How did Microsoft do with released, and forward thinking, Tech? (Surface Neo and Duo)

Here, I wasn’t using these two rolls of duct tape… you’re gonna need 'em :smiley:

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i would love to see that! Can you take to Blender and kick out a design? :slight_smile:

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I was half joking… but only half joking. Just learned how to use SketchUp, currently learning CAD, and I downloaded Blender to learn soon. So I may do it, but probably not for a few months (tackling a SFF case design at the moment). :slight_smile:

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SUPER excited for the Duo, if only because it’s a unique new form factor in an area that’s been largely stagnant in terms of form factor innovation since 2007. I’ve been saying for a long time that I’d pay considerable money for a truly innovative mobile device - this might be it.

The Neo seems cool as well. I can’t help but reminisce about the Courier tease back in the day. I’m wondering why they’ve decided to stick with the x86 architecture for it though. If ever Microsoft had an opportunity to make the jump to an ARM chipset without harming their userbase, you’d think it would be in a device with a special version of Windows 10. I don’t think many people are going to be running legacy win32 apps on this device. Perfect opportunity for that shiny new SQ1 chip!

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I don’t know guys, when it was announced, the duo and the neo were kinda exciting, but a lot can happen in a year.
By the time it gets to Oct 2020, there might be other more exciting techs coming out, than the folding 2 screen thingy. Hope these 2 products will evolve beyond what has been shown.

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What’s the mistake or harm though? That another company is going to come up with something better? That happens every day. @thurrot <when is he joining?> thinks this final version will be different from the prototypes shown. A camera on the Duo at least is a must.

MS needs developers to create software that will take full advantage of the Duo. Hard to do for a device that hasn’t been announced.

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I just think announcing a new product 6 months out is fine, but 14 months is too far off.

Microsoft did this, so that people think before they buy a competitor’s product. We are going to have one better the end of next year. I guess it’s ok if they consider this device a complete different new line of product.

I feel it is too close to the Surface line and people are going to wait for the foldable devices next year. These devices aren’t yearly products. People are going to say, I won’t buy the new Surface this year and wait until next year for the foldable device.

I do wonder if to an extent this impacts Microsoft less than it would other companies, such as Apple or Samsung. After all, MS is primarily in the software and services business.

If the Duo design gets copied, then that’s more compelling Android phones on the market. I’m sure MS would prefer to see more Android sales than iPhones, since the platform is more open and they can integrate their services more tightly, such as the new Your Phone App. I’d also imagine with MS going all in on the dual screen concept, their apps such as Outlook and OneNote will work better with a dual screen form factors than others, which could increase usage.

As for the Neo, if anything I’d imagine MS wants the design to be copied to drive adoption of Windows 10X.

I may be misremembering, but I believe the initial idea of the Surface line was to produce ‘reference’ products which OEMs could implement themselves, a way for MS to better influence the evolution of hardware and form factors.

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Everything I know I learned from that Windows Weekly Show. :grin: I remember that being the spin when they first came out. In the last episode or so I think @MaryJo and <not-here-yet@>thurrott are saying that is not the case anymore.

They probably did intend it to be a reference device, at least in part, but I don’t doubt they were secretly hoping it would take off in sales, even if it meant competing with their partners. It’s something they had to say to assuage their partners, regardless.

I think at the beginning of their hardware “journey” (I hate that term), they did try to justify becoming a PC maker by saying they were doing reference type designs. But it’s obvious, at least to me, they are now in it to make money. They are still trying to address the upper end of the market, but they want to do what they can to increase volume.

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