3 ms·

OP, surprised that MS (as with any large company) didn't require you to sign an NDA to not discuss unannounced features during development. Bold (and encouragin

by ajessup 12y ago

OP, surprised that MS (as with any large company) didn't require you to sign an NDA to not discuss unannounced features during development. Bold (and encouraging) move on their part if they didn't.

itafroma 12y ago
> OP, surprised that MS (as with any large company) didn't require you to sign an NDA to not discuss unannounced features during development Mike Krahulik has been a fan of Surface Pro from the beginning,[1] has been very vocal about what he likes and dislikes, and has a very large audience.[2] It seems likely they were counting on him blogging his experiences as soon as possible after his last Surface Pro post,[3] which had some fairly negative points that made using the new Surface Pro difficult (if not impossible) for him. [1]: http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2013/02/22/the-ms-surface-pro http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2013/02/22/the-ms-surf... [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade [3]: http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2014/05/23/surface-pro-3 http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2014/05/23/surface-pro...
- Einstalbert 12y ago
  Microsoft keeping Gabe happy with the surface line is probably one of their top 5 PR priorities for the devices. I am not surprised by this post in the least, but I am glad that Gabe is going to get something he can use for his work.
  - mahyarm 12y ago
    Gabe being in Seattle also makes it pretty easy to interact with him.
- jeffcox 12y ago
  Gabe is just the character that initially represented Mike Krahulik, the artist of PA and the person writing those posts.
  - itafroma 12y ago
    Whoops: fixed, thanks.
morsch 12y ago
They'd have to be insane. You can't pay for advertisements like these. Despite the mixed feelings Gabe has had with Surface 3. Just look at this HN thread; every post Gabe made about the Surface caused similar comments.
vacri 12y ago
In his case, he'd already generated bad press, so letting him comment to the positive on changes they're working on benefits them.
- ajessup 12y ago
  Gabe's posts have had strong impact on a relatively small audience. It's hard to realistically imagine it's had a significant impact on Surface sales one way or the other. On the other hand when he blogs about the future direction that they are taking then this is all data that competitors will gobble up, and in many cases can bring to market ahead of MS. Quite possibly the PR gain here is offset by the future opportunity cost by giving competitors a heads up on future strategy.
  - vacri 12y ago
    "the device is done and shipping in like a week" Those competitors are probably going to have to put in a bit of overtime then :) The other stuff he talks about isn't new either - pressure curves have been around forever (I have a very old tablet thinkpad with a pressure curve) and the tablet photoshop he played with has already been displayed at a show.
higherpurpose 12y ago
They're using him as a PR sheep. Of course they didn't require an NDA.

by ajessup 12y ago

OP, surprised that MS (as with any large company) didn't require you to sign an NDA to not discuss unannounced features during development. Bold (and encouraging) move on their part if they didn't.

itafroma 12y ago

> OP, surprised that MS (as with any large company) didn't require you to sign an NDA to not discuss unannounced features during development Mike Krahulik has been a fan of Surface Pro from the beginning,[1] has been very vocal about what he likes and dislikes, and has a very large audience.[2] It seems likely they were counting on him blogging his experiences as soon as possible after his last Surface Pro post,[3] which had some fairly negative points that made using the new Surface Pro difficult (if not impossible) for him. [1]: http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2013/02/22/the-ms-surface-pro http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2013/02/22/the-ms-surf... [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade [3]: http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2014/05/23/surface-pro-3 http://www.penny-arcade.com/news/post/2014/05/23/surface-pro...

Einstalbert 12y ago
Microsoft keeping Gabe happy with the surface line is probably one of their top 5 PR priorities for the devices. I am not surprised by this post in the least, but I am glad that Gabe is going to get something he can use for his work.
- mahyarm 12y ago
  Gabe being in Seattle also makes it pretty easy to interact with him.
jeffcox 12y ago
Gabe is just the character that initially represented Mike Krahulik, the artist of PA and the person writing those posts.
- itafroma 12y ago
  Whoops: fixed, thanks.

morsch 12y ago

They'd have to be insane. You can't pay for advertisements like these. Despite the mixed feelings Gabe has had with Surface 3. Just look at this HN thread; every post Gabe made about the Surface caused similar comments.

vacri 12y ago

In his case, he'd already generated bad press, so letting him comment to the positive on changes they're working on benefits them.

ajessup 12y ago
Gabe's posts have had strong impact on a relatively small audience. It's hard to realistically imagine it's had a significant impact on Surface sales one way or the other. On the other hand when he blogs about the future direction that they are taking then this is all data that competitors will gobble up, and in many cases can bring to market ahead of MS. Quite possibly the PR gain here is offset by the future opportunity cost by giving competitors a heads up on future strategy.
- vacri 12y ago
  "the device is done and shipping in like a week" Those competitors are probably going to have to put in a bit of overtime then :) The other stuff he talks about isn't new either - pressure curves have been around forever (I have a very old tablet thinkpad with a pressure curve) and the tablet photoshop he played with has already been displayed at a show.

higherpurpose 12y ago

They're using him as a PR sheep. Of course they didn't require an NDA.