Owen Williams tells his experience with the Surface Book 2

I have enjoyed reading Owen Williams in-depth review of the experience he’s had with his Microsoft Surface Book 2 (hat tip to Michael Tsai for linking to it on his blog).

I truly understand where Williams comes from, as I understand his surprised amazement in places of his review when talking about how some aspect of the hardware or software he didn’t expect to work that well… actually worked that well. I understand because over the past months I myself have been on a sort of path of rediscovery of Microsoft products.

And it wasn’t really my decreasing enthusiasm towards Apple products or direction that triggered my interest for what fellow long-time Mac users call “The Dark Side”. It all started with a genuine curiosity to have a firsthand experience with Windows Phone 8.1 and its Metro interface. Like Williams, I did not expect to enjoy my exploration that much — and I was using what is now considered a ‘dead’ platform. But that positive experience with Windows Phone 8.1 left me oddly wanting for more, so shortly afterwards I acquired a Nokia Lumia 830 and tried out Windows 10 Mobile. And recently I’ve added a ThinkPad T61 and a ThinkPad T400 to my collection of vintage computers, and I’m writing this from the T400 running Windows 8.1 Pro. (I’m currently using the T61 as a test machine for Linux distributions).

Mind you, I’m not leaving the Apple ecosystem anytime soon — I’ve just placed an order for a new iMac, in fact. But in recent times I’ve really felt I was being perhaps too prejudiced towards other ecosystems. Especially in Microsoft’s case, I realised I was holding on to old views and impressions, most of them from when I was still using Windows PCs along with Macs on a frequent basis; and those were the times of Windows 98 before, and of Windows XP sometime later.

Lately I have decided that today, if you’re into technology, and if you write about technology, you can’t afford to remain confined in one and only platform, ecosystem, walled garden. Of course, everyone has their devices and operating systems of choice, but it really helps your perspective in any technological debate if you have some direct knowledge of other systems, to avoid resorting to hearsay, outdated clichés or fossilised notions that simply no longer match reality.

What I appreciated about Williams’ attitude is the way he approached the new device. While being sceptical of the 2‑in‑1 format, or of a Microsoft product altogether, he didn’t let his initial scepticism get in the way of his exploration. He set out with a Let’s see how this goes mindset, and only when things were starting to work unexpectedly well did he let his enthusiasm for the Surface Book 2 come out.

Those people who just can’t conceive that other companies besides Apple may bring a bit of innovation to the table should take the time to read Williams’ review. It’s not just a piece telling you that ‘There’s life outside the Apple ecosystem’; it also contains some interesting observations like this one:

I recently realized that one of the big issues with the search for great ultra-powerful laptops, like the constant moaning about the MacBook Pro, is we’re asking so much more from them than the thermal envelope is able to deliver[.]

Essentially, we all want laptops that can handle desktop-class workloads along with great battery life and a lightweight package. Most of us shifted from being chained to a beefy desktop PC when working and a laptop on the go to a different world: a single, powerful laptop that can do it all, both on the desk and on the go.

I think that expectation, often, is why people are disappointed in modern laptops — we’re pushing up against thermal limitations, imposed by the form factors we desire, and many of them just don’t live up to those demands.

While the MacBook Pros are pretty capable machines, performance-wise, Apple has clearly prioritised the ‘great battery life’ and ‘lightweight package’ features. I certainly appreciate a lightweight laptop, but I’ve always been of the opinion that Apple shouldn’t have these same priorities for all their laptops. Push battery performance and extreme lightness in more consumer-oriented machines; make at least one Pro laptop that is a bit thicker, trading some battery life for a more desktop-class CPU performance, and maybe a bit more variety in the I/O department.

Back to Williams’ review, I agree with a lot of it, but I have to say that his frustration towards Apple is rather apparent in places. This in turn affects certain remarks. Case in point — I’m not 100% with him where he writes [emphasis his]:

Apple is full of nonsense when it says things at WWDC like it doesn’t believe laptops should have the ability to use touch because it results in a less than ideal experience — it couldn’t be further from the truth.

I’ve come to believe that Apple only says this because it wants to sell you iPads. As a result, Mac users are missing out on one of the shifts in computing I think that matters: the blurring of boundaries between different interaction models, from mouse to touch, all of the time.

