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I can do more with the Surface, but it is not beautiful, nor do I enjoy using it - or being seen using it. You come across as someone that went into the Surfac

by 300bps 13y ago

I can do more with the Surface, but it is not beautiful, nor do I enjoy using it - or being seen using it. You come across as someone that went into the Surface not wanting to like it and you found a bunch of reasons from reasonable to erroneous not to like it. Does it seriously bother you what other people think about the devices you use? Word doesn’t save your work unless you click on a 3.5” disk icon regularly. This is an example of one of your contrived reasons. Word auto-saves at a user-definable interval. It also creates AutoRecover files at a regular interval. I've had situations like power outages hard shutdown my computer and AutoRecover restores them up to the second. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/help-protect-your-files-in-case-of-a-crash-HP010354296.aspx http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/help-protect-you... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/107686 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/107686 Some things are saved on SkyDrive, some on the local disk, which isn’t automatically backed up either. So now I am forced to be aware of this leaky abstraction, to manage the remote and local state and at this point I might as well just have a MacBook Air and be done with it. Just buy a MacBook Air because that's obviously what you want. This is another contrived reason. Backing up the local and remote (Skydrive) data on your Surface RT is pretty darned easy to set it and forget it: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/music-photos-and-video/back-up-photos-documents-and-more http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/music-photos-... http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/set-drive-file-history http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/set-drive-file-...

