the accountants’ first look at microsoft surface

and the plethora of new tablets. 

by randy johnston 
network management group 

microsoft surface has shipped, and i was one of the lucky people to get one of the very first units. we are going to see many new tablets released this fall including the ipad mini, which i have on order ($634.99), as well as the new ipad4 and replacements for the google nexus7 and samsung galaxy tab 2 that i own, like and use. the tablet operating systems, usability and applications improve daily. i am the most productive on a tablet with a keyboard, but that may not be true for you. my skin type requires touching a screen multiple times for the touch to be recognized. for example, it is normal right now that i have to touch my iphone 5 2-5 times for each character i type. this past friday, i counted 17 touches to type a single letter. interestingly, though, is that the microsoft surface has not required me to touch the screen multiple times. i’m not sure if there is a technology difference that makes this touch actually work, or if it is something else, but it is fun to have a correctly working touch surface!

it is helpful for you to know that i have used every apple ipad and every apple iphone since release. i “get” how apple’s technology is supposed to work.

for business purposes, the microsoft surface may be a better product.
but should you wait?