So Microsoft finally did it. After months of rumors, they showed up with a tablet that has a keyboard built into the cover, and apparently that's supposed to be revolutionary. The Surface, they're calling it. This is the tablet that'll replace your laptop, they said. I've been thinking about nothing else for like ten days, which probably says something either about my tech blog obsession or about how absurdly confident Microsoft seemed while showing this thing off. Probably both.
The Surface itself looks... fine? It's thin, it's got a 16:9 aspect ratio (not a square like the iPad, which is already kind of weird for a tablet), and there's this kickstand that actually looks surprisingly elegant. You flip it out and it just sits there at some workable angle. I get that. I appreciate the thought that went into it.
But here's what I keep coming back to, and I genuinely don't understand why nobody else seems as confused about this as I am: the keyboard cover is NOT a laptop keyboard. It's built into the fabric cover. Fabric. They're putting the buttons in the same material as the cover. How is that supposed to feel decent for actual work? I tried typing on my phone's cover once and immediately understood why that's a terrible idea. Microsoft's telling us this Touch Cover thing has less key travel than a traditional keyboard and is designed for lighter, finger-based typing, and sure, I believe them, but if I'm supposed to replace my laptop with this, I'd still want to, you know, be able to type comfortably on it.
There's also an optional Type Cover with actual mechanical switches, but that costs extra. Everything costs extra with these things. The 32GB model is $499, the 64GB is $599, and those prices don't include the keyboard. That's iPad money, except the iPad already exists and people know what they're getting.
What I do think is clever is the whole approach. Microsoft's not pretending the Surface is a tablet first. They're not coming at this from "here's a big phone" like everyone else. They're saying "here's a Windows machine that happens to have a touchscreen." Windows 8's supposed to come out later this year, and it's built for touch, so theoretically this device makes sense in context. If you want to use actual Windows software on a tablet, well, now you can. Office works on it. Real applications work on it. That's interesting.
But I also wonder if Microsoft's thinking about this totally backwards. The reason iPads and Android tablets work is that people don't want to sit down with the full experience of a real computer. They want something lighter. The iPad doesn't run Mac OS. It runs a different, simpler operating system. And it's made for that. Trying to cram Windows into a tablet form factor... I mean, we've seen Microsoft try that before. It didn't end well.
The weirdest part is that reviewers got about twenty minutes with this thing at the event. Twenty minutes. You can't possibly know if a keyboard works for you in twenty minutes. You can't know if the tablet-ness of Windows 8 is even good. We're all just supposed to take Microsoft's word for it and then buy the thing when it ships later this year alongside Windows 8.
I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong and the Surface is exactly what some people need. Maybe people really do want Windows on a tablet. Maybe the Touch Cover feels better than I think it will. But Microsoft's banking heavily on a bet that "tablet that runs real Windows" is something millions of people have been secretly wanting. I'm skeptical. I think they've confused "tablet people" with "laptop people," and those are actually different groups with different needs.
Still watching though. When these things actually ship, I'll try to spend some real time with one instead of twenty minutes in a convention hall.