jbigelow76 13y ago
> but it is not beautiful, nor do I enjoy using it - or being seen using it. The author needs to get over his gadget insecurities. I was actually on a plane last night coming back from vacation. On my left was a couple, she had an iPad and he had a MacBook, on the other side of the isle, two iPad users. Then I pulled out my Surface... none of the Apple users recoiled in horror or offered to let me use their iPad so I could see what I was missing. In fact none of them took notice, it was almost like they didn't even give a shit.
- goostavos 13y ago
  I mean, seriously, we're adults here, people. Our identities need not be tied to the "street cred" of our electronics devices. Don't want to be seen using a Surface? Good lord. If you gave this guy a non-iPod mp3 player he's likely crap his pants with shame.
  - 300bps 13y ago
    What a colossal turn around from Apple's "Think Different" marketing slogan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_different http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_different To quote Steve Jobs: When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is - everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That’s maybe the most important thing. It’s to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. I think that’s very important and however you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better, cause it’s kind of messed up, in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again. Would Jobs roll over in his grave knowing that Hipsters were embarrassed to pull out a device in a cafe because it's not the Hippest device?
- moconnor 13y ago
  It's socially expected to use business devices and do work on a plane. Same in Starbucks. In a nice quiet cafe by the sea that sort of thing is simply out of place.
  - jbigelow76 13y ago
    I'm dubious that anybody that _truly_ values the tranquility of a nice quiet cafe by the sea makes much of a distinction when it comes to encroachment of superfluous technology (I lump both the iPad and Surface in that group) based solely on brand. You have to admit how silly the following exchange between you and a nearby cafe patron would be if your scenario were actually articulated: You: "Pardon me, would it bother you if I check my email and casually browse the web with my tablet?" Cafe Patron: "Sure, go right ahea... oh, my mistake, I assumed that was an iPad, I'm sorry but that sort of device simply has no place here."
moconnor 13y ago
It's not about fashion-conscious style. Pulling out the Surface in a nice cafe to work in feels... awkward. Out of place. It's clearly a business device for office work, and doing office work in a cafe feels like an imposition. This is not true in Starbucks, but is in the more provincial cafes around here. Word autosave isn't good enough. Here's what happens regularly: I leave Word open without manually saving for days in the background without realizing. Eventually the Surface decides to reboot itself for an update or runs out of power. The next time I open a Word document from an email attachment during a conference call some stupid side bar pops up with a number of revisions of documents that I instincively ignore. Cancel, go away! I'm busy! Oh, now I've lost that work. I've retrained myself always to save the 'recovered' copies now, and then manually check whether it's newer or older than the last 'saved' copy. I shouldn't have to do that. I really, really wanted to like the Surface. Just check my previous posts and tweets about it. I still use it, but I am also disappointed.
- KurtMueller 13y ago
  | It's not about fashion-conscious style. Pulling out the Surface in a nice cafe to work in feels... awkward. Out of place. This is your own hangup and has nothing to do with the tablet.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
  - moconnor 13y ago
    Do you remember the Surface teaser advert? The design language of the device is about aggression, dominance, edge. This is socially out of place in some settings. Also, I'm entitles to my social hangups. We live in a social environment, not a vacuum.
    - Breakthrough 13y ago
ripter 13y ago
> This is an example of one of your contrived reasons. Word auto-saves at a user-definable interval. It also creates AutoRecover files at a regular interval. I've had situations like power outages hard shutdown my computer and AutoRecover restores them up to the second. It sounds like he has lost work several times, which would mean that it's a valid complaint. If there is a setting to auto save then either it's not on by default, or for some reason it doesn't work for him. Both reasons would still make his complaint valid.
- 300bps 13y ago
  It sounds like he has lost work several times, which would mean that it's a valid complaint. I would've thought so too until you read how he purposely clicked Cancel on prompts attempting to help him save his work because he was "too busy". If there is a setting to auto save then either it's not on by default There is such a setting, and it is on by default. for some reason it doesn't work for him Unfortunately when you're a Device Hipster it's easier to find things to dislike about Surface and like about iPad.
outworlder 13y ago
Word does. What about the other apps? What about backups?
outworlder 13y ago
> I can do more with the Surface, but it is not beautiful, nor do I enjoy using it - or being seen using it. That might sound childish, but you can't dismiss it. It is one thing to be seen with a device that other people like. The original iPhone was a conversation starter, just like the iPad when it came out. You can pull out a Thinkpad from 10 years ago in a full Starbucks if you like, but most people wouldn't enjoy doing it - and even apologize for it, if they got curious stares. It is human nature and cannot be avoided. Kudos to the author for even daring to mention it. Besides, if it is not "cool" and "trendy", there will be (and already is) an effect on sales.
- FireBeyond 13y ago
  "You can pull out a Thinkpad from 10 years ago in a full Starbucks if you like, but most people wouldn't enjoy doing it - and even apologize for it, if they got curious stares." What on earth are you on about? http://www.thinkwiki.org/w/images/8/8a/ThinkPadT30.jpg http://www.thinkwiki.org/w/images/8/8a/ThinkPadT30.jpg Yes. I'm sure people would "apologize for [daring to] pull it out in a Starbucks". Seriously - what are you on? "Kudos to the author for even daring to mention it." No. Nor to you. -- signed, someone who owns an iPhone 5, an iPad 4 and a RMBP.

by 300bps 13y ago

jbigelow76 13y ago

> but it is not beautiful, nor do I enjoy using it - or being seen using it. The author needs to get over his gadget insecurities. I was actually on a plane last night coming back from vacation. On my left was a couple, she had an iPad and he had a MacBook, on the other side of the isle, two iPad users. Then I pulled out my Surface... none of the Apple users recoiled in horror or offered to let me use their iPad so I could see what I was missing. In fact none of them took notice, it was almost like they didn't even give a shit.

goostavos 13y ago
I mean, seriously, we're adults here, people. Our identities need not be tied to the "street cred" of our electronics devices. Don't want to be seen using a Surface? Good lord. If you gave this guy a non-iPod mp3 player he's likely crap his pants with shame.
- 300bps 13y ago
  What a colossal turn around from Apple's "Think Different" marketing slogan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_different http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_different To quote Steve Jobs: When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is - everything around you that you call life, was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it. That’s maybe the most important thing. It’s to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. I think that’s very important and however you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better, cause it’s kind of messed up, in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again. Would Jobs roll over in his grave knowing that Hipsters were embarrassed to pull out a device in a cafe because it's not the Hippest device?
moconnor 13y ago
It's socially expected to use business devices and do work on a plane. Same in Starbucks. In a nice quiet cafe by the sea that sort of thing is simply out of place.
- jbigelow76 13y ago
  I'm dubious that anybody that _truly_ values the tranquility of a nice quiet cafe by the sea makes much of a distinction when it comes to encroachment of superfluous technology (I lump both the iPad and Surface in that group) based solely on brand. You have to admit how silly the following exchange between you and a nearby cafe patron would be if your scenario were actually articulated: You: "Pardon me, would it bother you if I check my email and casually browse the web with my tablet?" Cafe Patron: "Sure, go right ahea... oh, my mistake, I assumed that was an iPad, I'm sorry but that sort of device simply has no place here."