Instead of moving the mouse to close a window, or quickly change the sound, I just tap it, and it’s so much easier to do that when you switch back to a MacBook, you’ll find yourself trying to tap the screen almost immediately.

While there may be an opportunistic angle behind Apple’s position, at the same time I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to keep things and interfaces separated. 2‑in‑1 devices like the Surface Book 2 are certainly useful and do have a target audience, but I still think they’re not for everybody. For some people, a tablet is really enough. Others do everything with their laptops, and when it’s not enough, maybe they get a smaller tablet to use for consumption purposes for the most part.

But it’s that blurring of boundaries between different interaction models, from mouse to touch what doesn’t fully convince me. Not yet, at least. Unfortunately I still haven’t had the opportunity to really try any 2‑in‑1 device (my attempt at a local computer store was mistaken for a keen interest in purchasing a €2,500 device, and the clerk was just too eager to ‘help me out’ for my tastes), so essentially I only have screenshots as base for my observations, but when the Surface Book is in tablet mode, it doesn’t seem that the interface really adapts to the new input method. Icons, targets, UI elements remain at the same size and position as when the device is in laptop mode. I suspect that it’s because in tablet mode the stylus, more than the finger, is considered the main input method. And while I’m sure you can touch and interact with some interface elements with your fingers, you’re really supposed to just use the stylus for most tasks.

Sure, since with the Surface Book you 1) have a stylus with you all the time anyway; and, 2) you’re already holding the tablet like a clipboard and using the stylus as a precise input device; then what’s the point of adapting the user interface with more generously-sized targets or a reshuffling of the UI elements to make them more reachable, prominent, and finger-touch-friendly? Still, it would be a nice-to-have option.

Secondly, a convertible 2‑in‑1 device is undoubtedly versatile as Williams remarks, but having a laptop and a tablet as separate devices has its versatility, too. It’s true that you can use the Surface Book as a tablet, and then, when you need more power, you can attach the tablet to the keyboard base and voilà, you have your laptop. But if you’re open to that possibility when out and about, it means you’re always carrying the whole package with you. And well, sometimes you just need a tablet and a lightweight physical keyboard.

As for the last paragraph of that quote above, when I get back to my MacBook after a long session with the iPad, I really don’t reach for the screen when I need to close a window or change the volume — I use keyboard shortcuts, which, for me (for me) are even faster. And this is perhaps why regular laptops with a touch screen still feel weird to me. Despite using multi-touch smartphones since 2008 and tablets since 2011, every time I’m in front of a laptop, I’ll just instinctively switch to ‘keyboard + trackpad mode’ and forget about the touch screen. Similarly, when I use my iPads in laptop configuration, I try to touch the screen only when there’s no other way to carry out an action. (I’m so glad the Logitech iPad Keyboard and Stand Combo I use with my iPad 1 has a Home button and also a Lock button, so I can sleep/wake the iPad without moving my hands away from the keyboard).

I suspect my behaviour comes from decades of using traditional computers, with a baggage of dozens of memorised keyboard shortcuts that make me faster than someone who’s more accustomed to reaching out and touching the screen, thus using touch gestures as shortcuts. I’m not saying my way is better than the other, but when I’m at my Mac for long hours, I do find that mastering keyboard shortcuts is less tiring, faster and more accurate than lifting my finger (or stylus) at the screen every so often. I have the feeling that Federighi and other Apple engineers belong to a similar school of thought. It’s not just to sell more iPads. It’s an interface design choice. And I’m okay with that. But I also think that Microsoft’s implementation has its merits.

So yes, all that said, I tend to agree with Williams — devices like the Surface Book 2 are indeed an interesting and innovative direction. I’m simply concerned that the “blurring of boundaries between different interaction models” may ultimately produce user interfaces with usability and discoverability issues, and result in a unbalanced, confusing mix; e.g. If I use the stylus to tap once on an element to activate it, when I’m using a mouse or trackpad, do I similarly click on it once or twice? And what if an application features some complex gestures like double- or triple-tapping? How does it translate when you’re not using the device in tablet mode? And what if a series of gestures and commands are consistent across the operating system software, but then their behaviour changes within different apps? I know, people adapt, and maybe this turns out to be a non-issue in practice, but in my career as a consultant I have seen many (non-tech) people get confused with far less. I think that creating ‘convertible interfaces’ is a more intricate task than creating well-designed convertible devices.