Surface: Consumption vs. Creation - Does it really matter?

With Microsoft coming out with its tablet Surface last month (in the process getting a pat on the back for coming out with an un-Microsoft like device) the debate of Consumption vs. Creation has gathered momentum.

People have often questioned the tablets (and probably some have deferred their decisions to buy a tablet) for their capability of creating content. Often the market leader of tablet,  IPad has also heard similar criticism, i.e. you can watch videos, read a e-books and other PDF documents, play some games, etc. but there is less on the creation front that one can do on a tablet.

Now to give a competition to Apple, Microsoft has come out with 2 versions of Surface, one built on top of Windows RT (Which is a scaled down version of Windows 8 OS) due for  a release in 3 months and one built on top of Windows 8 Pro (which will be sort of an ultrabook with a digital ink stylus) which will be released even later.

In short, following are the main features of Surface:

1. Built on Windows RT Operating System
2. Has a removable rubberized keyboard and a Kickstand
3. 9.3 mm thick and weighs 1.5 pounds
4. Comes with Microsoft Office 2013
5. The other advanced version would be 14 mm thick and will weigh under 2 pounds and will run Windows 8 Pro operating system

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All these features are considered to be excellent features when it comes to a tablet. For the people who have been working with keyboard and mouse since ages find tablet cumbersome to operate and not useful to create content. The other argument is, on a tablet (including IPad) the maximum you can type (easily) is 140 characters.

For such people Surface brings a relief and will give them back their known domain of Keyboard and MS Office through which they are for sure going to create on a tablet as well.

But the question that begs the answer is does it really matter that we get the ability to create on a tablet in addition to consume the content?

In today’s world of ever changing technologies we have devices for all of our needs and we do not carry only one that caters to all the needs. We have Smartphone, desktops, laptops, tablets, MP3 Players, e-book readers, etc.

And we use each of these devices as per our requirement and convenience, although we can make calls through Skype with a headphone & mic but we would prefer to do it over a phone (as long as the charges are same). One can read an e-book on Smartphone or a laptop as well but prefers to do it on a e-book reader. Similarly when we want to do some fast typing or create contents than we would like to do that on a laptop or desktop where there are no keyboard space constraints and we get enough display space too.

On the launch of Surface Steve Ballmer said "Much like Windows 1.0 needed the mouse to complete the experience, we wanted to give Windows 8 its own companion hardware innovation". Which probably from MS point of view could be right but it certainly does not extends to the conclusion that a keyboard is essential for creation on a tablet.

If creation was so essential for a tablet and was not supported through a tablet, wouldn’t Apple have thought about adding a keyboard as well in the already existing 3 versions of IPad (and you definitely can do that through an Apple supported keyboard, it’s just not part of the tablet) and even better would Apple have been able to sell close to 100 million IPad and another 100 million planned in next year, without such a feature.

These numbers flies in the face of the argument that Creation is important on a tablet.

The young breed who wakes up to an IPad or other tablets in the name of technology and gadgets might not even feel the need of a traditional keyboard (certainly the mouse is obsolete) and they will still be creating exciting and excellent content.

Recently I saw a video on TEDEX where a children book author has created an excellent application on IPad for children. It was an interactive application where children can use gestures, hand movements, shaking the IPad and other features to get the experience of visiting a fairy land. Such creativity and interactivity is definitely possible on a tablet.

The one word that describes today’s tablets and SmartPhones are Apps. The applications are giving way to app. The app is the highly specific task – for both consumption and creativity – that our tablets are optimized for.

And lastly who said that the only methods of input are mouse and keyboard? This is a old world thinking on which MS has based Surface. It’s a new world today, there are new ways to interact with device today and apps are definitely one way to go. You think about it and you will find other means of input to the device. Isn’t the IPod shuffle feature one way of interacting with your IPod?

Consumption vs. Creation debate is overhyped and although Microsoft may score a few points with the additional Keyboard on Surface, it has a long way to go to capture the tablet market, several measures need to be taken and one of them would be releasing the products on time.