monkinetic the blog

Never thought I’d be including “Microsoft Gets It” in a blog post, but here we are. Microsoft has been targeting “creatives” with their recent commercials (as seen continuously on the shows on Apple TV CBS app), and while the comparisons between the Surface pro and the Mac are a bit disingenuous, replace them with this product and the ads are dead on.

The Surface Studio is a new iMac-style PC from Microsoft (is this their first actual desktop product?) that captures the iMac spirit in an interesting, lays-nearly-flat design that includes touch/pen features in the screen.

Honestly if I saw this image without knowing who it was I’d half-expect to see it running Mac OS. It’s got all the specs, and the Surface line has - so far - has had excellent industrial design and durability. It’s good work, and Apple honestly needs the competition. The Mac line has stagnated for a number of years now, it’s time for some new energy in the market.

Brent Simmons, currently of Omni Software and long-time Mac developer, shares his thoughts on the Surface Studio. I agree with Brent (and many others) that it seems like Apple has forgotten/disregarded the people who use their computers to make things - the same people who stuck with and evangelized the platform during the Dark Times.

Tomorrow, Apple is going to show their new hardware, and I honestly cannot imagine liking anything I see more than I like this Studio PC. That makes me sad. I remember when Apple’s hardware was worthy of the OS we knew and loved. Doesn’t seem like that any more.

I am hoping that this lights a fire under Apple’s hardware branch - pull them out of their floating white eggs and get them back in the real world, solving real user’s problems, and giving us - their users - the breadth and depth of hardware Apple is capable of creating.