The Perfect Thing (Premium)

Even the most beloved of personal technology products betray their users in at least some small way over time. Perfection is never really possible, of course. But after almost two months of daily use, the Xbox One S has passed the test. It is the perfect thing.

This is very rare.

As a reviewer---that is, a professional critic---I can find fault in almost anything. In fact, it's almost too easy. We could play a word association game, and you could throw me the name of any tech product---the Dell XPS 13, for example---and I could immediately respond with its shortcomings: Terrible Wi-Fi performance and compatibility, and that stupid "up the nose" webcam placement.

That doesn't mean I don't like or even "love" some products, in as much as you can love a thing. There were several Nokia Lumia products that just felt "right" in the hand, thanks to their incredible industrial design and durable materials. The Intel NUC I'm now using is adorable, affordable, and surprisingly powerful. The Microsoft Sculpt keyboard I'm now typing on offers an excellent ergonomic experience that has helped prevent carpal tunnel syndrome from cutting my workdays short. The original Zune still amazes with its unique "double-shot" exterior and smart, still-modern software design. And so on. But each of these things falls (or fell) short in some way.

Microsoft Surface is a great and obvious example of how tech products can achieve near-perfection but then fall apart in real world use. The Surface Book's reliability issues are legendary, and mar what many believe to be a truly incredible design. But it's not just that: Surface Book's goofy hinge is over-designed and overly-complex, and owners routinely need to detach the clipboard screen from the device when the keyboard and trackpad stop working. Here, Microsoft's desire to be different outweighed practical issues and the result was a laptop, not a lighter Ultrabook, with a dodge removable screen few people really need. It's unfortunate, because Surface Book otherwise is great looking, provides a wonderful typing experience, and has a nice, large screen.

Surface Book has betrayed me in ways both big and small over the past several months, but I put up with the dodgy reliability because, overall, it's still one of the best portable PCs I've ever used. (Well, that and because hardware makers naturally want their review products returned to it; any 14-inch ThinkPad X-series would be a superior travel companion, as would a few HPs.) It's excellent in many ways. But it's not perfect. Not even close.

Indeed, the difference between "excellent" and "perfect" is, many ways,time. It's why I don't publish product reviews after just a few days of use. And while I don't follow-up on reviews as much as I'd like---it's often impossible, to be fair---those products that do work their way into my routine, replacing or augmenting others things I use, are special.

But what about those products that just keep excelling...

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