
Surface Blades – true innovation from Microsoft - NZ_Matt
http://betanews.com/2013/09/24/surface-blades-true-innovation-from-microsoft/
======
npunt
The pressure sensitivity of this is cool but lets not get ahead of ourselves
with 'true innovation' \- this isn't the tactile feedback multi-use touch
surface we've been waiting for.

I own a Surface (journalist freebie hand-me-down), and after playing with it
extensively I've determined Surface's only real contribution to society is as
a physical manifestation of Microsoft's inability to commit to design
decisions. Should it run classic UI or Metro? Should it to run ARM or x86
apps? Should it have a keyboard or a blade? Microsoft's answer to all of these
is YES, and that means NO polish and NO market share.

This blade is another example of not committing - are there any launch
partners where you can use this with any software you want? Doesn't look like
it. So we're to expect musicians are going to drop the music software they've
been using for years for a cut-down v1 Microsoft remix app? If not, then who's
it for? The uber casual remixer who.. probably already owns an ipad? Pick a
market, guys.

I feel bad for the undoubtedly smart folks who put together the blade and the
remix app, but who are stuck working on a crappy platform. Building an array
of 1000 pressure-sensitive sensors into a touch surface is cool (I'm impressed
w new blade touch architecture), but its also something that a committed
hacker could do. And after doing it, they'd have as much market share and
software partners as Microsoft does with this blade on Surface. So... I
wouldn't call it 'true innovation'. Lets leave that distinction to
groundbreaking research projects or highly polished new-ish ideas that finally
go big.

~~~
vanderZwan
> _Should it run classic UI or Metro? Should it to run ARM or x86 apps? Should
> it have a keyboard or a blade? Microsoft 's answer to all of these is YES_

Do you understand _anything_ about how Microsoft works? Supporting everything
is their thing, and it is one of the things that has made them big in the
first place - for example, my parents (doctors) still use a DOS based program
on their Windows 7 machines that has pretty much gone unchanged at its core
for over two decades[1]. Now if that isn't vendor lock-in, I don't know what
is.

[1] [https://www.promedico.nl/](https://www.promedico.nl/)

~~~
weland
> Supporting everything is their thing, and it is one of the things that has
> made them big in the first place

Supporting everything made sense when they built an operating system for
something that was, for all intents and purposes, a legacy platform (doing
ever so well, of course). I presume no one intends to run Promedico on their
Surface table though.

Answering "yes" to every possible design question, just to make sure you don't
piss anyone off, isn't a solution when you want to provide a well-integrated
design. It leads to a messy UI with superficial metaphors and very little
flexibility, because there are a million little things that aren't actually
_meant_ to work _together_.

It also complicates the API and the programmer's work, which is the last thing
you want to do when you're playing catch-up with the rest of the market.

------
innino
I would say that:

IF Microsoft has really thought through this new strategy, and mapped its
product release timeline out with enough care and analysis so that it will
stick with and expand upon Surface (and its new vibe/product range in
general), and hasn't just rushed into a new look and is will flail about and
switch to something new in two years - if Microsoft really is committed and
focussed - and

IF Microsoft can match the confidence and self-assurance with which Apple
releases and iterates its core products and

IF Microsoft can effectively communicate and deliver upon its vision of
technology and

IF Microsoft can genuinely make people feel excited and good about themselves
when they use their products and

IF Microsoft can attract a developer/user community which feels as comfortable
and at home as Apple's -

then Microsoft could be back in business.

It's a big ask but it's possible I think.

~~~
devcpp
"If Microsoft were Google"

~~~
outside1234
You mean Samsung. Google has more or less failed on all of those fronts too.

------
_pmf_
> It may prove popular with professional musicians and amateurs alike.

Yeah, operating hardware without any tactile feedback in very dark
environments sure sounds nice.

~~~
kevingadd
It's backlit... watch the video.

