Microsoft seems to have a rare user interface hit on its hands. Called "Surface", and announced publicly in May, this was something whose business potential even Microsoft didn’t believe in – until now.
As the name suggests, Surface is a large table-top computer with a touch-sensitive screen. The user moves images around by touch, like a cross between the interface on the iPhone and something that Tom Cruise might have used in the movie Minority Report.
"Frankly, it had a lousy business case," says Steve Ballmer. "Bill was giving it mouth-to-mouth." As Microsoft saw it, the high cost of the machines meant that they were likely to be limited to niche industrial uses. Since unveiling Surface, however, the company says it has had a wave of interest, from retailers who want to stock it to an unnamed US government agency that sees a wide range of uses.
Microsoft executives now say they are putting investment behind the Surface machine to see if they can build a market. It’s a reminder that the company’s developers can indeed come up with hot products, though it also says a lot about its internal development process. You could never see Steve Jobs accidentally stumbling onto something in this way.
