A provocative opinion piece on tablets being more than touch devices. That they bring a new metaphor that allows one to use the device in both portrait and landscape mode, with the former missing from classic PC computing.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411962,00.asp
"When Is a Tablet Not a Tablet? When It's Microsoft's Surface
When Apple introduced its iPad, Steve Jobs and his team reinvented the PC, giving it a completely new form factor. From the beginning, it was designed strictly to be a tablet, to be used in portrait and landscape mode. Both modes deliver an equal user experience within software, browsing, and apps. In fact, Jobs went to great lengths to show the device's versatility for content consumption.
This is important because, even with its 9.7-inch screen (which Jobs saw as the best size screen for a true tablet), the iPad was created from this center of design thinking. Interestingly, while Apple saw the iPad as a consumption device, it did hedge its bets and include productivity apps like Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, although these apps were never used to define what the key purpose of the iPad was and would it would do. Only after it was released, thanks to Apple's rich developer software and program, did the folks who develop productivity apps start creating products that increased the iPad's functionality.
I have been using Microsoft's Surface tablet for some time now and I find it to be a very interesting product. However, something that Steve Ballmer said about the Surface at the Windows 8 launch keeps coming back to me: "Windows 8 is the greatest example of the PC meeting the tablet." I believe this to be a very true statement and one that is quite telling when it comes to Microsoft's Surface strategy.
That thinking reflects a more PC-centric view that I believe is at the heart of the Surface's design. It is one that just extends the PC model to a touch-screen device. With its keyboard and 10.6-inch display, it reminds me of a netbook, minus a touch screen. For all intents and purposes, it is a PC.
What really makes this clear is the fact that most of its OS and apps are optimized for landscape; many apps don't even work in portrait mode. I have used it quite a bit in portrait mode and am really surprised that Microsoft gives the users two distinct ways to view content. In portrait mode, most of it is not equal to what a person gets in landscape mode. Also, its oblong screen is hard to hold as a tablet and is much heavier than most tablets on the market today.
The other tip-off that the Surface is really a smallish laptop is the apps in desktop mode. Microsoft includes Office in the desktop but it has to have the keyboard to work properly. And the Office apps in Modern UI mode are completely different in look and feel. While it works OK with finger touch, it's almost worthless in this mode without keyboard, which does not work in portrait mode. Also, many apps only work in landscape mode, including Skype, if it is launched directly from the Modern UI. And, one more curious design issue is that the on/off button is at the top of the tablet in landscape mode, while all other tablets have this switch on the top in portrait mode.
I find this quite important because in my view, Microsoft has not necessarily entered the tablet era. Rather, with the Surface, it has just extended the PC metaphor and introduced the element of touch to the UI as it has with laptops and desktops. Now, that is not necessarily bad, but buyers need to see the Surface as an extension of the PC and, to some degree, a bridge to tablet usage, albeit uneven in the current version of Windows 8 on the Surface. Unfortunately, it is a compromised PC and a compromised tablet.
The iPad and most other tablets are really quite different from the Surface in these regards. In fact, I believe that the iPad has not only reinvented the PC but changed the computing paradigm for two big reasons: portrait mode and touch computing (accomplishing complex computing tasks that once required a mouse and keyboard via touch).
In his column for TechPinions, my son Ben wrote a long analysis of computing in portrait mode, highlighting its many advantages like writing, reading, and browsing the Web. I use portrait mode primarily on my iPad. Only some things like games and a few other apps use landscape exclusively. The iPad and nearly all of its apps not only support both portrait and landscape, but are built uniquely to take advantage of both modes.
Conversely, Windows 8 and Surface appear to be built primarily for one mode: landscape. Given that Windows 8 is built for a 16:9 format, this is not surprising; the software was architected for landscape. Although the screen can be used in portrait mode, doing so presents a far less enjoyable experience than in landscape. For some, this may not be a problem, but for me it is fundamentally counter-intuitive to what I consider a pure tablet experience. Many popular apps, including those in Microsoft's own app store, are built only for landscape mode—an orientation that is just not comfortable to hold for long periods of time while leaning back in bed or on a couch.
When you orient Surface to portrait mode, due to the 16:9 aspect ratio, everything gets smaller. When you flip the iPad or Android tablets, on the other hand, the text size stays the same in some cases, or shrinks slightly in others. In portrait mode, you get more text on a screen that, even when smaller, is not crunched or illegible. You are able to see more of the webpage on the Surface because of 16:9, only the text is much harder to read. Of course, you could zoom in or tap in, but that requires some time to get the webpage consumable. Not a deal breaker, but also not ideal.
This discrepancy in design reinforces the fact that the Surface is more like a small laptop that is not optimized to deliver a rich tablet experience. Because of that, I am skeptical whether the Surface will be a big hit. Landscape has its advantages in many scenarios, like when watching movies or playing some games, but in a broad set of tablet use cases, portrait is equally and sometimes more important. I believe that a true tablet provides an excellent experience in both landscape and portrait modes."