~~~
jlgreco
He didn't say it wasn't.

~~~
kevingadd
How are dark environments a big problem if you can see the buttons? Touch
panel based mixing UIs are not unusual in said spaces; I've seen people using
touchscreens instead of physical sliders. Given that, this device would be
perfectly usable in a dark mixing studio or similarly poorly lit environment;
no less usable than a traditional touchscreen (probably more useful, since
they can carve little notches into the buttons so you can feel where they
are).

It just doesn't make sense to criticize the lack of tactile feedback when a
device like this provides _more_ tactile feedback than traditional
touchscreens. That criticism only makes sense if you view it as a replacement
for a hardware mixing board, which it obviously isn't.

~~~
StavrosK
> How are dark environments a big problem if you can see the buttons?

You can't see your hands.

~~~
ctdonath
I know where my hands are. They're attached to me. Getting my hands to a
glowing button isn't a problem.

Or (earnest question) is this a problem which non-kinesthetic thinkers
actually have?

~~~
debacle
I never have had a problem figuring out where my hands are in the dark. It's
always figuring out where the damn "B" key is on my keyboard.

------
beloch
I don't think the Jaguar ever had card inserts for its controllers. In any
case, even if it did the Intellivision had them first. They were a neat idea,
but putting another piece of plastic in front of buttons that weren't all that
easy to press to begin with...

Blades could be a compelling feature, if done right. Apple forces users to do
things according to the "Apple Way" and succeeds by polishing that way very
well. Anyone who is happy with the "Apple Way" is a happy Apple user.
Unfortunately, creating a significant amount of content on a tablet is not
really a part of the "Apple Way". Tablets are for consumption, dummy! People
who want to create stuff on a tablet are currently an under-served market. It
remains to be seen if MS will find success in tablet-space, but at least
they're targeting a niche that Apple is neglecting.

~~~
jkscm
I don't know if you're being sarcastic or not.

1\. Apple makes the iWork suite

2\. Have you ever used a touch cover? You hardly can call the touch areas on
these devices buttons. They give nearly as much feedback as touch screens:
none.

3\. Why would a DJ or a gamer prefer this when the surface has a usb port
anyway. They could use peripherals from traktor or the 360 game pad.

~~~
sp332
3\. Because you can fold this up with the device, lock it magnetically, and
walk away holding it in one hand.

------
noonespecial
They would have to be pretty darn cheap to beat out the USB Midi controllers
people generally use now with things like Ableton Live, considering you can
get something like this now for less than $100 that has the virtue of already
being for sale.

It won't look half as cool with your Surface, though.

It might make sense from an industrial standpoint to replace a gazillion of
those membrane pads at Micky-D's but as a consumer good? I'm not so sure.

~~~
thirdsun
You're right but I doubt that this is targeted at users who know what MIDI or
OSC is.

If you're a professional there are a lot of better, established and thanks to
Midi more configurable/hackable options available. However this might be
popular among casual "musicians".

~~~
chrischen
The casual "musicians", if they're at the point where they're buying hardware,
will probably still consider real hardware vs this.

------
NZ_Matt
I can see a lot of potential in this if the platform were to be opened up and
customised blades could be manufactured cheaply. I'd love to see Microsoft
license the technology to third parties and possibly have an open SDK.

This college workshop video suggests they may be planning to open it up.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9UAxHgXYxw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9UAxHgXYxw)

~~~
nakedrobot2
Your comment makes me think - why not allow people to print out the membrane
using their own inkjet printer? Some consideration about the material must be
made but surely this can be solved.

------
snowwrestler
Fingerworks keyboards and touchpads--which were one of the first commercial
implementations of capacitive multitouch--were popular with some music
producers for specifically this reason. See for example:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qg8IB64yu8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qg8IB64yu8)

Fingerworks was purchased by Apple, and their technology integrated into the
touchpads and iOS devices.

------
razzaj
I fail to see the "innovation" in this. Purpose built keyboards have been
around for as long as i can remember, I am especially thinking about the TV
production computers with special keys, colours etc... When i saw this i had
my hopes high to see a touch surface with an electronically customisable
layout, so that the app can essentially draw its own controls.

With e-Ink this is not difficult to do.

