20 ms·

Predicted by a 3 year old comic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COenroJWEAAjLoi.jpg:large https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COenroJWEAAjLoi.jpg:large

• ant6n 11y ago
  source?
  • deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  • simonbh 11y ago
    http://hijinksensue.com/comic/surface-tension/ http://hijinksensue.com/comic/surface-tension/
  • phaer 11y ago
    Has been online since at least March 27th 2014: http://web.archive.org/web/20140327014007/http://hijinksensue.com/comic/surface-tension/ http://web.archive.org/web/20140327014007/http://hijinksensu...
    • nanofortnight 11y ago
      It's date-marked 2012.
      • phaer 11y ago
        yes, but that could be spoofed, theoretically. That's why I added the link to archive.org ;)
        • guillaumefoo 11y ago
          https://web.archive.org/web/20120623030508/http://hijinksensue.com/2012/06/19/surface-tension/ https://web.archive.org/web/20120623030508/http://hijinksens...? better?
          • phaer 11y ago
            Thanks, for some reason captures prior to the one I've linked to weren't visible to me.
• simonbh 11y ago
  spot on
• an4rchy 11y ago
  haha... so good. I think the features at a high level are probably on par with the surface. The only difference is one of them is more or less limited in terms of functionality depending on how you look at it.
• hashberry 11y ago
  And so it begins... the once innovative company is now playing catch up, losing a little bit of its sex appeal as it copies the bland competition.
  • saturdaysaint 11y ago
    And so it continues, I point out that this has been said of every Apple announcement since Jobs' return.
    • epmatsw 11y ago
      "No wifi, less space than a Nomad. Lame."
      • MagnumOpus 11y ago
        Yup. It was. And no USB either, also not usable with Windows, not usable without Firewire. It was utterly useless for 99% of people out there - Rob Malda was right, despite all the retconning. It took years and several hardware generations to actually fix all these problems...
      • lotharbot 11y ago
        in 2001, it was. Check out the sales figures [0]. Consumers didn't begin to adopt the iPod in detectable numbers until the third generation (when it got USB syncing), and it didn't really take off until the fourth (full USB connectivity, various other improvements.) [0] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/28/ipod-sales_n_4680000.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/28/ipod-sales_n_468000...
        • etchalon 11y ago
          It look off when they added Windows. Other improvements aside, that was the thing that cracked open the market for them.
  • chinathrow 11y ago
    They sure copy, but so did others too all the time. Apples move with the pencil is more targeted at businesses, hospitals and such. Win the users at home first, convert them easily at work later, at a higher price with a better margin.
• Tloewald 11y ago
  The surface pro didn't do anything new at all. It was windows for tablets with decent industrial design (great design aside from the keyboards). It's not like Apple hadn't dicked around with keyboard covers et al since back in the Newton days. This isn't a question of who did hardware feature X first but who did user feature Y right. The jury is out but when I went to a Microsoft store ready to buy a maxed out surface pro, five minutes with the keyboard and microsoft's horrible UI designs turned me off. (I see in the MS office demo that they've removed some cruft but still don't design decent touch UIs. )
  • hunterloftis 11y ago
    Yep I loved the idea of the surface; tried to use it to replace my mb air for but ended up returning it because the ecosystem was terrible and the keyboard was annoying.
    • skc 11y ago
      Huh? It's full windows and yet the ecosystem was terrible? Doesn't compute.
      • wlesieutre 11y ago
        I have a Surface Pro. I'm generally pretty happy with it. But the selection of programs that are comfortable to use with the touchscreen is very small. In my case, pretty much web browsing, email, Netflix, and OneNote. For typical programs, you'll either be fat-fingering buttons that are too small or you'll be pulling out the stylus frequently. The tablet experience does not compare well to an iPad.
      • npunt 11y ago
        'Full windows' is exactly the reason the ecosystem is terrible. The uniqueness of the Surface hardware is not matched by the software. Thus, besides a few brand-name apps, most ignore touch capability and code for regular Windows to reach a broader audience. Its a perfectly rational response to Microsoft setting the wrong context for an otherwise fine product.
• rayiner 11y ago
  I don't think it's accurate to say Surface Pro presaged the iPad Pro by three years. Surface Pro was a basically different vision (not to mention a severely compromised device). A laptop without a keyboard but with a fan and short battery life. A software stack that requires you to go into the desktop to access non-trivial settings. The iPad Pro is a big iPad. No x86, no fan, touch-based software stack, etc. It's not a computer, it doesn't have USB ports, it can't run desktop software. You can't plug it into a dock hook use it as a desktop machine.[1] On purpose. It's a very different point in the design space. [1] Some people may consider the iPad Pro to be a Surface 3 with less features. And maybe it is depending on what you want from it. My take is that I've got a quad-core laptop with 16GB of RAM as my workhorse. I don't want a compromise device that's part tablet and part ULV laptop. I want a companion device with a big screen that I can mark up PDFs on. I want a bigger iPad, not a laptop with a detachable keyboard.