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411962,00.asp
"When Is a Tablet Not a Tablet? When It's Microsoft's Surface
When Apple introduced its iPad, Steve Jobs and his team reinvented the PC, giving it a completely new form factor. From the beginning, it was designed strictly to be a tablet, to be used in portrait and landscape mode. Both modes deliver an equal user experience within software, browsing, and apps. In fact, Jobs went to great lengths to show the device's versatility for content consumption.
This is important because, even with its 9.7-inch screen (which Jobs saw as the best size screen for a true tablet), the iPad was created from this center of design thinking. Interestingly, while Apple saw the iPad as a consumption device, it did hedge its bets and include productivity apps like Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, although these apps were never used to define what the key purpose of the iPad was and would it would do. Only after it was released, thanks to Apple's rich developer software and program, did the folks who develop productivity apps start creating products that increased the iPad's functionality.
I have been using Microsoft's Surface tablet for some time now and I find it to be a very interesting product. However, something that Steve Ballmer said about the Surface at the Windows 8 launch keeps coming back to me: "Windows 8 is the greatest example of the PC meeting the tablet." I believe this to be a very true statement and one that is quite telling when it comes to Microsoft's Surface strategy.
That thinking reflects a more PC-centric view that I believe is at the heart of the Surface's design. It is one that just extends the PC model to a touch-screen device. With its keyboard and 10.6-inch display, it reminds me of a netbook, minus a touch screen. For all intents and purposes, it is a PC.
What really makes this clear is the fact that most of its OS and apps are optimized for landscape; many apps don't even work in portrait mode. I have used it quite a bit in portrait mode and am really surprised that Microsoft gives the users two distinct ways to view content. In portrait mode, most of it is not equal to what a person gets in landscape mode. Also, its oblong screen is hard to hold as a tablet and is much heavier than most tablets on the market today.
The other tip-off that the Surface is really a smallish laptop is the apps in desktop mode. Microsoft includes Office in the desktop but it has to have the keyboard to work properly. And the Office apps in Modern UI mode are completely different in look and feel. While it works OK with finger touch, it's almost worthless in this mode without keyboard, which does not work in portrait mode. Also, many apps only work in landscape mode, including Skype, if it is launched directly from the Modern UI. And, one more curious design issue is that the on/off button is at the top of the tablet in landscape mode, while all other tablets have this switch on the top in portrait mode.
I find this quite important because in my view, Microsoft has not necessarily entered the tablet era. Rather, with the Surface, it has just extended the PC metaphor and introduced the element of touch to the UI as it has with laptops and desktops. Now, that is not necessarily bad, but buyers need to see the Surface as an extension of the PC and, to some degree, a bridge to tablet usage, albeit uneven in the current version of Windows 8 on the Surface. Unfortunately, it is a compromised PC and a compromised tablet.
The iPad and most other tablets are really quite different from the Surface in these regards. In fact, I believe that the iPad has not only reinvented the PC but changed the computing paradigm for two big reasons: portrait mode and touch computing (accomplishing complex computing tasks that once required a mouse and keyboard via touch).
In his column for TechPinions, my son Ben wrote a long analysis of computing in portrait mode, highlighting its many advantages like writing, reading, and browsing the Web. I use portrait mode primarily on my iPad. Only some things like games and a few other apps use landscape exclusively. The iPad and nearly all of its apps not only support both portrait and landscape, but are built uniquely to take advantage of both modes.
Conversely, Windows 8 and Surface appear to be built primarily for one mode: landscape. Given that Windows 8 is built for a 16:9 format, this is not surprising; the software was architected for landscape. Although the screen can be used in portrait mode, doing so presents a far less enjoyable experience than in landscape. For some, this may not be a problem, but for me it is fundamentally counter-intuitive to what I consider a pure tablet experience. Many popular apps, including those in Microsoft's own app store, are built only for landscape mode—an orientation that is just not comfortable to hold for long periods of time while leaning back in bed or on a couch.
When you orient Surface to portrait mode, due to the 16:9 aspect ratio, everything gets smaller. When you flip the iPad or Android tablets, on the other hand, the text size stays the same in some cases, or shrinks slightly in others. In portrait mode, you get more text on a screen that, even when smaller, is not crunched or illegible. You are able to see more of the webpage on the Surface because of 16:9, only the text is much harder to read. Of course, you could zoom in or tap in, but that requires some time to get the webpage consumable. Not a deal breaker, but also not ideal.
This discrepancy in design reinforces the fact that the Surface is more like a small laptop that is not optimized to deliver a rich tablet experience. Because of that, I am skeptical whether the Surface will be a big hit. Landscape has its advantages in many scenarios, like when watching movies or playing some games, but in a broad set of tablet use cases, portrait is equally and sometimes more important. I believe that a true tablet provides an excellent experience in both landscape and portrait modes."