~~~
tluyben2
Yes, that would be nice. Those dual screen laptops are a nice idea, but not
with double screens; no battery life/too heavy and such. With e-ink and
especially mixed with something like Tactus[1] you could have a winner.

I would've actually expected something like that to appear in one of the big
vendors' machines as an attempt to be the 'new iPhone/iPad wow moment'. Fail
or not, someone has to try.

[1]
[http://www.tactustechnology.com/technology.html](http://www.tactustechnology.com/technology.html)

------
tekacs
For reference's sake, Point-of-Sale systems (as per fast food retail) have
been using completely custom _keyboards_ for years (only affects the last
case).

~~~
edanm
Really? I'd assumed that nowadays everyone is converting to touch-screens for
customised input.

~~~
joshstrange
Nowadays yes, but most POS systems I have seen almost look like they have
inserts in them and are a covered in buttons every color of the rainbow. The
trend is defiantly to move to touch but its not free and that industry moves
very slow.

------
sahaskatta
I'm excited for the Surface 2 and will likely get one, but I'm not sure the
idea of creating several use-case specific keyboards beyond a standard QWERTY
makes any sense. Isn't the whole point of having a dynamic touch screens to
enable ANY use case?

It also appears to be connecting via a proprietary connector rather than
Bluetooth or USB which means it likely won't work with any hybrids/tablets
from other vendors.

~~~
kevingadd
Think about it this way: the blade is a second control surface that allows you
to make use of the full screen for data or other touch UI.

In audio mixing it's common to have an enormous digital mixing board that's
linked up to the mixing software, so that you can fill most (or all) of the
screen with the data you're actually working on. Some of those boards have
literally dozens of channels with individual sliders, buttons, etc.

------
Zigurd
This is supposed to be the "innovation?" A static, physical, printed-on-a-
touchpad input system for a touch device?

This input device was made to seem cool in an ad. In the real world the
reaction will be puzzlement over why these controls are not implemented on the
screen, where visual feedback and reconfiguration of the controls is possible.

~~~
ctdonath
Exactly. The whole point of a tablet is to show the buttons you need when you
need them (and only then), without an external device taking up space whether
you need it or not.

For a couple times the price of the static physical dedicated device, you
could buy a second device and program the app to use that as expanded-screen
input.

~~~
corresation
_Exactly. The whole point of a tablet is to show the buttons you need when you
need them (and only then), without an external device taking up space whether
you need it or not._

What if I want the buttons available without taking up space on the _screen_
whether I need it or not? The information density of a screen collapses in on
itself when it is completely crowded out by control surfaces, so your very
argument can be used as a counter-argument.

~~~
ctdonath
There are of course exceptions to every rule. A specialized controller might
be suitable for a few applications. When talking on the scale of Microsoft and
general-purpose tablets, the market for such specialized controllers are
vanishingly small; great for a niche, but a paltry offering from a company in
desperate need of mass appeal.

------
kayoone
Nothing in the music space is more innovative than beamz by Flo Rida
[http://vimeo.com/72153180](http://vimeo.com/72153180)

Uargh...

~~~
egeozcan
This might have been the lamest commercial I've ever seen =) Who's the target
audience anyway?

~~~
kayoone
It has an iOS app that goes with it, go figure :)

Disclaimer: Just kidding, i am an apple user myself

------
b1daly
This is like a parody of innovation! It looks like a concept project mostly.
The key to making anything like this comes from how well it is integrated with
the software, and audio production software is really hard to get right.

There is a need for physical controls for music software control (or any
software) and there is a fundamental problem. The amount of parameters and
functions that need to be controlled is vast. It will quickly overwhelm a
control surface with limited amount of controls unless a lot of thought and
design is put into the a method of switching the function of the controls.
These types of controls are still virtual!

