Beneath a Surface…First Impressions

Ok, so sorry for the somewhat cheeky title. But I didn’t want to call this a review.

About a third of the way in and pretty fascinating so far. I never realized there was this much turmoil. And the .org chart, heh.

Highly recommended. I’m primarily an “Apple guy”, but I still enjoy stuff about MS. And the Surface has always triggered in me this odd…fascination.

Anyway, thanks for the book, Brad. I know there isn’t a lot of money in books nowadays, but I’m glad these stories get documented.

Conversation 12 comments

  • Jeffery Commaroto

    30 November, 2018 - 8:58 am

    <p>I appreciate how concise and factual the book is. I might be in the minority but for books like this I want the author to provide a clear, informative and factual retelling of how a company or groups of people produced something. I don't want an armchair psychologists view of the internal thoughts and feelings of everyone involved since their childhood or a bunch of flowery expositions about how a person walked into a room, what they were wearing and how both expressed their inner essence.</p><p><br></p><p>Brad focused on the actual story leaving me no need to skim or skip pages/sections here to get to the point. Love it.</p><p><br></p><p>In short, Brad, give up on the rest of life and just write more books like this please and thank you.</p>

    • Brad Sams

      Premium Member
      30 November, 2018 - 12:13 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#375337">In reply to Jeffery_Commaroto:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Appreciate the kind words…my goal was to not fluff it out for more pages; tell the story, stick to what can add value and move on. No need to write 5 pages about choosing the carpet color for the laptop. </p>

      • Jeffery Commaroto

        30 November, 2018 - 12:26 pm

        <blockquote><em><a href="#375481">In reply to brad-sams:</a></em></blockquote><p>Wish more authors would have the same mindset.</p>

    • epsjrno

      Premium Member
      01 December, 2018 - 8:59 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#375337">In reply to Jeffery_Commaroto:</a></em></blockquote><p>Glad to hear this is the case. Once I clear some audit work off my plate, I will dig into the book.</p>

  • Brad Sams

    Premium Member
    30 November, 2018 - 12:14 pm

    <p>Thanks for reading it…it's a journey of being a writer and now that one book is done, I can go back to ignoring the family while I play PUBG.</p>

    • locust infested orchard inc

      02 December, 2018 - 8:29 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#375482"><em>Quote by brad-sams, "…I can go back to ignoring the family…"</em></a></blockquote><p>The missus will not be pleased in the slightest with your comment should she somehow come across your tongue in cheek statement.</p><p><br></p><p>But then, to please the missus is an endless affair, so carry on with PUBG. ;-)</p>

  • dcdevito

    30 November, 2018 - 9:23 pm

    <p>I just bought it, can't wait to start reading it this weekend. Cheers </p>

  • jimchamplin

    Premium Member
    30 November, 2018 - 9:28 pm

    <p>I'm super curious. I owned a first-gen Surface RT and honestly, it was a beautiful, wonderful machine. It's just that between the quick dismissal, and then ultimately getting ditched by Microsoft and never receiving an update to Windows 10 really hurt, and honestly turned me off of the Surface line.</p><p><br></p><p>I might try a Surface Go at some point once they hit the used market, or heck… Maybe grab a 1st or 2nd Gen Surface Pro used? <em>YEAH!!</em></p>

  • rvanallen

    Premium Member
    01 December, 2018 - 7:14 am

    <p>Downloaded the Kindle Sample last night. This is easy to read and flows nicely. When reaching the end of the preview, it felt like hitting a brick wall. Just had to keep going, pressed the "buy" button without hesitation. Nice job.</p>

  • christian.hvid

    01 December, 2018 - 7:58 am

    <p>The most fascinating – and slightly disgusting – part of the book wasn't actually about the Surface, but about how corporate infighting effectively killed WinRT/UWP, which was the one chance Microsoft had at establishing a third mobile platform. Back in the Win8 days, I often wondered why there weren't any decent first-party apps in the Store, but I would never have imagined that the real reason was that everybody hated Steven Sinofsky. That the board of directors let this toxic atmosphere persist for so long is absolutely astonishing.</p>

    • longhorn

      03 December, 2018 - 1:38 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#375889">In reply to christian.hvid:</a></em></blockquote><p>Steven Sinofsky delivered Windows 7 at a time when Microsoft desperately needed it. I think that made him a very important man at Microsoft. Windows 7 was the culmination of a long hard road that began with Longhorn development. Vista was released, but in retrospect it was more like a beta for Windows 7.</p><p><br></p><p>Windows 7 was Microsoft's last finished OS. Now we are in a new Longhorn cycle and we don't see the end and neither does Microsoft. Hated or not, establishing a new platform like WinRT is no small task when there are already two established players.</p><p><br></p><p>I remember the WinRT presentation from 2012. They were really delusional. Jensen presented simple mobile apps like something that would bring value to the desktop. They thought that the Microsoft brand would be enough to sell the Store.</p><p><br></p><p>I think developers quickly realized that there was no money to be made on WinRT.</p><p><br></p>

  • Dave

    03 December, 2018 - 1:21 am

    <p> A damned good thriller in the world of office politics! Cheers Brad!</p>

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2024 Thurrott LLC