Ask Paul: May 3 (Premium)

I’m traveling tomorrow, so “Ask Paul” is a day early, and a bit shorter than usual, this week.

This week’s site issues

Before getting to your questions, I just wanted to briefly address the site issues we experienced over Tuesday and Wednesday. Put simply, these issues were triggered by us switching over to a new back-end billing system that I mentioned in my Thurrott Premium pricing announcement. Tim did an incredible amount of testing on our production server ahead of moving it to the public site, but real-world is real-world and, as you know, $#it happens.

Regardless, the issues were unexpected, and as part of the fixes we made on the back-end, we ended up removing the featured posts graphics that used to be at the top of the site because that widget was consuming an inordinate amount of resources. Plus, the site looks better without it. So that’s nice. But this ties into a fundamental desire we all have at BWW to make the Thurrott.com site simpler across the board.

And on that note, our original plan was to tie the Thurrott Premium pricing change to a number of functional site changes. One of them, regarding Thurrott Now, you know about because I teased it in an earlier “Ask Paul.” But based on the feedback, we’re going to rethink our plans for that. More to the point, we’re also going to let the dust settle on this week’s site issues—which we think are fixed now—before we start moving on to the new stuff we have planned.

Speaking of which, from what I can tell, Thurrott.com is faster right now than it’s ever been. That’s pretty cool.

Sorry about the issues. Hopefully, it’s all settled now.

–Paul

“Suggestions” in Windows 10

compunut asks:

On both of my Windows 10 computers (Pro, 1709), I started getting ‘Suggested’ entries in notifications with advertisements this past week. I am looking at one now with a picture of two kids and the text ‘No more surprise spending: use Ask a parent on Windows 10.’ Where did these come from? Is this just the latest in the slippery slope of advertising by Microsoft under the false pretense that Windows 10 is ‘free’? (I’m pretty sure I paid for it on both computers at purchase!)

These have actually been popping up in Windows 10 for quite some time, I’m surprised this is the first time you’ve seen them. But, yes, they are part of the advertising push to help better monetize each Windows user.

Fortunately, you can turn this off.

To do so, navigate to Settings > System > Notifications & actions and then scroll down to the Notifications section. Here, you will see two options to disable: “Show me the Windows welcome experience after updates and occasionally when I sign in to highlight what’s new and suggested” and “Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows.”

BTW: This is a tip from my Windows 10 Field Guide. 🙂

Nokia 6.1

AnOldAmigaUser asks:

Any thoughts on the Nokia 6.1? The US version is in at B&H Photo, but they only have the 3Gb/32Gb version.

I’ve not used any of the new HMD-based Nokia handsets, but this does look solid to me, a nicely-made midmarket handset at a good price ($269). Amazon and Best Buy are selling it too.

I am thinking about just buying one.

Google I/O

dcdevito:

Paul, what are you hoping and expecting to see at Google I/O?

I considered writing up something about this. But the short version is I expect to see a lot of amazing usage numbers across their products and services. And I’m hoping that we see something around Fuchsia, as I wrote about recently. Hoping but not expecting.

Google will have a much more compelling story on the client than Microsoft will at Build, I bet. I will be paying very close attention to this show.

Microsoft and PWAs

Daekar asks:

With PWAs offering so much hope for Microsoft users, I would expect to see Microsoft itself taking a lead position in creating excellent PWAs to illustrate the potential of the platform. Is there any sign this is happening?

I am hoping for the same, but I would point out that Microsoft did not do this with UWP apps either, so maybe there is a precedent for not getting too excited along these lines.

Build is this coming week, of course, and I’m sure there will be some PWA-related info there. And Microsoft Teams was designed from the beginning to become a PWA, so that will likely happen this year as well. But yeah, a lot more could and should be done here.

Windows SKUs

Dan1986ist asks:

How many SKUs of Windows 10 does Microsoft need to make? And is there a reason other than regulatory compliance in certain geographical areas for them doing so?

It’s more want than need. But Microsoft discovered many years ago that it could make more money by bifurcating its products—starting with Office, but then Windows and elsewhere—into multiple product editions, or SKUs. In this age of thinning profits in Windows, it sort of makes sense that they’re going down this path again. Unfortunately.

On a related note, many people—myself included—point out that Apple does not do this: They have only a single version of macOS. And that’s true. But Apple doesn’t license macOS to third parties, and they don’t even sell the product to end users anymore. Microsoft’s licensing model is just completely different. I wish it was offered as macOS is, but that will never happen.

Azure Sphere

Daninbusiness asks:

What do you think Microsoft and Azure Sphere will have to do differently so that initiative has more external traction than Cortana?

Two things.

First, it’s not a consumer play: Microsoft has a real weakness with consumers generally, and with Cortana in particular, it just doesn’t have a great way to get that technology in front of an engaged user base. Like Google does with Assistant (on Android) or Apple does with Siri (on iPhone).

Second, Azure Sphere aligns more closely with Microsoft’s core strength, which is this “intelligent cloud and intelligent edge” thing it keeps talking about. I think they’re going to see great success with something that is essentially plumbing. Which sounds terrible, but it’s at least secure plumbing, and I think that security piece, which is unique, will play a role too.

Thurrott Premium price drop

helix2301 asks:

I was wondering why the drop in premium pricing happened the site I feel is worth the money. I am an Alpha member so I know my price is $42 but why drop the price Paul you guys deserve to be paid for your work.

Thanks. But based on the feedback I get from folks who have not joined Premium, there is some disagreement on that. 🙂

Pricing is hard. When we first started talking about this internally a few years ago, I lobbied hard for a low price. But I’m not a money guy, nor am I personally funding the site. And you kind of have to do some research, which we did—some Alpha members may recall us reaching out to readers on this topic—and arrive at some compromise that hopefully makes sense.

As far as value goes, that’s in the eye of the beholder. But I’d love for a lower-cost Thurrott Premium that reached more people to be the key to success here. (I’d further love to not have to charge at all, of course.) And maybe that happens. We will keep evaluating pricing, listening to readers on both sides of the fence, and will adjust as needed as we move forward.

The nice thing about this change, to me, is that it’s not a negative for anyone. There are no readers, Premium or otherwise, who are worse off now. When we switched me primarily to Premium in the last major change, that was a bit tough on some readers. And I understand the frustration or even anger that some feel that I’m no longer as readily accessible.

I’ve tried to reach a balance there since the change. And during times, like now, when Mehedi is away (school) or there’s just a lot going on, I do my part on the non-Premium side too.

Kind of rambling here, sorry. I hope this makes sense.

What I Use

will asks:

I have missed the posts from years past on “What I use” and curious if we might get some more of those?

Yes, and I keep meaning to do that. In fact, when I went to Colorado at the end of March, I almost wrote a “What I Use” for that trip. I’m about to leave for almost a week in Seattle, then I’ll be home for four days before going to Chicago for four more days. So it’s a bit busy. But I could see doing a standard “What I Use” (at home) soon-ish and then something for a trip, maybe this summer’s home swap.

I will make this happen.