Ask Paul: May 18 (Premium)

This was sort of a short week from a free time perspective, so this is sort of a short Ask Paul as well. Let’s dive in…

Thurrott Now as a PWA?

jmeiii75 asks:

Hi Paul. In regards to Thurrott Now: Have you ever considered trying to make it a little PWA?

I’m not sure Thurrott Now is a great candidate for a PWA: This is really about pointing to topics that were covered elsewhere but I’m not going to write-up myself. So most of the data is about other sites.

I do need to get moving on creating my own PWAs though. This is a bit tricky since you actually need a website and it’s not like I can start experimenting with thurrott.com. I’ll talk to Tim about maybe building out a sub-domain that I can tinker with. Or I could maybe just use one of the other domains I already own.

Developer conversations from Build

Chris_Kez asks:

Any plans to write a post about your conversations with developers at Build? I’m really curious if there is any kind of meaningful core of developers who have the talent and inclination to bring Microsoft’s vision to life, whether it be PWA’s, intelligent edge, voice, AI/ML, AR/VR, etc.

No, I didn’t have enough in-depth, on-the-record conversations with developers at the show to warrant any posts. But I do plan to speak to the PWA guys from Microsoft soon.

I am very interested in the developer stuff in general, though, and I am curious how Microsoft’s new direction matches (or doesn’t) expectations. I have a few friends I can ask about this.

BWW calendar?

harmjr asks:

So is there anyway we can get a calendar to show when you and Brad are off at shows and stuff or when some of the major tech events are?

Hm. I will ask Brad about this, but it sounds like the type of thing we’d forget about too easily. The next event I know we’ll both be at is Microsoft Ignite, which is in Orlando in September. I can try to be better about posting heads-up to these trips here on the site.

UPDATE: Brad says, “I can’t even keep my own calendar up-to-date.” 🙂

Surface Hub 2 and the future of Windows

will asks:

With the Surface Hub 2 announcement this week, we got to see a very fluid version of Windows. The beautifully animated moving videos for the login screens, the fluid design of the popup windows, and the ease of use for logging in and getting access to your data from Timeline. While the Hub versions of Windows are locked down to only allow certain apps and functions to work, I am curious if this is where Windows for the desktop is headed and what Microsoft would like Windows to become?

I was just contacted by someone with knowledge of the Surface Hub 2 operating system, so I will try to find out soon. But as you may be guessing yourself, the addition of per-person authentication makes the Surface Hub 2 much more like a traditional Windows PC, and I think this is indeed a hint about the future of the platform. Given the timing, I bet this is a Redstone 6 (1903)-era thing, so that might explain the lack of info on the software side.

Audible vs. Kindle narration

alejandro asks:

What is the difference between Kindle Unlimited and Audible, if Kindle Unlimited has narration? Which do you use?

As someone commented in the thread, Kindle narration is “robo-narration,” meaning that it’s an automatically generated computer voice. So it’s not really comparable from a quality perspective to actual Audible/audiobook narration and doesn’t sound as natural. Like other apps with robo-narration (like Pocket), it’s better than nothing. But not the same.

On the good news front, you can at least get the Audible narration at a discount when you buy a book in Kindle format (and vice versa).

Surface Hub 2 and education

Sprtfan asks:

Do you think Microsoft will try to make a push into education with Surface Hub 2? I know cost will be a major factor but SMART boards cost between $2,000-$5,000 depending on options/install. Biggest downside I can think of would be size but Surface Hub 2 seems to be better in every other aspect.

I hadn’t considered the education angle, but that might still be one more generation out given the pricing guesses we’ve seen. I think that Surface Hub 2 will be less expensive than its predecessors but still far too expensive for most educational institutions. But I could also see this being an amazing tool for education, for sure.

$400 Surface tablet specs

hrlngrv asks:

What do you believe will be the specs for the US$400 Surface? You’ve written that it’ll have a 10″ screen and 64GB SSD. Would it come with 4GB RAM or just 2GB? Core m3 processor? Gotta say, a m3/2GB RAM/64GB SSD/10″ screen tablet doesn’t thrill me, not even if I were considering buying it for someone else. If a keyboard cover would raise the new Surface above US$500, why would it be preferable to, say, an Acer Switch? The MSFT Surface brand worth about an extra US$100?

A 2 GB PC is a non-starter in 2018. The minimum should be Core m3/Y-series processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of storage.

I can’t speak to the perceived value of Surface over whatever else, but this device would be compatible with (some form) of Surface Pen, too. But I’m not sure this is aimed at consumers. Seems more like an education/vertical market device, where not having a keyboard cover would be fine.