Microsoft Surface Touch keyboards self-destruct – and more It appears that your brand-spanking-new Microsoft Surface may need more than the security patch The Reg told you about – you may also need a physical patch for its Touch Cover keyboard. According to multiple posts on Microsoft's Surface Forum, the edge of Surface Touch keyboards can split open at the seam where the keyboard- …
I don't think they're particularly crying for sympathy. From one of the posters in the thread linked in the article:
"All this aside, I have to emphasize that I think the Surface, with the Windows 8 live tile interface, is a technological generation ahead of iOS and Android. I'm extremely satisfied with the device and would never think of exchanging it for any other tablet. Let's hope we don't get quoted out of context again by some in the media that lift our posts."
Something that was missed from the screaming headlnie in the Register. Every day, they get a little more like the Daily Mail or the Sun in their pursuit of clicks.
Fallapartgate has a nice ring to it, and it's great to see this picking up so much press now:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2012/nov/09/microsoft-surface-cover-flaw
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57547549-75/surface-tablets-touch-cover-splits-at-seam-users-gripe/
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-admits-surface-keyboard-splitting-problem-7000007189/
1. Are they pretending that the problem does not exist?
2. Are they blaming the customer for the problem?
3. Do they appear to be promptly replacing the equipment?
It would appear that the answers to questions 1 and 2 at least are an interesting study in contrasts to A Certain Famously Cool Hardware Producer.
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Seems this is exactly what they are doing now with the launch of Microsoft Reality Distortion Field 1.0. See it in action here, where they claim their lower resolution display gives a higher resolution than a, err, higher resolution one:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57534066-75/microsoft-surface-beats-the-ipad-in-display-quality/
As much as I respect some of the things Microsoft does there's one thing I've learned over the past years when dealing with Microsoft products...
You should never get a version 1.0 product from Microsoft; whether its hardware or software is totally irrelevant. That is; unless you're willing to play beta tester and are prepared to deal with several flaws which most likely are going to surface (some pun intended).
And I'm not saying this to badmouth MS; I'm saying so because this is exactly what MS history has shown us, time and time again. MS Expression 1.0 (website editor somewhat based on Dreamweaver)? 1.0 has potential but was full of bugs and often crashed. The current version (4) has become much more stable and is actually quite usable (and enjoyable if you're into this stuff). Windows Vista first release? Windows XP first release? Windows 7 first release? They all got their service packs and from there on things became a lot better.
More recent hardware examples? Windows Phone 7? The first release didn't even have a task scheduler; while Outlook is very useful (IMO) for task management; the first release of the Windows Phone didn't bother to support it. Only the first major update (7.5) brought in task support. And even that is still lacking because while you can sync your appointments and contacts over the Internet with Outlook (or other software) you still can't do this with task lists (not even with Windows Phone 8).
Microsoft ergonomic keyboards anyone? Their current versions are pretty slick and useful, but I've heard just too many complaints about earlier versions to include as an example too.
Of course not all their v1.0 products are 'bad'. But history does show you that if you pick up a v1.0 you're taking certain risks to be confronted with design flaws and other bugs.
As such; I'm not really surprised here.
> You should never get a version 1.0 product from Microsoft; whether its hardware or software is totally irrelevant.
Indeed! I was somewhat surprised to find that you can't install Windows 8 on a computer if it happens to have an SD card in a slot, or an 'unsupported' USB memory stick plugged in somewhere. It'll show you your available hard drive partitions, but when you select one it'll say "we can't find an available partition."
I would have thought just a small amount of testing would have revealed that problem early on.
Windows to Go only works on supported USB drives:
"Windows To Go certified flash drives are built for high random read/write speeds and support the thousands of random access I/O operations per second required for running normal Windows workloads smoothly."
So, yeah, your piece of crap freebie USB drive given away at the last conference won't be considered good enough, but there's a reason for that.
Meanwhile the Nexus 7 is still to this day coming apart (well known screen lifting issue) and even catching fire, but no media dare say it lest they be downranked by Google.