------
sambeau
I think this is a step-backwards. It's a terribly flawed concept for two
reasons:

1) the screen is already an infinitely customisable graphical touch UI

2) you need to set your portable device down on a flat surface to use it

Without it you can easily page back-and-forth through multiple control screens
each with a custom UI. You can still have a different screen for breakfast,
lunch and dinner.

Without it you can carry the device to a table and enter the data in situ. You
can hold it in one hand and operate the device with the other.

This bypasses a mobile touch device's two main assets: its portability and its
touch screen!

~~~
Pxtl
Yeah, that. The Nintendo DS does the "display plus touch-area separation"
right by having a _second screen_. And you can use that in your lap.

imho, the DS is mostly held back by a resistive touchscreen and Nintendo's
inability to think big-picture.

This blade thing stinks of being a solution looking for a problem.

------
programminggeek
Yes, this is potentially innovative, but not in the same way that the standard
iPod/iPhone connector is. On iOS musical devices you can already plug them
into music hardware - guitars, keyboards, mixers, etc. That's already
happening.

I would actually argue that Surface Blades are not the best thing ever simply
because for things like mixing you want 3 dimensional tactile feedback for
subtle adjustments. Big buttons on a flat touch pad is probably better than a
purely visual interface, but it seems like they are straddling the line
between a non-optimal software interface for a middle ground that isn't the
same as using a real mixing board, but it's maybe a bit better than using an
on screen UI.

My guess is that musicians aren't going to flock to this unless they get some
established producer to use it to mix some awesome beats and even then it's
unclear that this is much better than a dedicated hardware device experience
yet.

~~~
iamshs
"Yes, this is potentially innovative, but not in the same way that the
standard iPod/iPhone connector is."

Why does it have to be the same way? How will copying be an innovations then?
Also, i could not understand your second sentence.....you can plug ipad into
guitar? Was that the implication?

Tactile feedback can be generated using vibrations ala Xbox controller. I
think they have Linkin Park's DJ behind them.

Get Dr.Dre on board. Market it like Beats headphones. Generate a following in
music at least.

~~~
briandear
Hmm. Linkin Park's DJ? How much more C-list can you get in terms of DJs to
endorse your product. If Armin van Buuren plays a set in Ibiza with a Surface,
I might possibly give it a bit more credit as a serious device. From a DJ and
producer perspective, MacBook Pros and Mac Pros are still king. I don't know
the specs on the surface, but I would bet running a full Ableton setup on the
surface would be a bit stressful on that OS. Serato might run on it though, so
the wedding DJ market might eat this up while the real producers and DJs will
stick with their laptops, MIDI controllers and USB/FireWire mixers. I've never
played in a booth that was so small that a Surface would be the only thing
that fit. This Surface thing is going simply be a marketing pull like iLife is
for Mac.

~~~
heartbreak
Hello I am a member of Microsoft's target market here. I've definitely heard
of Linkin Park, and their music, but I've never once heard the name Armin van
Buuren before. Does that make him D-list?

~~~
briandear
We're talking about DJs, not circa 2000 rock bands. Armin van Buuren is
consistently ranked as the number one DJ in the world.

~~~
bjterry
Electronic dance music (EDM) DJs are not well-known in the US. Only a tiny
portion of the population listens to EDM. I'm 29 and have friends that are
very interested in EDM and I've never heard of Armin van Buuren either, but
have heard of Linkin Park (of course I was directly in the middle of their
demographic when they broke out). I suspect this is a regional issue. In the
US the marketing value of having <insert any known US band here>'s DJ is
probably higher than having Armin van Buuren if you are trying to target a
broad demographic out of the gate and not going for the hardcore early adopter
strategy.

------
knappador
Ah, yeah, true innovation alright; an application specific touch-UI? Dang,
tablets will never be able to offer that XD.

In the comments: "Apple has a patent for a similar device. However their touch
sensitive keyboard is also an e-ink type display so each software you run can
have it's own custom keyboard/input tablet displayed without having to
purchase or install anything extra. That will be a game changer and make the
MS device look primitive."

