Having grown up in the transistor boom of the late 50’-60’s, lyricists are my poets and bards…
1 Like
BTW; Since we are in full on conspiracy mode…
One “proof” the crowd sites is that in the Office Suite, only Word is genuinely “homegrown” (though it actually came from a MS Mac product first) and Project is essentially a hybrid of an app they created originally for internal use combined with a couple of companies who they either acquired outright or bought the tech for.
The rest including Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook started life in 3rd party companies.
And as to “Stuck In The Middle With You” , I’d argue the scene in Reservoir Dogs with that song is peak Tarantino and is one of my very favorite heist movies.
As a boomer watching my contemporaries chase what’s left of those bards (as their ticket prices skyrocket) and the concerts become sing alongs, I’ve come to the conclusion it is a communal liturgy born of FM radio and perpetuated by streaming. Amen.
FWIW - consider Sondheim’s “Send In The Clowns.”
3 Likes
Hey, don’t leave us AM birthers out of all this…
2 Likes
AGREED! If someone else didn’t say this–I would have!
It was a right of passage in 60’s to sneak your AM transistor radio under your pillow to listen to Wolfman Jack from that border blaster station across the river from Del Rio…
OMG - I sound as bad as my old man talking about 78’s…
1 Like
For me (growing up in NJ in the late 50s early 60s) it was listening to NYC’s WABC with Dan Ingram, “cousin” Bruce Morrow, et. al–ALSO in bed under a pillow! In January 1964 I remember doing so while staying awake until 10:00 PM to hear the U.S. release of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” when it first played on the air.
BTW, I still have my Dad’s 78s!
Perhaps it was that AM transitor radio that kindled my passion for technology!
Well I think this may actually be the only board on the internet that I feel relatively youthful.
I wasn’t even a gleam in my father’s eye in 1964 
Though my first “tech product” was a Sony Am/FM pocket radio.Which BTW for a time, Sony radios were the best hands down
1 Like
SHAME ON YOU for age shaming!
@rabmsn - we are brothers from another mother! Unfortunately I didn’t keep dad’s 78’s…
1 Like
I remember doing that with a “crystal radio” with the single earphone.
1 Like
In Swedish they’re called “stonecakes”, being so hard compared to vinyl.
2 Likes
My pocket sized Sony Transistor radio with single earphone was a prized possession.
AND for the “younger ones” out there: 11 Movies and TV Shows That’ll Make You Nostalgic for Bygone Gadgets - WSJ
and
Tech Nostalgia: BlackBerrys, Dictaphones and 11 More Things We Miss in 2023 - WSJ
1 Like
Zac Bowden wrote an interesting retrospective of Neo/Duo and the direction of MS , but it is the comment from “taynjack” that I’ve copied below that blew me away (for full comment check out the article, but it didn’t add much to the impact of the parts I’m quoting - these are the commentor’s words, but tend to agree):
"taynjack
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how Microsoft
Used to make me smile
And I knew if they had a chance
Microsoft could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while
But Satya made me shiver
With every paper you’d(windows central) deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I screamed
When Panos’ chose himself be weaned
Something touched me deep inside
The day Microsoft died
My first day back to Windowscentral in several months and all I see is the death of Microsoft as I once knew it. It seems they peaked in 2019 then completely fell apart. Panos, the last hope of anything creative coming from Microsoft has left the company. Surface Duo won’t make version 3, which means I won’t ever own one. Satya further streamlining the Surface line means it’s apparent that Surface Studio will never reach it’s epic potential. I find myself with nothing left to root for at Microsoft… My condolences to the writers here, but there just isn’t the compelling stories Microsoft used to generate to keep me coming back daily, if ever again.
This comment room is as empty as ever. It seems everyone else already left. So, I’ll shut the lights out and lock up on my way out. Farewell to anyone who is still left here."
4 Likes
Take a deep breath Surface division is not dead yet 
(we still have strong Pro and SLS entries, decent Go entry, and possibly good Laptop update next release).
2 Likes
Sorry - not me - that’s part of the quote (will edit) - but have to agree with the writer…
1 Like
Part of me can’t help but wonder what the death of Surface would even look like.
One complication would be the enterprise/commercial market where 3/4-year extended warranties are quite standard. And with so many product lines, just cutting and running would make a mess.
When they abruptly dropped the accessory division, at least in that instance aside from the default one-year manufacturer warranty, accessories don’t have extended warranty options, so after one-year its really a non-issue for them.
I think more logically instead of just killing the line outright, they will sort of scale it back.
This is the current line
Performance - Laptop Studio 2
Mid-Tier - Pro 9/Laptop 5
Budget - Go 4/Laptop Go 3
Desktop - Studio 2+
Phone - Duo 2 (really weird, but Microsoft internal is still considering this an active/alive product)
Other - Hubs
Laptop Studio 1 was from what I can tell a flop, and the price of the Studio 2+ makes it a non-starter almost. First they would probably kill the Studios off.
Then they would likely cut the Go Line, even though they sell very well (commercially anyway) the Pro and Laptop are still higher sellers and with the higher pricetags they would likely net more margin for Microsoft anyway.
The Hubs…if they decide to continue with them, they will just drop them from the Surface Brand and instead make it a one-off microsoft product like the hololense. Moving it to “Teams Rooms” almost felt like a halfway step there.
Then one day all that will be left is very limited SKUs for a new Pro and Laptop. No color options beside Silver and Maybe Black, and very limited configs. Like 8/256, 16GB/512, 32GB/1TB, 64/2TB.
Then the chopping block.
1 Like
I like your analysis, but would temper it a bit as this doesn’t preclude them abruptly pulling the plug on the whole Surface line, negative customer reactions aside.
Obviously all the talk and rumors about the fate of the Surface line has provoked considerable discussion in our customer base.
And sadly the net of the analysis is that MS could pull the plug at any point and meet the contractual obligations simply by sequestering an estimated sufficient quantity of existing devices and related parts to cover them until they expire. And even if that estimate is off, they could simply buy their way out of whatever remaining commitments that would remain.
Obviously there would be a large “good will” cost to some of MS customers, but I strongly suspect that in the end it will be a bean counter decision as to how it unfolds. In other words, they may decide that the cost of continuing is greater than just pulling the plug.
Purely in the realm of rumor and speculation, but we hear that this type of analysis is exactly what is happening right now. And we also hear that the departures from all aspects of the “Surface Team” are accelerating and they are not being replaced in kind.
I hope that someone(s) in MS will take a step back with a broader look at what this will look and feel like to customers especially those that made a significant commitment to the Surface product line, but I suspect that with the new focus on all things AI (and wall streets overly positive response to it) that at best the Surface line is on life support.
And I will be among the most disappointed if they do pull the plug as I personally have been involved in a number of significant customer deployments as well as within my own division of our company where the default device is some model of Surface.
2 Likes
I think pulling the plug would be a bad decision since they add to the ecosystem while actually making MS money (not much compared to Azure and Office but it is still extra money and is a different income stream which can be important strategically). Reducing the number of different devices might not be a bad idea though, like keep the best devices and/or merge some of them.
1 Like