"I would buy a Nexus 7 that was currently on fire before any sort of Surface"
Well if you actually meant that, I would happily buy a series of Nexus 7's, set fire to them and exchange them on a one to one basis for SurfaceRTs with you and by your value system you would be coming out ahead. But I suspect you don't actually mean that. If you do, just let me know... ;)
Lets see, I'm a disabled, lesbian, atheist living in America and you ask me why the Tea Party's sorrow and Mitt Romey's failure fills me with soft joy? Really?
As for Microsoft, I spent 20 years fixing their junk. I earned my right to enjoy their sorrow, they certainly profited from mine.
There's absolutely no reason for a disabled lesbian atheist to hate on the Tea Party, nor vice versa. This hate between blue and red has to stop. There's no yin without yang. With this attitude, the US of A will go down the shitter.
As you expect others to respect the way you think, you should respect the way others think. And then things will get better.
Get real. I'm not sitting stewing, I'm laughing at how badly they take being on the bottom, They take it poorly.
They assumed they owned the world. They lost an election and now they want to form new parties because the Republicans were not CONSERVATIVE enough! They felt their cause was too holy to be taken out by a majority. They needed a reality check and we gave them one.
There is no reason hate them? These are the people who spent millions of dollars on trying to make sure I can't get married. They have had my family made illegal in 31 states, They tried it in mine and we won by the skin of our teeth after a year long fight.
These are the people who reduced our government to a standstill. Did they care about jobs? No, did the care about the economy? NO, but they tried to overturn the law that keeps insurance companies from denying care to sick children 31 times. Because helping people is supposedly "socialist" Rather than work on the any of our many problems, their only goal for the last four years was to grind government to a standstill so Obama would be a one term president. This is not tinfoil hat stuff, this was their expressed goal. Enough people saw through it, and we voted. In unprecedented, unheard of numbers we voted.
These are the people who are trying to make their very specific stripe of religion the law of the land, the ones who feel that the promise of religious freedom only covers THEIR faiths, they wanted to take that freedom and replace it with theocracy. We said no.
These are the people who are trying to stop the health care that keeps me alive. The people who consider the social security I WORKED for to be the same as welfare.
These are the people who took one business after another, looted its resources and outsourced the work to line their pockets. Then they called the people who suddenly found they were unemployed in an economy with no jobs unregenerate takers while they lined their pockets with bailout money and other peoples pension funds.
These are the people who have tried for fifty years to rid the US of Social security, as its an "entitlement" unlike, billionaire parents and untaxed trust funds.
These are the people who are derisive on the news bout how we want "things". Yes, we want things, food, shelter and medication. Gosh, how evil.
I don't know how you can say there is no reason for animosity,either you don't live here, you are colossally ignorant, or you simply have not been thrown under the wheels of this phenomena. Yet.
"These are the people who reduced our government to a standstill."
I'm an ignorant Brit, but I thought that was how the US was designed? Checks and balances and no forward movement? Perhaps I've been reading too much Robert Caro.
Mind you, we could do with a few checks and balances in the UK. I've realised over the last few months that our dear Secretary of State for Education can change the entire examination system for under 18s without having to have even a debate in parliament!
Best of luck.
Oh, yes, we are supposed to be discussing hardware. I want a netbook with a 9 inch monochrome electric paper display, proper keyboard and a battery life measured in weeks. Sort of like a Kindle mated to an AlphaSmart. Anyone rate my chances?
"Oh, yes, we are supposed to be discussing hardware. I want a netbook with a 9 inch monochrome electric paper display, proper keyboard and a battery life measured in weeks. Sort of like a Kindle mated to an AlphaSmart. Anyone rate my chances?"
Unlikely because of the combination of keyboard and electronic paper. The refresh rate on the latter makes it unsuitable for use with fast input methords such as full keyboard. One of the early Kindle's had keyboard with e-paper, but it had limited usefulness even then. Maybe if there are faster versions of e-paper out there that I haven't seen yet, but I'm afraid you're probably out of luck with the complete list of requirements. If fuel-cells regain popularity as an area of research, you might see much longer battery lifes, though I think they've been shelved for the time being.
