Ask Paul: August 21 (Premium)

Happy Friday! For the penultimate Ask Paul in August, we have another great set of reader questions to kick off the weekend.
The inventors of the Internet
ErichK asks:

Paul, I think we all agree the Internet was/is a revolution. Do you think its inventors will be remembered centuries from now (assuming humankind is still here)? Or does it not have the same weight as, say, electricity or the light bulb.

I’m sure Al Gore will be remembered for decades to come, yes.

Kidding.

It absolutely has the same weight as electricity, in fact, I think it should be treated as an essential service like electricity, water, and plumbing. As to whether we’ll remember the people responsible for this, I’m not sure most people even have a handle on that today, so the future is unclear. Even I’m not that up on this part of history, though I’m into history generally and the history of personal computing specifically.
Nest Cam
cottonwood asks:

How are the Google Nest Cam Outdoor cameras working out? Any interesting wildlife spotted since installation?

They haven’t really worked out at all. I was never able to configure the backyard camera to not see cars driving by despite multiple attempts, and I lost interest in trying to sift through the many records it made each night. The most I ever saw was some cool insects. We never bothered putting up the one in the front, and we’ll probably just sell them soon.

Obviously, this kind of thing is mostly for home security and I have no interest in that type of usage. The quality was good, as was the software. But just not for what I wanted.
Surface Duover
christianwilson asks:

We don't know how well Surface Duo will do in the marketplace but I have noticed a lot of people like the idea but the cost of the device and people's attachment to their current phone of choice are the considerable barriers to entry … If Surface Duo was launched as something more of a productivity companion that complemented your phone and computer instead of being the phone, do you think more people would take a chance on it?

I hope to someday learn the real motivation behind Microsoft’s weird fixation on dual-display mobile devices and I hope it’s more sophisticated than a blind desire to invent/formalize a new personal computing form factor. But I have a bad feeling that that’s all it is.

I still don’t understand the point of Surface Duo, but I do feel that Surface-branded Android devices could make sense. I’ve mentioned a Surface Pro form factor before, but a Surface Neo form factor---basically a larger Duo---would also make more sense if Microsoft insists on sticking for dual displays for some reason.

Both device types have a few problems, however. They could be used to replace Windows PCs, run Android, and could hasten the decline of Windows. And there’s no such thing as a successful Android tablet, so either would require lots of third-party support, not just Microsoft. But Micr...