Man oh man. There's no point in putting the '$' in M$ anymore. What a great
day for the rest of the world.

I'm waiting for the infospasm posts self-assuredly advising start-ups leave
room for your product to pivot by not implementing the UI in static hardware
and 'How Flaviboard Increased Our Revenue by 30000% by Getting Hardware Out of
the Iteration Cycle'

~~~
akaBruce
Honest question. Not just for knappador, but anyone else who wants to chime
in. How do you all feel about a single piece of glass vs. actual buttons?

Personally, I tend to prefer real buttons more often than not. I'm fine with
tapping and swiping when I'm just browsing stuff (browser, certain apps, etc)
on my phone or tablet.

But I feel like if there's 9 or more buttons grouped closely together (maybe
less), an interface where I can feel the boundaries between buttons without
activating them and get a physical response when pressing them is just better.

I wonder how many people feel just a touch interface is on par or better. I
know I've never really gotten used to typing on my tablet like I do my
keyboard. But maybe I just need to spend more time with it.

~~~
knappador
The problem is, how much better is it really? The flatness of the cover by its
very nature implies awful tactile awareness compared to Cherry MX's or any
other such device wholly designed to aid tactile awareness. Looking at the
images, I'm guessing I'm about as likely to gain a feel for this device as I
am to start reading Braille spontaneously. What is there to give tactile
feedback on this thing? Paint!?!? XD Subtle dips in an already subtle
material?! I'd rather open a school teaching finger-navigation on felt than
develop any application dependent on this. Who is this really a wake-up call
to? I'd have to have been using an iPad to transcribe on for the last three
years to buy an exclamation that relevant change has occurred. Hardly the
thing that will stop the slide of MS, and good riddance. One less platform
wholly and utterly founded on proprietary software.

------
kyriakos
This has a potential if Microsoft opens up the architecture and allows other
companies to create their own touch covers. it will automatically boost
Surface sales if big name software companies produce customized touch covers
to work with their applications.

Think for example covers for video editing software, CAD etc

------
joosters
It would be awesome if the 'keyboard' could be combined with an e-ink screen
that overlaid it. That way, the touchpad could be reconfigured on the fly
depending upon the app that you are using.

------
M4rkH
The new Web MIDI spec allows hands-on devices with sliders, dials, XY pads etc
to be accessible from javascript.

While the majority of MIDI controller devices currently target music apps it
will be interesting to see how hands-on devices can help improve interactions
with other types of app. As an example, here I tackle the fiddly business of
graph navigation using a standard plug-and-play MIDI controller and the latest
Chrome: [https://vimeo.com/74886850](https://vimeo.com/74886850)

------
bsaul
It really surprises me how in the middle of Microsoft massive failures, you
can still find a couple of good ideas here and there, proving that some fresh
blood is still pumping inside that company. I wonder what it feels like. Does
it feel great like "i'm the one that keeps this company innovating", or bad
like "damn, if only I were working at apple or google, i would be among other
people like me, and management wouldn't destroy my ideas with their crappy
execution" ?

~~~
aa0
Seriously?

------
luisivan
I wouldn't call this innovation... it's cool, yeah, but let's stop using the
word innovation for each cool feature created

------
zarify
I'm sorry, but are they calling MS innovative for reinventing the peripheral?
Only this time for tablets!

------
ekianjo
Meh. I dont feel much innovation there. They are simply using the keyboard
port as a USB replacement to connect a dedicated peripheral. Its not bad per
se, but its proprietary and you may as well throw it all away when you buy a
non surface tablet late on. I doubt this will change anything.

~~~
danieldk
I hate to say it: but when Apple comes out with such covers for the iPad
during their fall iPad event, it will all suddenly be innovative and
revolutionary. Some people will point out that the Surface has it, but then
people will say 'but Apple added this feature that makes it work'.

