
The popularity of Microsoft’s Surface is the least realistic thing on TV - pmcpinto
https://theoutline.com/post/2923/the-popularity-of-microsoft-surface-is-the-least-realistic-thing-on-television
======
EnderMB
Over the past year and a bit, I've seen far more Surface Books than before,
and I put that entirely down to the delay in Apple releasing the new MBP
model. A lot of people wanted a new model, and Apple took their sweet time, so
they went for a high-end alternative from Microsoft. Five years ago, most
developers at the .NET user groups I attended were either using a MBP, or
whatever shitty cheap laptop their company gave them. Now, it's either a
Surface Book, a Surface, the odd older MBP, or the cheap work laptop.

In the Linux world, I've only seen a handful of Surfaces, and one guy using a
Surface Book with a VirtualBox VM for Debian (my preferred setup too). The
average dev still seems to be largely on the Apple train, which is
understandable as the MBP is still a fantastic device.

Outside of the development world, I see a few Surfaces in the wild, but
nowhere near the amount of Macbooks I see. It's definitely grown/growing
though, probably because the Surface is a legitimately good machine in a sea
of alright to mediocre machines. I'd say that for every twenty Macbooks I see
in the wild, I see one Surface, which is pretty good. In terms of TV, that's
probably about the same too, since Apple machines seem to be everywhere on TV
and in the movies.

Disclaimer: Proud Surface Book owner.

~~~
rat87
> The average dev still seems to be largely on the Apple train, which is
> understandable as the MBP is still a fantastic device.

Other then ruby devs who uses macs?

I'd think Lenovo would be far more popular

~~~
derrikcurran
As mentioned, JS devs seem to favor Macs heavily and the majority of popular
JS-related tools seem to be built for *nix first. As a Windows user, I
frequently ran into annoying friction. Like some step in a complicated build
process failing because someone used `&&` in an NPM script.

That said, I've switched to a WSL environment (native Linux on Windows) and it
has handled everything I've thrown at it so far, including make scripts, GUI
apps, etc.

~~~
majewsky
Does Docker work on WSL?

~~~
nunez
Yes! Sort of. You need Docker for Windows and have to have the DOCKER_HOST of
your Linux subsystem be connected to it. But volume mounting doesn't work :(
As such, I use an Ubuntu Vagrant box.

~~~
majewsky
Meh. I guess I'll continue with my current setup (Arch Linux on Virtualbox)
for the time being.

------
PeterStuer
Product placement. Used to be Apple products for such a long time. We notice
it more as it comes to electronics/computers, but every other aspect of
TV/Movies is also sold in this way. Notice how some TV series almost resemble
a car commercial? Drinks, food, grooming products, wardrobe ... if it's on
screen it's all paid for.

~~~
soVeryTired
Apple were responsible for one of the worst product placements of all time:
the iPod scene in Blade Trinity. I still squirm when I watch it.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv0ZPj0JLQ4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv0ZPj0JLQ4)

~~~
m_t
Solid contender for me were the Beats headphones in The Book of Eli.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t2EFDtWxBc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t2EFDtWxBc)

------
romwell
It seems like the author is confused about the notion of cause and effect
here.

1\. Everyone in movies uses <thing> 2\. People in the real world are using
<thing>

Hamfisted? Sure. Effective? In a world where many people think that
tablet=iPad, probably. The author, who is aware of Surface and its
capabilities, just wrote another ad for Microsoft, after all. I learned about
some features from this piece.

Gets old fast once you notice it? Well, getting noticed is the whole point. If
you are spotting Surface in movies, you probably know enough already to buy it
if it suits your needs. The whole point of giving it screentime is for the
rest to notice that this shiny thingie is one of the thingies they saw at
BestBuy the other week.

Anyhow, I'll be the last person not to kick MS for marketing. The lack of
marketing is what killed Lumia, which I adore (still holding a grudge for
that). But this, to me, looks like them finally figuring out that they need to
actually try marketing their products before throwing the towel. Good news if
you are an MS user. Gives hopes that they'll not abandon this ecosystem soon.

