How Microsoft's Surface tablet was born

[bosamar]

How Microsoft's Surface tablet was born | Microsoft - CNET News

 

[ArnoldC]

This C|Net article is just a wrapper to The Verge's, but neither mentions the Origins of the Surface

 

[J515OP]

This C|Net article is just a wrapper to The Verge's, but neither mentions the Origins of the Surface

Yes it is. From the Verge article:

"The goal was, you gotta bring Windows 8 to life," says Microsoft's Panos Panay, general manager of the Surface team. Looking at the vision of Windows 8 and other Microsoft products, Panay was tasked with creating a tablet that would encompass everything Microsoft had to offer.

After the project was commissioned by Windows chief Julie Larson-Green, Panos Panay started to form a team of 12 people to tackle the task of creating a vision for what would become Surface. Panay previously worked on Microsoft's PixelSense table (formerly known as Surface) and slowly grew the Surface team from 12 people to 30 people, then on to 80 people and beyond.

"When we started and kind of all the visions were coming together, it was clear we were gonna go make a tablet," he reveals in an interview with The Verge recently.

The Surface tablet started with the concept that people should be able to do more than competitor tablets.

and that's how the Surface was born

 

[ArnoldC]

I am actually listening to Evanescence Bring Me To Life

Sorry, if I go way back way before the current Surface.

 

[J515OP]

I'm listening to Imagine Dragons, Radio Active. Also appropriate I suppose

MS has been at this for a long time. I think it is originally Bill's brain child coming from tablet PCs though PixelSense and Courier to eventually get to the Surface. A lot of technology had to fall in place (faster, smaller and more efficient) to get this where it is now. I think Bill is smiling though.

 

[dtalexone]

Apple fanboys would have you believe that it was Steve Jobs who initially came up with the idea of a portable computer/tablet. =D

 

[ArnoldC]

Apple fanboys would have you believe that it was Steve Jobs who initially came up with the idea of a portable computer/tablet. =D

If they will consider Pencept insignificant, then the Newton is it. The Microsoft Tablet PC was nearly a decade after it.