What an evening it was for me watching Microsoft October event.
The announcement of next version of Windows 10 (Creators Edition), which aims to make creation of 3D content accessible to every PC user. In recent years especially with iPad and Smartphones there was an obsession by OEMs in focusing consumption only use cases in their devices. When I started using computers (PC) nearly 3 decades back the excitement I got was in making stuff; creating documents, writing programs, editing images and so on. With modern day Personal Computers and Mac machines phenomenal capabilities are available and as computer engineers we need to educate kids and creators about the possibilities. I like the effort Microsoft is doing towards this by branding Windows 10 next version to be one that’s designed for people who create things. A new version of MS Paint is welcome too :-)
What followed blow me away. I am talking about the announcement of Surface Studio, while there were leaks about an All-In-PC I never imagined Microsoft will be unveiling a device this exciting. The energy levels displayed on stage by Surface creator Panos Panay was infectious; the man speaks at such a rapid rate that his next sentence overlaps the first one he is still talking.
At a price tag of $3000-4500 these devices are certainly not cheap. But it’s not about volumes with Surface Studio. It’s about Microsoft managing to kickstart innovation in Desktop PC design by OEMs which has been stagnating for decades. Apple looks seriously outdated with their iMacs and not having touch in their Mac displays, they need to be bold enough to get over Steve Jobs dictum made a decade ago of not having touch in vertical displays. Today touch is such a natural interface for millennials that any device not having it feels artificially constrained in your workflow.
I hope I can convince my wife to buy myself a Surface Studio whenever it gets released in India.