~~~
syotos2
There was quit a bit off product placement for the lumia phones, I remember
them appearing quite often on Hawaii Five-0, a show with quite a lot of MS
product placement, including one off the most cringe-worthy product placement
off al times "Lets bing it"

~~~
majewsky
> Let's bing it

No wonder they need a whole hour to solve the case. :)

------
jngreenlee
This article might sound interesting at first but it's really just grousing
IMHO. Some of the ad deal details are interesting to note.

The real claim isn't actually that Surfaces aren't realistic; but rather that
their usage is: "My friends are all nerds. They have every device. Some of
them even own Surfaces. But nobody just casually… pulls out a Surface."

Not a killer conclusion to me. I work in corporate IT sales, and I see them
everywhere in offices, and/or with execs today. Most meetings I go to have at
least one being used, and they're actually hard to keep in stock.

It would be an equally appropriate factor to say..."this is what the
[movie|tv] execs are using, lets get some on set" (don't forget you often get
to take things home after shooting!)

------
eggy
At my son's school which is heavy on engineering, a lot of the students were
sporting Surface Pros. My son opted for the Yoga fully decked out. The IT
department doesn't recommend Apple in their one-sheet recommended specs. I
think it is because of the prevalence of Windows-based software like AutoCAD
(I know it's on Mac, but not the same. I used it on my PowerMac PC many years
ago). At our engineering firm, nobody uses a an Apple even the marketing
department for presentations and graphics. I see a lot of Surface Pros at
meetings with architects too, drawing on photos and brainstorming ideas. I am
in the Entertainment Engineering industry.

------
whywhywhywhy
Same could be said for Macs in movies and TV in the 90s

~~~
rbanffy
If you come to my office, you'll see dozens of Macs.

A couple Android tablets, one iPad. A variety of phones (yesterday I came in
with a Blackberry, just for the anachronistic fun).

And I still want a Blackberry Passport.

~~~
hungerstrike
Yeah and an office like yours is _still_ in the minority.

------
oneeyedpigeon
Saw my second Surface device 'in the wild' yesterday. This was on an hour
commute into London which I take every day: draw whatever conclusions you want
from that.

~~~
tomcam
I conclude that you spend a hell of a lot of time commuting

~~~
lmm
An hour on a train is a lot less unpleasant than an hour's drive.
(Particularly if you have a Surface with you!)

~~~
tonyedgecombe
I can't find it right now but I saw some research recently that showed blood
pressure increased more when commuting by train vs by car.

------
caleblloyd
I am in the Army National Guard and we all pretty much use personal laptops
for unclassified administrative tasks. I didn't like taking my expensive
laptop out to the field so I picked up a Surface Pro and rugged case on eBay.

It is awesome for the field. It's way more mobile than a toughbook, and still
pretty resilient with the rugged case on. I can hand it to others to review
documents with ease. I wish the Army would contract Microsoft to replace all
of their laptops with LTE surfaces that could connect to a secure base
station. The signal units would have to setup and operate the secure base
station.

------
mark_l_watson
‘Product placement’