  • 72deluxe 11y ago
    You're spot on. The fact that they moved all settings to one place and forced applications to do the same means a consistent feel - this is something that Windows has not got; each app may have options, preferences, hidden registry settings that can be tweaked, config files that can be tweaked, the system has Control Panel, MMC and snap-ins for other settings (or Computer Management) and then a new series of settings interfaces for Windows 8 and 10; settings can be accessed via multiple entry points (do I join a wifi network using the charm, the icon on the taskbar, control panel or something else???) OSX has this to some extent with icons in the menu bar and changes in menu options when you press Alt, but on the iPad they were VERY wise to keep it in one place and to market the device as NOT a PC or workstation.
  • jeeva 11y ago
    > Some people may consider the iPad Pro to be a Surface 3 with less features. I think that's possibly because that's what a lot of people seemed to be wanting / hoping for, from this announcement. And it's not what Apple was looking to deliver - which is fine.
• qyv 11y ago
  The weird part for me is that everyone I know who tried an iPad for getting work done (ie: PROfessionals) gave up on it. iOS is simply not geared towards productivity nor content creation, it is a consumption device. The surface pro is the exact opposite, it is a machine that works for getting shit done on the go (for some people, not all obviously).
  • seanmcdirmid 11y ago
    The starbucks full of students typing out reports on iPads with bluetooth keyboards begs to differ. I mean, obviousy, you can't do all work on an iPad, but for a certain class of "work" it works fine.
    • qyv 11y ago
      Of course. And don't get me wrong, the iPad is far from worthless and Apple is far from Trivial in the space. The point is that Apple is no longer the leader/innovator in the space. Perhaps I am wrong, but I think that a lot of iOS devices get sold on intangibles rather than concrete benefits or capabilities. Apple has created tremendous value in these intangibles by being so awesome/innovative/ahead for the last 8 years, that has created a tremendous amount of loyalty in iOS users and sells a LOT of iOS devices every single generation despite the substantial (to most people) costs. People who depend on tech to make their living (often) require more than intangible benefits, and the competition has now caught/surpassed them as far as tech goes, and usually for a lower price.
      • seanmcdirmid 11y ago
        I don't see where the competition is coming from. Samsung? Google? Xiaomi? Outside of Microsoft (disclosure: MS employee), I don't see much competition for Apple in the innovative premium tablet space. They still execute well in the phone space, watch seems to be shaping up fine, they are still the only PC maker that is known for producing PCs that can last. The costs don't seem too off from the competition, unless we are talking about Xiaomi or Lenovo, but then the tradeoffs are obvious (no longer in the premium space). I do see Apple slowing down a bit in innovation. I mean, if iPad Pro was released last year (stylus, yeh!), I might have bought it, but the Surface 3 came out instead, which is quite decent (I won't go SP3 because of the fan). But Apple is still executing well, they aren't making many mistakes. They have built up a loyal fanbase and haven't done anything to betray them yet. People who depend on tech are usually about the shiny more than normal consumers, who just want to get what they need done. The rabid irrational Apple fanboy isn't grandma, no, it is the young kid working in tech.
• profinger 11y ago
  I am howling thank you so much for finding this!
• rjurney 11y ago
  Invented by Alan Kay, Dynabook, 1968. Only achieved recently, by this model and its predecessors. Ask Alan.
• avn2109 11y ago
  On the topic of retrospection: 8 years ago, Jobs himself said, "Nobody wants a stylus." [0] The times they are a changin'. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YY3MSaUqMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YY3MSaUqMg
  • btgeekboy 11y ago
    I do think there's a distinction to be made between the stylus which Jobs was referring to then vs. the ones we have now. Nobody wants to use the equivalent of a thick toothpick to point at things on the screen, like we did with old Windows Mobile and Palm devices. (Just dialing a phone number required pulling the stylus out of its sleeve.) Being able to just poke at things with your fingertip, drag, gesture, etc. are all far superior methods of interaction. However, for precise operations, such as drawing or handwriting, it's a very different tool.
• sreyaNotfilc 11y ago
  Wow! Spot on! Its funny, at the presentation they mentioned the cover and how the magnets transfer input from the keyboard to the computer as if it was a revolutionary idea. Then again, it is Apple. They can come out with a bottle water product and swoon the masses.