Surface Go First Impressions

​Device experiences have come a long way.  I remember back in the day before the proliferation of wifi, our laptops were just large heavy bricks and had to be wired or hooked in to dial up to get internet. With the introduction of wifi, cellular data,  and mobile devices with modern operating systems that with a moments touch can install a treasure trove of apps that can do everything from ordering your favorite food, Starbucks coffee, and listen to the latest music released as it comes out, our experience on devices have changed. We expect specific experiences out of the gate. As technologies evolve with artificial intelligence, augmented reality, the Internet of Things, and increased bandwidth with 5G rolling out next year, the inputs by which we interact will differ significantly.  We will speak more to our devices, and we will gesture more, our visible landscapes will be augmented with artifacts to assist us. In a previous blog post, I explain my movement from mac to surface platform; this was a transition mostly due to the desire to digital ink.  That input created for me the ability to bring context to content and amplify my use of OneNote.

The Importance Of Digital Inking

Digital Inking isn't new. I remember in the mid 90's messing with an Apple Newton that had a stylus and a program called Calligrapher that introduced hand writing recognition. Later when Personal...

​I have been on my Surface Pro now for a couple of years.  Love it.  Recently, Microsoft released a Surface Go, and Friday I got my hands on the smaller device that is student focused.  I want to understand the experience authentically, so I will be utilizing this device for a period to get a feel for what students will encounter.  As you can see above, it is smaller than the Surface Pro and resembles the size of an iPad.  The device was enrolled in our Azure tenant and added to InTune for Education before being handed to me.  By the way, if you haven't experienced a login with an Azure bound device, it is incredibly faster than a traditional Active Directory-bound device.  The device straight out of the gate was snappy.  I decided to see what it could do so I hooked it up to my Surface dock and see if it could drive two 24 inch monitors.

​Playing a YouTube video on display 1, interacting with OneNote on display 2, and a browser session on display 3.  No freezing, no stutter, or struggle with all of this processing at once. All of the Office applications and Windows Store apps function as they would on my Surface Pro. 

​I decided to see how the battery would hold up.  I would want to challenge it to what would happen in a typical school day.  Friday around 2 pm, I took it off the dock which I was testing.  It was at about 80% capacity when I undocked it.  Saturday, I watched Back to School Live Microsoft EDU event on it in our living room.  Saturday afternoon, started writing this blog post and managed my email before putting it to sleep in the evening.  Sunday (today) I worked on building a design thinking course in OneNote, read my daily news and information via Flipboard, and finished this blog post all on the Surface Go.  No issues, performance was excellent, and the only thing I had to figure out was how to enable the Windows Ink Workspace icon for the taskbar as it wasn't activated when I received it.  After three days with this device, I can say it would give an exceptional student experience while delivering that muli-input ability with digital inking.  I still haven't charged the device yet as I am finishing this blog post. I will continue to use this device through this month and document the experience via my bulb app district blog/portfolio site.

Rob Dickson

Executive Director for OPS - and father of 3 great girls. 2014 #20toWatch by NSBA - 2016 CDE Top 30 - 2017 ISTE PLN Administrator Award for Exemplary Leadership