For a long time, Apple paid to get Apple gear in so many movie screens. Now
Microsoft is doing the same thing. No big deal.

~~~
sundvor
It obviously upsets some people's distortion fields to see non-Apple products
positioned as such.

------
bfred_it
> Big company does product placement in movies and TV shows.

Saved you a click. Not much else you didn't already know.

------
youdontknowtho
Mac user doesn't believe that people don't use Mac's.

News at 11.

------
Infinitesimus
The whole play is that after seeing it repeatedly associated with
aspirational/likeable characters, people will want the surface more more.

This so what happens when a famous person uses a Mac, iPhone, wears a certain
brand of shoes, drinks a certain brand of water, etc.

It's not rwaliric now, they are just trying to create that reality. FWIW I'm
in Cambridge (MA) and usually see one or two surface products at coffee shops
(latest waa the new 15").

------
2-4-Flinching
Really? I though the least realistic thing on TV were the people given the
perfect hair, make up and just genetic beauty.

Its pretty obvious that Microsoft made a deal with the studio and Broadcasting
companies. Just like the popularity of auto bots to pick Chevys and the
Decepticons some how fine de-badged fords or the fact that Marvel is full of
Audi's. If you open your eyes you will find brand placement everywhere.

Now to the Surfaces, Currently I have switched over three departments to
Surface Pros last year (2017). Each employee has a docking station hooked up
to duel monitors, keyboard and mouse. So far I have been surprised how well
they worked out, mostly that no one has dropped them. I have had few
complaints. They run good, they can be used off site and are easily portable.
I have also used in with the kick stand on my lap with no issue. Maybe we have
different body types. Overall was not a big fan when they decided to do the
first department upgrade but I would deploy them with no problem now.

------
arooaroo
I noticed that Windows Phones seemed over-represented on TV too - UK and US
shows. And they still pop up despite being mothballed by MS. I noticed one on
a recent show just a month or two ago although the show escapes my memory.

Now Windows Phones are really rare beasts, in the UK at least.

------
melling
Not a Windows user but I’m certainly excited about PC users moving to a better
form factor. Shouldn’t we all be using this form factor 50 years after the
idea of the Dynabook:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook)

I held a Surface, but didn’t use it, at the Intel booth at CES. It felt good
in my hands.

Any major drawbacks? The iPad feels a little better but it’s not a fully
functional computer (e.g. No Photoshop, Xcode, etc)

~~~
csixty4
I love my Surface Pro 3 but they have notorious cooling problems. I'm looking
at getting a near Surface or one of the competitors from HP or Lenovo.

Aside from that quirk of the SP3, I can't really think of any issues. I come
home and plug it onto a dock where I have a Bluetooth mouse & keyboard as well
as a 27" screen & webcam. It's pretty much a regular PC at that point. On the
go, it's a touchscreen tablet but running regular apps and browsers. Some apps
aren't touch friendly on Windows but they're rare.

------
pidg
> My friends are all nerds. They have every device. Some of them even own
> Surfaces. But nobody just casually… pulls out a Surface.

Except - they do. If you work in the corporate world, they're increasingly
taking over from laptops.

I have a Macbook Pro at home and a Surface Pro at work, and I am quite happy
to casually pull out either depending on where I am.

------
nunez
Surface Pros are WAY more popular than they were years ago. Surface Books are
less common. However, if I'm working at a coffee shop, I'm usually the only
one with a Surface.

------
megaman22
Well, they finally got the NFL broadcast talking heads to stop calling them
iPads, and the scourge of instant replay has thrust that Surface logo in our
faces much more this season.

------
pawelkomarnicki
Got myself Surface Pro 4, it. was. a. mistake.

~~~
nunez
why?

------
bedhead
This is all just a symptom of a product that isn’t very good, or for whatever
reason people just don’t want.

~~~
carlmr
Macbooks are everywhere on TV, and they used to be before they were popular,
too. I think both the Macbook and Surface just look nice. They don't want an
ugly Thinkpad except when they try to go for the hacker type.

------
p2t2p
I don’t know about other people but I’m really unhappy with my surface. I’ve
bought it with a hope that I would have one device for everything - a tablet
and a laptop and ability to do handwriting but all I’ve got is constant
annoyance. I wasn’t expecting it to be very performance, but at least basic
stuff could be covered.

OneNote for example keeps bringing up screen keyboard when I’m using my pen.
At the same time screen board sometimes doesn’t appear when I tap on an edit
field in Edge or other UWP software - it flakes, sometimes I need to tap it
twice or triple to bring screen keyboard, sometimes it doesn’t work at all I
need to reach for button in start panel.

In tablet mode, window decorations appear on slightest mishap on the edge of
the screen and hide important controls in windows and there is no gesture or
button to hide it back, you just sit here for like 5 seconds waiting for that
thing to hide and allow you to switch to that tab you wanted in Edge/Chrome.

After recent update the camera stopped working in UWP, so no video in skype
anymore for me. Both of them, front and back “Some app using you camera”. Not
there is no such app. If I turn it off and turn it back on in BIOS then it
works once, that back to “Some app already uses you camera”

No CalDAV/CardDav for 5 freaking years even though the protocol is implemented
- you can hack you way around by creating iCloud account and changing server
addresses, but it’s flakes too - doesn’t work for mail, only for calendar and
contants, so I need to have two separate accounts for my fastmail.