"Lets see, I'm a disabled, lesbian, atheist living in America and you ask me why the Tea Party's sorrow and Mitt Romey's failure fills me with soft joy? Really?"
Not really, no. I was asking why you expressed pleasure at seeing people suffer from defective products. "Schadenfreude" was the word you used. I.e. pleasure in other's misfortunes. You threw in the jab at Republicans yourself and I'm neither interested in that aspect nor sure how you expect me to know that you are disabled, lesbian or atheist.
"As for Microsoft, I spent 20 years fixing their junk. I earned my right to enjoy their sorrow, they certainly profited from mine"
Presumably what you actually earned was money and if you spent twenty years doing it, I can only assume you must have got some satisfaction from it (if only the joy of complaining) else you would have done something else - twenty years is plenty of time for you to have re-skilled and, for example, come over and joined us on the UNIX side of the fence.
That aside, your bitterness is not a good reason for present enjoyment at some other people's problems. It doesn't exactly lead to a better world. Presumably you think that MS replacing a few keyboard covers is a step toward their destruction. They had to do a lot more replacements of Xboxes some time ago, and the Xbox is very popular today, is it not?
My concern would be even as late at 2009, there are stil many reports of xBox 360 failing at a high rate. While a video game console can fail with little short of long term effect, just send it in for warranty repair, a failure of a tablet can be a significant issue, especially if it is not a toy. So there is no reason to expect the surface is going to be any different. There is no evidence that MS can make a reliable piece of hardware.
I dunno, I had a Microsoft Intellimouse for quite a long time. Silly name, but great mouse; I used it on my Mac for quite a number of years. It was absolutely indestructible; I only stopped using it because it ended up disappearing on me last time I moved.
So that's one reliable piece of hardware, at least.
I've been using Intellimice for a very long time (nearly a decade) and they truly are indestructible. So were the old MS Office keyboards. They can certainly pull off some reliable hardware if they want to.
Funny you said the thing about moving because my MS Office keyboard and my first optical mouse got lost in a move.
I've still got a Sidewinder Precision Pro 2 joystick that works just as well now as it did when I bought it, despite there being no official drivers (about 12 years ago). Never had static problems with it, either (which is apparently an issue with USB Sidewinders).
I never understood why MS killed off the Sidewinder line. IMHO that ranks up there with canceling MS Flight Sim firing the dev team, then trying to resurrect it as some weird free to play MMO type thing.
Microsoft AFAIK does not make the Surface like it didn't make the intellimouse. I think you may find that little rodent was made by Logitech.
The Surface is probably made, sorry assembled by the likes of Foxcon allbeit to Microsoft's design.
If the logo is coming off after only a few days and the keyboard is falling apart then these should be replaced under warranty. If MS play hardball then sue them just like you would if this bit of kit had a Google or Apple logo on the device.
MS do not really have much track record in industrial design unlike many other companies. Couple this with their totalt disrespect for conventional UI design then you have a recepie for a big and expensive failure.
Perhaps Surface V2 will be better but I'd expect that to be at least a year away unless these issues are just the tip of the iceberg.
I think you may find that little rodent was made by Logitech.
That may explain why the Anywhere MX I have seems to show the same signs of robustness. I have 3 of the damn things (1 on a Linux box, one on an iMac and one on my Macbook) as it's the one mouse which (a) works everywhere and is (b) EXACTLY the right size for my hand (doesn't force my hand upwards into RSI territory).
They are, quite simply, *brilliant*. Even on the glass desk I have.
Yes, I have tried the Apple mice. They can keep them.
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Microsoft UK Store is a website. And it seems to be completely non compliant with the DSR requirements. So I guess under UK law you get 6 months and a day to return anything you dont like under the DSR rather than the standard 7 days....As they seem to be based out of Ireland make sure you use a credit card if you shop there and want to be able to require them to comply with UK laws....
Maybe the keyboard is breaking a little too quickly, but the logo wearing out makes me wonder if there is a plan to this.
