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A comment on The Microsoft Surface Pro Proves That The PC Is Back. Parent comment

Re:The Microsoft Surface Pro Proves That The PC Is Back by rationalthink on Wednesday February 06, 2013 @11:24AM (#5177197)
"I really think the blending of tablets and laptops is a bad idea."

Reason? What's the problem with "touch interfaces plus a keyboard"? Many thought the iPad was a bad idea, but its sales suggest the opposite. After all, an iPad is a "touch interface with a smaller keyboard on the screen", right?

"you've got to take into account the types of gestures people are naturally accustomed to plus the size of touch targets" Were people accustomed to the iPod touch interface when they first used it? No, it was completely new and different at the time of its introduction but younger generations picked it up really quickly because it was intuitive. I still find older generations struggling to use the iPod/iPhone/iPad.

You're making too many assumptions with this post. Go out, give the Microsoft Surface Pro a try, an unbiased try, and then report on your findings. It's much more credible that way.

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Re:The Microsoft Surface Pro Proves That The PC Is Back by bpatrianakos on Wednesday February 06, 2013 @11:49AM (#5177401)
To your points, the reason I think the blending of tablets and laptops is a bad idea is because they're made for very different tasks. The moment you add a keyboard to a tablet, no matter who makes it, you've put distance between yourself and the device and negate a lot of the benefits you're supposed to get from it. Are there times when the keyboard is necessary? Absolutely but I'd argue that having it attached lends itself to being used more often and thus you end up with a really small, low power laptop-ish thing. From my experience and what I've seen others experience, having the keyboard as something totally separate and only pulled out on a rare occassion makes a person less apt to use it and therefore they end up using the device how it was meant to be used - as a portable computer made for really quick tasks that don't require tons of precision like checking movie times, shooting of a short email, etc.

To your second point, I don't think I'm making too many assumptions. The laptop with a touch screen isn't a new idea, we've had them for a few years now. If you've got a laptop that responds to touch you need a Metro-like interface for it, which like I said, is cool for a tablet but when you get down to business you end up just going for the mouse and keyboard and the touch screen ends up as a gimmick until you're back in I'm-carrying-this-thing-around-one-handed-and-doing-a-quick-thing-here-and-there mode.

Yeah, I haven't used the Surface pro, you're right. And if I had used it I would then be a credible source but I'm not trying to be credible here. I'm not a journalist. I'm a guy on HN like a lot of others who's sharing my thoughts, experiences and opinions. I'm not claiming to be an expert and you can see I use a lot of "I think"'s and "in my experience"'s in what I say. Everyone's mileage may vary but unless I'm making totally off the wall unfounded crazy suggestions or until I decide I'm going to write a report I expect people to cite I think I have just as much right to what I say as a lot of others here who haven't used it but have an opinion. Now, I have used the RT and a bunch of Windows8 laptops and desktops. So it's not like I've been living in a bubble and have no clue about what these devices look, feel, or work like.

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