moconnor 13y ago

It's not about fashion-conscious style. Pulling out the Surface in a nice cafe to work in feels... awkward. Out of place. It's clearly a business device for office work, and doing office work in a cafe feels like an imposition. This is not true in Starbucks, but is in the more provincial cafes around here. Word autosave isn't good enough. Here's what happens regularly: I leave Word open without manually saving for days in the background without realizing. Eventually the Surface decides to reboot itself for an update or runs out of power. The next time I open a Word document from an email attachment during a conference call some stupid side bar pops up with a number of revisions of documents that I instincively ignore. Cancel, go away! I'm busy! Oh, now I've lost that work. I've retrained myself always to save the 'recovered' copies now, and then manually check whether it's newer or older than the last 'saved' copy. I shouldn't have to do that. I really, really wanted to like the Surface. Just check my previous posts and tweets about it. I still use it, but I am also disappointed.

KurtMueller 13y ago
| It's not about fashion-conscious style. Pulling out the Surface in a nice cafe to work in feels... awkward. Out of place. This is your own hangup and has nothing to do with the tablet.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- moconnor 13y ago
  Do you remember the Surface teaser advert? The design language of the device is about aggression, dominance, edge. This is socially out of place in some settings. Also, I'm entitles to my social hangups. We live in a social environment, not a vacuum.
  - Breakthrough 13y ago

ripter 13y ago

> This is an example of one of your contrived reasons. Word auto-saves at a user-definable interval. It also creates AutoRecover files at a regular interval. I've had situations like power outages hard shutdown my computer and AutoRecover restores them up to the second. It sounds like he has lost work several times, which would mean that it's a valid complaint. If there is a setting to auto save then either it's not on by default, or for some reason it doesn't work for him. Both reasons would still make his complaint valid.

300bps 13y ago
It sounds like he has lost work several times, which would mean that it's a valid complaint. I would've thought so too until you read how he purposely clicked Cancel on prompts attempting to help him save his work because he was "too busy". If there is a setting to auto save then either it's not on by default There is such a setting, and it is on by default. for some reason it doesn't work for him Unfortunately when you're a Device Hipster it's easier to find things to dislike about Surface and like about iPad.

outworlder 13y ago

Word does. What about the other apps? What about backups?

outworlder 13y ago

> I can do more with the Surface, but it is not beautiful, nor do I enjoy using it - or being seen using it. That might sound childish, but you can't dismiss it. It is one thing to be seen with a device that other people like. The original iPhone was a conversation starter, just like the iPad when it came out. You can pull out a Thinkpad from 10 years ago in a full Starbucks if you like, but most people wouldn't enjoy doing it - and even apologize for it, if they got curious stares. It is human nature and cannot be avoided. Kudos to the author for even daring to mention it. Besides, if it is not "cool" and "trendy", there will be (and already is) an effect on sales.

FireBeyond 13y ago
"You can pull out a Thinkpad from 10 years ago in a full Starbucks if you like, but most people wouldn't enjoy doing it - and even apologize for it, if they got curious stares." What on earth are you on about? http://www.thinkwiki.org/w/images/8/8a/ThinkPadT30.jpg http://www.thinkwiki.org/w/images/8/8a/ThinkPadT30.jpg Yes. I'm sure people would "apologize for [daring to] pull it out in a Starbucks". Seriously - what are you on? "Kudos to the author for even daring to mention it." No. Nor to you. -- signed, someone who owns an iPhone 5, an iPad 4 and a RMBP.