Why can't we see it for what it is? Microsoft was the first (I think) to use
an extremely very flat keyboard that doubles as a screen cover on a tablet.
While not revolutionary, it is a good step forward, as good as Apple's
introduction of covers that double as a stand. Now they added something fun
and playful to the range. Maybe professional musicians won't use it, but it
adds a lot of fun to the device for amateurs. And if they open up the
'platform' and provide an SDK, it may lead to interesting new covers.

They are trying nice new things (touch covers, hybrid devices), pushing
tablets in new directions. In fact, my next tablet may well be a Surface Pro,
after being an iPad user before it was introduced in The Netherlands.

~~~
nivla
Ha Microsoft is the scapegoat for most. M$ hate from the 90s just carrying
over. Remember when they brought out the Flat Design, the amount of skepticism
here was amazing. Slowly Gmail switched, then Youtube, Andoid, Yahoo and now
IOS. MS gets comparatively less credit for anything they come up with but
don't bother, its a techy hivemind thing and it will fade.

------
nextstep
Microsoft is struggling to get developers excited about their platform. If
they can't convince companies to invest the time to build software, they'll
never convince anyone to manufacture hardware; hardware has a real cost per
unit.

------
spullara
My guess is that the blades are terrible and no one will ever use them. It is
an easy prediction to make but looking at it doesn't inspire confidence.

------
prodigal_erik
If a blade has to be flat enough to fold against the screen, it can't really
offer tactile feedback. Why not a second touchscreen, just cost or power?

~~~
anologwintermut
That's not entirely true. First, increasing amounts of haptic feedback can be
faked with vibration.

Second, the surface keyboard had raised keys. That's very useful for quick
operation where you are not looking at the keyboard. Something that I don't
think you can do with a tablet without sticking things on the screen.

~~~
babesh
A keyboard in turn has limitations over game controllers. Why not provide a
game controller interface for your tablet instead so that manufacturers can
provide arbitrary controllers instead of just flat ones the same size and
shape as the tablet?

iOS 7 for better or worse is doing that instead:

[http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/19/gamecase-the-first-
co...](http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/19/gamecase-the-first-controller-
for-ios-7)

[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57589649-37/ios-7-ready-
ga...](http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57589649-37/ios-7-ready-game-
controller-hardware-spotted/)

~~~
kevingadd
You realize Windows has had game controller support since literally the
beginning, and this tablet runs Windows, right?

~~~
babesh
Can a Surface RT run device drivers for full on Windows? It doesn't run
regular Windows programs except ones compiled for it: Office.

------
VeejayRampay
It seems like an awesome product but it's Microsoft so I guess it'll never get
the recognition and the street cred.

------
pinaceae
nomination for the most overused word of the year - innovation.

seriously, is any idea now innovation? is it true innovation? or fake? what
about disruptive? paradigmatic? enabling?

absolutely clear what the headline is digging at (can't innovate my ass...).
so tired of this bullshit.

------
mkr-hn
Give me a digital painting toolbox blade to go with that Wacom screen and I'll
be happy.

------
canthonytucci
I was actually considering taking my Surface Pro down off of craigslist and
keeping it to play with this for a while (depending on how much they wanted
for it). I love synths and drum machines and am always interested to try new
music toys and software (I'm far from a musician, so toys is the appropriate
word here for me).

So I clicked through to the MS site for it and found that they won't let me
order one. In fact, they're a bit condescending about it:

>Want your own Surface Music Kit? Join the #RemixProject and make a Vine video
to show us why you deserve one.

I guess that I am willing to pay is not reason enough to one deserve one.'

Then I got to thinking "what's so innovative about this?"

If anything it's a step backwards, a proprietary connector attaches a
keyboard/input device to a single model of (shitty) computer.

What about this is better than an iPad + usb midi controller? More RAM I
guess...but then there's the laptop + midi controller option.

\----

As for the other uses for this, every other one seems better served by a
regular tablet or PC. The Surface is not "no compromises" it's "All
compromises".

In my experience, the surface pro sucks as a tablet, it's too heavy and the
app selection is terrible, what is there is hacked together and offers few
features (see the MLB TV app on win 8 vs iPad for a great example of the
quality difference).

It also sucks as a laptop. You can't use it on a couch because they keyboard
is not helping to stabilize it, every time you hit a key it wobbles about.

The trackpad is miserable. (Edit: miserable on both the touch and type covers)

Windows does not like high dpi Screens, and does not offer decent scaling
ability. In order to have applications look crisp, they need to be tiny, and
on an 11" screen with that many pixels tiny is really tiny. There's also no
support for multiple scaling settings for screens. Plug in an external monitor
and you need to take a trip to the control panel (and log in and out) in order
to change the scaling....and it will be applied to BOTH screens.

If you want to use the touchscreen on a table with the kickstand, it tilts and
the whole thing moves away from you, again the keyboard does nothing to help
stabilize it, and there's no non-slip coating on the kickstand or bottom of
the tablet so it just slides away if you push too hard.

RE-EDIT:

removed kvetching