Bearing in mind reports that the iPhone 5 scratches easily, I wonder if the aim on the part of both MS and Apple is to show wear as quickly as possible, so that the fans of shininess are forced to upgrade to the next version as soon as it is available - or else appear to be too poor to afford to look cool.
Obviously, as with Job's blaming iThingy users for holding the defective model incorrectly, MS has to issue a similar admonishment.
At such time, Apple will jump up and say: We invented Wrong Way Holding!
Buy an Android, they have no restrictions.
Someone is gonna have to prise this hardware out of my cold dead hand (right or left - doesn't matter)!
I have flung this across the room in a hissy fit before and the cover came off and the batteries flew out! Once I'd located the batteries, popped them back in and put the unbroken cover back on. It was working perfectly!
This must rival the Nokia 3310 as the hardest substance known to geek!
Can't say I'm surprised. This isn't a Microsoft-bash, but if you've seen the ads, the keyboard looks like a floppy piece of rubber with solid bits shoved into it. I mean, I thought it'd last more than a week but it really doesn't look durable.
On an unrelated matter, the ads look dumb (the one people are just repeatedly trading keyboards and slapping them onto each others tablets). The other ones show people a) web surfing b) watching movies/tv and c) using an (actually somewhat fun looking) paint program. That's cool but I'm not going to buy a new windows machine just to web surf and watch movies, thanks.
Sorry, I am having a problem understanding how that is a bad thing. Microsoft should be congratulated on ensuring minimal embarrassment for people with surface tablets but couldn't they have just made it a sticker so you could rip it off quickly instead of having to spend hours scratching it off?
Not even Sinclair managed this.
Keyboards, mice, and laptops back in the day worked properly, now they break if you so much as hold or close them wrong. As customers/consumers (and therein lies the problem, it seems we're consumers more than customers) we can choose between between shiny, expensive, and practically unfixable and unexpandable or plastic and mediocre. If they don't fall apart within the first few weeks of life they fall apart after two years and one day of use.
Bah, humbug.
...and back then it was always sunny, right? I remember when a 386 PC (not the real thing, but a cheapo local clone) cost a months salary, and it broke down more than anything that's on sale now.
Just about all tech gear is much better and much cheaper - no need for nostalgia unless you're fond of calculators (XKCD).
I've got a Surface and like it a lot. Interesting how much noise is generated by people wanting to put down Microsoft. Clearly MS has some ground to make up, may never happen I suppose, but at the same time for me, I really like the Surface form factor, the keyboard - which works remarkably well - isn't separating, the label isn't wearing off etc... Naysayers won't prevent me from using and enjoying it. Also, most everybody that I show it to immediately "gets" it.
I would not dream of buying this POS
BUT
To be honest, Microsoft's hardware has allways been of a very high build quality. From the first Natural Keyboard costing 100 quid I saved up for 20 odd years ago to anything physical with the Microsoft name printed on it. Their kit is allways solid and it feels like something you could use as a weapon in a pub fight.
I think they are allowed a fuck up occasionally, its made the headlines because it is so unlike Microsoft to do this. Unlike Apple's products where people actively speculate on the massive issues the next version of the Itat will have months before it is released.
Give M$ a break here!
Ironic, isn't it? The one thing that hitherto Microsoft has done well -- hardware -- should be the big let-down now. Typing this on an old and battered Microsoft keyboard and beside it is a Microsoft mouse. No, neither of them is perfect -- the glides have long-since gone from the mouse and label is simply worn off the underside, while the keyboard has not only lost the lettering off some keys, but the plastic of the key-tops is deeply scored and eroded from use. Now, if their software were remotely-comparable in terms of quality and fitness for purpose, I'd be delighted. It seems, however, that their hardware is descending to the quality of their software, rather than vice versa.
In my case at least (and I am sure in the case of a lot of people who complain about them), if Microsoft had ever delivered a complete IOS that worked, I would have had to find a real job and maybe work hard for a living?
Rather than pain, We should be thanking them for giving us a job :)
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