We don’t know that the Duo or Neo are limited because we don’t know their full capabilities - those are still being developed. What we saw yesterday is just a headsup on the direction of Microsoft - and we need to think about how functions can evolve, and the use cases. Too many people (and I think @ant_pruitt and @mikahsargent fell into this trap a bit in their discussion) are thinking like consumers - “what’s my use case, I’d never use it like that” - when the idea is to see and think of ways in which it would be useful. We’ve become too used to tech companies telling us how to use their products when we should be inventing our own uses for them.
How does. for example, maps and navigation evolve with two screens. One big map - sure. But if you’re walking, what about map on one side and location-based highlights on the other? How about video editing - in either mode (book-form or clamshell-mode)? Do I have to have the keyboard physically touching the screen to activate Wunderbar (which is a really hokey name but seems far more flexible and useful than Touchbar at first glance)? If not - then maybe I can connect the device to a monitor - use the Duo/Neo screens like dual WunderBars while using a mouse and keyboard to do my editing.
My point is that Microsoft is letting us (the developers) come up with the use cases, rather than telling us and limiting us to only what they want.
Really intrigued by the dual-screen displays. I wasn’t totally on board when I first heard the announcement. It felt a little bit like MS were just throwing out different screen / keyboard combinations in an attempt to be novel. We’ve had screen and keyboard, screen and detachable keyboard, screen and screen. I assume in a couple of years it will be a keyboard attached to a keyboard?
But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Like I’m sure many here I have dual screens at work and at home, and when I have to use a single screen for example when travelling it feels constrained. Having to switch between apps really does break your flow.
I can think of all sorts of uses. Just the other day I was writing an email on the bus and constantly flicking between Outlook and a Word doc to look up figures, having them side by side on a Duo would’ve been so useful. Or when travelling for work being able to place the Neo on a desk like an open book would be an incredibly portable dual monitor setup. If there’s developer buy in there could be all sorts of interesting features added to existing apps, although as history shows developers are not always keen to jump onboard Microsofts next big idea.
I think there’s 2 main hurdles to think about:
1.) Software improvements allowing for better multitasking - we’re seeing split screen and picture-in-picture become more mainstream on mobile devices, which allows for limited multitasking on a single screen. While this may make 2 screens unnecssary to an extent, I think the added real estate from an extra screen will be really valuable.
2.) Truly foldable screens - I think this is the future, but still seems to be a long way off. I’d rather have a well functioning dual screen device, than a delicate, prone to breaking folding screen one.
I think I disagree. If you see something demonstrated and you don’t immediately think “Oh, wow, I could use that!” then it’s not something you will go out of your way to acquire. And they showed it so early, that people will forget about it when the next years worth of phones and devices come along.
These are Microsoft devices, so we know they will not be low cost, none of their devices are priced for poor people. Really… what Microsoft has achieved to this point in the market, is to make devices that inspire the co-opitition (Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer, Asus and the rest) to make similar devices at lower prices. It seems unlikely that the usual suspects will be making Android phones.
Time will tell if they’re a success… the single biggest determinants will be the cost and the OS/firmware… followed closely by available apps/software.
If you see something demonstrated and you don’t immediately think “Oh, wow, I could use that!” then it’s not something you will go out of your way to acquire.
If this was a released product - then I’d agree with you 100%. But because Microsoft intentionally laid out their future roadmap for us, and explicitly said that they want to get it into the hands of developers, that changed - for me anyway - how I perceive the device and how I’m currently thinking about it.
I contrast this with the way Apple (for example) typically releases things - where they explicitly tell us how they want us to use the product, and often have arbitrary boundaries and limitations.
I realize I may coming off as a Microsoft apologist here - that’s not my intention. But the company took a bit of a leap of faith by pre-announcing this stuff now, and I want to respect that as it happens so seldom in today’s tech environment.
I respect letting the devs come up with use cases, but my first reaction before dropping a few thousand on a piece of tech is “how will this work for me?”
Yup, when it comes to personal technology pragmatism comes first. I like shiny toys, but always has to be something I can actually use.