~~~
aa0
This isn't SurfaceReviews.com

~~~
canthonytucci
Fair enough, I got carried away, but custom keyboards will not suddenly make
this a good device. I got caught up in ranting about it, because it looks and
feels so cool, but is so infuriating to use. What I was hoping to get across
is that adding these to the surface don't make it any more practical, and
don't address the existing problems with the surface and its keyboard. Without
the Surface, this is nothing new (custom input devices are common).

More about the article:

One of the best parts of touch based interfaces is they can change with
context and can be customized/improved/fixed for the cost of changing the
software. No need to ship a physical 2.0 for your POS when you want to change
the button layout.

Also, with these blades, are you expected to carry around more than one and
swap them out based on the activity? Then use the onscreen keyboard when you
need to do any text input?

The thing is a computer. It has a USB port. One can attach whatever input
devices they want. The only difference about a blade is that this doubles as a
screen cover. In the medical and fast food examples he gives, the machines are
stationary (and you probably want them to stay that way).

I'm all for dedicated input devices or customized interfaces to make jobs
easier, but that's hardly a new idea.

~~~
eulerphi
You might be looking at it the wrong way. From what I can gander, these blades
are going to be for application-specific use. I can see a double-folding math-
character keyboard for Mathematica or design-tool for Photoshop being quite
useful. Yes, this whole thing is novel, but as we've seen with the iPhone-era,
novel gidgets and quirkets make people go bananas. Nothing new, yes, but still
a cool thing if executed right. The big difference that people aren't getting
here, is that touchscreen UIs take away screen real estate and are limited in
size, these covers can be double or triple-folding and can have all kinds of
LED-driven knobs, sliders, and whatnot.

~~~
canthonytucci
I do like to see people trying new things, and agree that people love useless
gadgets (myself included). I didn't notice the idea of double folding
versions, but it definitely makes sense for mathematica and photoshop, you
need the standard alphanumeric keys pretty often, and the keyboard is about as
cramped as you woudld want it to be already, so they would need to be bigger
to really offer extra utility.

I think they could have generated more interest and more money just selling
them with more designs and sports team branding (The Surface is already used
by the NFL, so some sort of relationship between them and MS already exists).

As for the knobs and sliders, I agree it would look 'cool' to see real LEDs
light up for your fader or the active loops on your sequencer or whatever, but
the reason actual musicians like physical knobs and sliders is because of the
tactile response they provide. Thats why Serato's vynil controllers are still
popular with a lot of people
([http://serato.com/controlvinyl](http://serato.com/controlvinyl)). With a
touch keyboard like the one that the surface has you get the worst of both
worlds. The (lack of) flexibilty of a hardware device and the (lack of)
tactile response of a touchscreen.

~~~
eulerphi
Hm right, bidirectional input/output for lightshows and whatnot. We have to be
careful not to tread into full peripheral territory - because the whole point
of these things is to be covers as well? I guess we'll just have to see what
M$ offers and hope it's innovative. Because I have no reason to buy yet
another tablet unless there truly is something that makes me excited.

