<story><title>Why Is the Surface So Bad?</title><url>http://www.slate.com/articles/technol/technology/2012/11/microsoft_surface_why_is_the_new_tablet_so_much_worse_than_the_ipad.single.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>firefoxman1</author><text>When I first got an HP Touchpad, the touchstone stand, and the keyboard I understood what the &quot;post-PC&quot; era really was. It was perfect: physical keyboard for productivity, yet a touchscreen with a tablet interface, and the mouse had finally seen its end. The Asus transformer was the next big step, I think. Again, keyboard and touchscreen, but this time a 19 hour battery. If it allowed dual booting it would be perfect.&lt;p&gt;So when I saw the Surface I thought &quot;yes Microsoft gets it!&quot; Then you use windows 8 RT and realize they&apos;re about as out-of-touch as ever. Behind that nice tablet interface is the same old windows. Ever try using classic windows interface with your bulky fingers? That&apos;s exactly what you have to do with essential apps like Office or anything written &amp;#62; 3 months ago. It&apos;s the exact reason tablets didn&apos;t catch on in the early 2000s: windows wasn&apos;t designed for use on a touchscreen.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>nooneelse</author><text>&amp;#62; The Asus transformer was the next big step, I think. Again, keyboard and touchscreen, but this time a 19 hour battery. If it allowed dual booting it would be perfect.&lt;p&gt;I&apos;m a fan of the Asus transformer too.  One benefit from the keyboard having a battery that I didn&apos;t notice till I had been using it this way for a while is that I never charge the tablet directly.  When it is low, I attach the keyboard and let that charge the tablet.  Then when the keyboard is low I pull that off and charge it.  So the tablet itself is never tied to a wall.  Psychologically, the tablet feels a hair&apos;s breadth away from being a device I don&apos;t have to charge at all.  The battery state is never in the way of me using it.</text></comment>
<story><title>Why Is the Surface So Bad?</title><url>http://www.slate.com/articles/technol/technology/2012/11/microsoft_surface_why_is_the_new_tablet_so_much_worse_than_the_ipad.single.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>firefoxman1</author><text>When I first got an HP Touchpad, the touchstone stand, and the keyboard I understood what the &quot;post-PC&quot; era really was. It was perfect: physical keyboard for productivity, yet a touchscreen with a tablet interface, and the mouse had finally seen its end. The Asus transformer was the next big step, I think. Again, keyboard and touchscreen, but this time a 19 hour battery. If it allowed dual booting it would be perfect.&lt;p&gt;So when I saw the Surface I thought &quot;yes Microsoft gets it!&quot; Then you use windows 8 RT and realize they&apos;re about as out-of-touch as ever. Behind that nice tablet interface is the same old windows. Ever try using classic windows interface with your bulky fingers? That&apos;s exactly what you have to do with essential apps like Office or anything written &amp;#62; 3 months ago. It&apos;s the exact reason tablets didn&apos;t catch on in the early 2000s: windows wasn&apos;t designed for use on a touchscreen.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>stephengillie</author><text>Having used the HP Touchsmart 2500 (2007 laptop/tablet convertible), I feel the same about the &quot;post-PC&quot; era. Moving my hand from keyboard to screen became more natural than moving from keyboard to touchpad, or keyboard to mouse. At the time, I physically administered rackmount servers through a console with a trackball - it was painful in comparison to the touchscreen.&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Ever try using classic windows interface with your bulky fingers?&lt;/i&gt; This is why the Touchsmart shipped with a weighted pen-sized stylus, even in models with the passive touchscreen.&lt;p&gt;How is Office with the Touchpad?</text></comment>