I’m dual screen or more at work and at home, and I can be productive with something like this, but it won’t make sense for everyone. It also wouldn’t hurt to wait for reviews to see how well this gets implemented. I held off on dual screen phones (Samsung and others) because I had a feeling (like many others) that the reliability would be questionable.
sadly MS is losing me as consumer, i dont like the fact they are not offering a solution for older hardware, if you make hardware you should support it for years to come, i really dislike the current consume path MS and apple are taking by bundling software with hardware.
plus the fact they now make it mandatory to have a internet connection and do more spying with a mandatory account to even install the OS, is driving me to use linux as main system now. it gives so much more freedom and security.
if MS is truly forward looking they should come up with a tool that does sell me an partition image; i hook up via USB the hardware (eg a laptop or tablet or phone) gets scanned 4 specs and the tool spits out a distro for that divice i can install to the metal or containerize as VM. am happy to pay the few dollers they currently getting form OEMS. and MS is losing out on many older hardware i had to convert into a linux machine.
am done with buying hardware frm MS to discover they ending support for it. that why i like linux, i can run it on all hardware, providing the vendor did not lock the boot & bios. but then againg, am bitten by MS with crappy support for windows mobile and even where windows 7 got me all free upgrades towards 10, am more happy if MS looking toward ppl with current hardware and not this consume economy that its creating.
To be clear, it is not mandatory, it is just somewhat difficult to know the correct path to avoid. I don’t have a MS account on any of my Windows PCs, except I did create one to use in a VM so I could properly use their “Feedback” app.
I hear your point, but you do understand Microsoft is a business, and not a charity, correct? It costs a LOT of money to support old software, and (I say this as a software developer) unfortunately we’re still not great at making software that is bug free enough to stand up to an onslaught of Internet attackers. So they end support for older hardware because they need to end support for older software which is no longer making them money but is costing them dearly to support. It’s an unfortunate reality. Luckily for you, you are apparently happy with the freely provided efforts of Linux enthusiasts… so you still have someone making an effort to support your older gear. But even still, most Linux distro’s are dropping support for 32 bit only machines… so the time for that older gear to retire is still approaching.
i understand MS a business, am happy to pay the fees, they currently earn 15 buck per windows install and i believe somewhere between 10 and 20 dollars for the trademark use frm OEMs per device, cut the middleman is what am saying.
bugs are forgivable, new feats you take for that granted it needs a new build of the image, but software should always be secure, even older software should be patchable by the end user.
dont get me wrong, i like that MS is now offering android but please do it the correct opensource way and offer me a tool so i can update my older nokia windows phone to a decent save paid version of windroid
Well that is unfortunate bad news. I would use the work-around, of course… but it’s insane that Microsoft would think this is a wise course of action. It’s come up before and not come to fruition, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens again. Time will tell.
I’m eager to see more when these are actually products. And I’ve never ever said that about anything from Microsoft before - always a Mac or Google person. I agree with @PHolder, though - why announce them so early? That’s really strange.
Speaking for myself, it’s never a good idea to buy any product based on what it COULD do. Better to buy if it addresses your needs now. What is possible may never be addressed.
Yep - I agree. And it it was released today, I would be evaluating it on that basis. But (and I don’t mean to repeat myself) they’ve purposefully shown it to us a year in advance so developers can work on things and identify those use cases where dual screens can be an optimal experience. I feel I owe them the courtesy of doing that given the rarity of any company showing their cards like this. You’d never see Apple, for example, do this intentionally - except in the case where they are trying to save face (i.e. the pre-announcement of the MacPro so far in advance).
But each person evaluates things differently, and hopefully no one is taking my POV as saying “you’re wrong”.
I think Microsoft announcing new products that won’t be launched for over a year is a mistake. Many things can happen until then. Technology moves fast other companies can step in and announce a product that works better.
I’m half tempted to come up with a design myself, just in case they decide to say, “just kidding! lol” and that will be 10 years of hoping/waiting for a Courier-type device down the drain.
