new gadgetry as enticement to deeper software experiences — it should. Apple has long prided itself on the way its hardware and software work together. "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware," Apple cofounder and former CEO Steve Jobs said as he unveiled the first iPhone in 2007, quoting renowned computer scientist Alan Kay. It was both manifesto and goad, a philosophical mic drop preaching the inseparability of form and function.
Ergo the notion, evidenced by Microsoft's shift to fully authored devices like the Surface line, that the company is finally heeding that Jobs-ian fiat. Observers have been saying so for months and in some cases years. Look a bit further and you'll notice that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer began sending up Apple-ish smoke signals as far back as 2012.
But the idea is reaching an inflection point with the emergence of Microsoft's latest computers, the Surface Laptop and Surface Studio. The Surface Laptop oozes design characteristics redolent of Apple's, from the way the notebook's lid is crafted to be easily lifted with one finger, to the aluminum finish and glossy Windows logo etched into the back.....
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
I believe you can upgrade to real Win10 Pro for free, through the end of this year.
Thank you. I had not seen this thread yet.
“Did all the Microsoft updates, then Firefox.”
Not all of the updates, not by a long shot. They keep coming and, from what I’ve seen, preempt your use of the computer.
A friend wanted to show off her new Windows 10 laptop but it wouldn’t let her do anything until it finished “updating”. She said that was a huge problem for her, so she had me remove Windows and install Linux Mint. Then she became a happy and productive member of society. :)
‘”Magical”? Did a Microsoft corporate VP really say “magical” about their device?
Where’s the YouTube of Steve Jobs introducing the iPad, which (as I recall) he called a “magical” device...
LOL, now that’s funny.’
Yes it is!
The old saw about Apple being Microsoft’s R&D division now extends beyond software into marketing...
Trump is a money-is-no-object kind of guy. He probably had it gold plated.
Marketing people have been using the words “magic” or “magical” for at least the last century. Neither Apple nor Microsoft were first.
No, it was the stock silver color.
And yet he eats Big Macs.
LOL! Even rich guys slum once in a while!
If you were to compare Steve Jobs presentation of the iPad years ago, to the video of Microsoft's presentation of the Surface years later, you would see many copycat phrases and images in the Microsoft video. Microsoft did indeed copy the Steve Jobs presentation. Right down to the removable lid cover clicking in place with magnetic catches.
Quite true. I just meant the use of "magical" within the context of computers, and specifically, small ones like thin laptops and tablets.
Computing technology is great stuff, and amazing, and sometimes nearly unbelievable in its compactness and other characteristics.
And of course, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." (Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law)
But of all the things "magical" might be applied to, I find computer systems to be among the most mundane and non-magical. Maybe it's because I have worked with them for so many decades that I'm jaded.
OTOH, Ajax (I think) cleanser -- "Shakes out white, turns blue" -- now THAT is magical. :-)
Consumers have short memories. *sigh*
It's a damn shame Steve Jobs died at age 56. The world would have benefited considerably by his continuing at Apple's helm for the past 6 years.
A lot of people knock Steve Jobs, but he really was genius at looking into the future. A quote attributed to him “Innovation is only way to succeed in these businesses. You can’t stand still.”
Back in 1983, he made some wild observations that came true.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/03/steve-jobs-1983-speech_n_1935815.html
Keep in mind that he said this in 1983, even before the Mac was released let alone the WWW.
“Apple’s strategy is really simple. What we want to do is we want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes."
“And we really want to do it with a radio link in it so you don’t have to hook up to anything and you’re in communication with all of these larger databases and other computers.”
Jobs stated that we will “spend more time interacting with personal computers than cars.”
Jobs imagined a world where “people could be walking around anywhere and pick up their e-mail.”
Job's goal was to provide tools “to distribute that intelligence” for something useful, that could be “possess-able by everyone.”
Jobs recognized the difficulty of voice recognition early on.
In an excerpt from Walter Isaacson's book "Steve Jobs", in a 1983 discussion between Maya Lin and Steve Jobs, she asked Steve Jobs "Why do computers look like clunky TV sets? Why don't you make something thin? Why not a flat laptop?" Jobs replied that this was his goal, as soon as the technology was ready.
Without Steve Jobs, Apple might become another Microsoft and that would be sad indeed. Innovation keeps you from standing still.
It's been noted that many of the greatest advances in computers, during the past 35 years, were made because brilliant people watched Jobs' speech and worked very hard to make his predictions comes true.
Jobs, of course, was (in part) describing Alan Kay's DynaBook, which Kay envisioned in 1968 and described in a 1972 paper. Kay was an Apple Fellow in the early days of the Macintosh -- his visionary ideas often preceded and inspired Jobs' own.
Exactly the problem w/ Macs:
“Apple’s strategy is really simple. What we want to do is we want to put an incredibly great computer in a book that you can carry around with you and learn how to use in 20 minutes.”
Well, so much for that theory: my wife just spent 30 minutes trying to figure out how to open a file on her MacBook Air in the Apple video editor. She couldn’t even find the downloaded file. I grabbed it on my PC tablet and loaded it into my 3rd party editor, voila. If it’s not obvious on a Mac, forget it.
Windows takes more time to perfect but the freedom to do as you want is liberating from the limiting world of Apple.
I made an observation in another post, that one time I found a lot of Macs in use at a police department headquarters. Reason is, that cops hate Windows PCs because they are difficult to use and prone to having problems. At another site I supported, my group replaced a Windows laptop with a bullet hole through the screen. Cop said it was unintentional, my guys just said uh-huh and replaced it. Say what you will about Macs, they are easier to use than Windows. I was a Windows/NT server admin and network administrator, so I'm no stranger to Windows. Anyone can learn how to use any machine with the appropriate training and time. I can easily find any file with editors on UNIX machines, so your example is meaningless. The learning curve on Macs is much shorter than Windows PCs.
Yes, true. But Jobs went on to describe how he would build one and gave estimates on what it would take to do so and how it would work. Unfortunately, Apple tossed him out of the company and set him back on his plans, until he later returned to Apple. The end result was the iPad and iPhone (he was actually working on the iPad before the iPhone, but released the iPhone first).
Uh, no they’re not..
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