260 characters limit for path length in file system is just a joke in 2017. I
can’t install node - installer fails because of the path length limit. Well, I
can if I install it into C:\ but I don’t want to install it into C:\\.

No decent terminal emulators and yes, I’ve tried Hyper.js, yes this is the
best you can get, but it’s not even close - it doesn’t allow me to have
keyboard shortcuts I want to and this breaks my workflow badly. After years of
WSL being in work they could have invested sometime into making standard
windows ConsoleHost or whatever it is a bit more usable.

When it comes to WSL the situation is “it works until it doesn’t”. Doing
simple stuff - yes, it works ok but try to build large java project in it with
maven. IO performance is so awful then it takes 1 hour and a half to build a
project that builds in 10 minutes on my mac. Ok, my mac is more powerful but
not to the point of 9 times difference.

Explorer. Boy, do I have to say stuff about this crap. That thing gets laggy
for no reason. The latest thing I had was that whenever I play DRMed music
through Groove Music it just kills Explorer performance. All animations get
laggy, alt tab takes couple seconds to redraw the screen, resizing explorer
window lags like Linux with 3D thing enabled back in 2007. I’m not using
Groove anymore and things improved a bit but it still gets a bit choppy and I
need to restart explorer and restart sound system for some reason in order to
fix that. I even have written a script “makeWindowsGreatAgain.ps” which does
restarting of explorer and sound service.

Dock. I don’t know what is wrong with that thing but when I have my 4K Dell
(not that Dell that they have on they Q&A site) connect it blinks. SOmetimes
quite often, sometimes it doesn’t blink for hours but it keeps blinking.

Power saving settings in windows. Boy, is it peace of crap. The setting is
“You block me, I sleep for 15 minutes then I hibernate”. Oh, you wanted to
quickly use me? Nope, wait for me going through POST and all this shit. CHange
settings? Nope, no change, gotta hack the registry.

Updates - well, many people have said a lot about SUDDEN reboots in most
inconvenient times.

AutoHotkey - I wanted to automate something and bring keyboard shortcuts I
have for managing windows in my mac and Linux. Well, it can do it except that
sometimes when it brings window it doesn’t bring it but just highlight the
icon on taskbar and you need to press it twice.

Having said all that, the hardware is a marvel. The cooling system keeps it as
low as 70 under most hard load without visible throttling. THe sound system is
better than my mac - at least I like the sound in headphones better. Speakers
are awesome and done in a right way - they are facing listener so the sound is
much crisper and louder than in those iPad Pro speakers which are facing back
- I don’t understand that solution at all. Pen is awesome and for writing
feels much better than Apple Pencil. I do miss eraser on other side of the pen
when I use my iPad with Apple Pencil.

So whenever I use my Surface I feel like I’m fighting with a system instead of
using it. I need to hack registry here and there and don’t forget to hack it
again after certain updates. Here and there are bugs and it behaves in a wrong
way. Palm rejection in OneNote sucks, backend devtools suck a bit less now but
still suck and the most important things is all of this quirks are flaky, they
are not stable. If they would be constantly broken, I’d write a script or find
a workaround but not, it works until SUDDENLY it doesn’t. WHenever I with my
Surface I feel constantly stressed because I don’t even no will the certain
hotkey work or not, will it do what I want right now or will it flake. I can’t
work on a machine like that.

So I’m typing it from my iPad Pro with Logitech keyboard case right now. I’ve
bought Notability app for handwriting and boy, is it good (APple Pencil still
sucks a mile compared to MS pen). I do all my life tasks on iPad now and for
development I run T25 with Linux with i3 as my personal machine and I have mac
from my employer as my work machine. Those two set in a way that they have
same keyboard shortcuts for windows manipulation and other stuff. The dream to
have one device keeps being just a dream (And I had soooo much hope for
Windows Continuity back in the WinPhone days...)

~~~
p2t2p
Ah, sorry for all those typos, it's really hard to re-read a thing in this
tiny 'Reply' window. I promise I'll write a comment like this in separate
editor next time.

