The Microsoft Surface excitement

It's here. Yes, it's here. Well almost. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the Microsoft Surface baby! The Surface is Microsoft's tablet, set for a fall launch time as of this writing. I'm excited. Are you excited? If not, you should be because this tablet is definitely worth taking into consideration for purchase. Before this tablet, the only tablet that really turned on my processor was the ASUS Transformer Pad and I seriously thought about purchasing that tablet sometime this fall, but now Microsoft's Surface has my gaze.

This is a bold move by Microsoft. Why? Well, because Microsoft is making the tablet with it's own hardware (as of this writing anyway - that's the story being told). Microsoft isn't going with Dell or HP and I don't blame them. Dell and HP aren't in position to build a killer Windows 8 tablet. Microsoft is going solo. I think it's a good, but bold and risky move. 

What do I personally like from what I know so far about the tablet? Well I like that the tablet comes equipped with a kickstand and a detachable keyboard. You don't have to pay extra for those things, which is nice. I like that it sports two full USB 3.0 slots and has a SD slot. Those are very nice things I have looked for in a tablet since the tablet craze started. The cool thing about the keyboard is that it's "just there" if you need it. Want to create content that has more characters than a tweet? Attach your keyboard. It's that simple. You don't have to take the unnecessary bluetooth steps. It's just there if you need then gets the heck out of the way if you don't. Cool. I also really like the Metro UI. My smartphone is a mango phone, so I'm used to the Metro UI. It's simple. It's clean. It's not busy like the Apple and Android UIs. 

I'm not going to be one of those techies who will shout, "Apple and Android will die at the merciless hands of the Surface! Doom! Doom! Doom to non-Surface tablets!" No, I'm not that guy. However, I will say this tablet is going to be big. It may not shove Apple off the tablet mountain, but it will get close.

Check it out. It's worth the look.

Microsoft Surface official site 

Poll: Would you buy your next tablet from Microsoft?

Writing a technical manual

A new project for work...yay! I like new projects, especially projects that are challenging. My new project is to write a short technical manual on how to use the necessary functions pertaining to work on the Pandigital Super Nova tablet. Yes, it's one of the cheap tablets, but it's definitely a good tablet for business because of its price and usability. My tech manual is going to focus on the what the users are actually going to be using the tablet for which are email and file viewing/editing. 

The tablets are going to be used by court members enabling them to view the files normally printed out on the tablet, which over time will reduce waste and save money in the long run. Files will be emailed to the a single court email account which I will setup on each tablet. The court user can download the attached file from the email and save it to the tablet for viewing. The built-in office suite in the tablet has a word processor, spreadsheet creator, power-point creator, and PDF creator; they all work very well by the way, I was impressed. 

Also, the tablet has an option of connecting to a file share on the network it's connected to. I created a share on our server accessible by the AD user I created with read-only permissions. I created this share so the court users could access larger files (like policies and procedures manual) that possibly couldn't be emailed due to the large file size.

Because of the tablet's simplicity, writing the tech manual has not been difficult. Many of the functions are simple, not having to navigate through multiple upon multiple windows and operations. I think the manual will be of use to the court users, but honestly, I think the presentation will be good enough. However, there are some things I like to keep in mind when writing a manual.

1. Keep it simple. You're not writing to A+ technicians, you're writing (mostly) to people who just want the device they bought to work. They don't care about why you have to go about performing the function this or that way, nor do they care about how awesome the product and company are; don't involve the history of the device. Stick to instructing the user on how to use the device.

2. Be clear. Don't be too elegant in your instructions. Make sure your instructions are clear enough anyone can read them and then be able actually perform the operation on the device. Don't assume the reader knows the "in-between" steps of an operation. Include the little things the user will see along the way of performing the operation.

3. Make sure and include a link or something to the advanced functions of the device. I like to call the basic manual the "get it up and going" manual that includes turning the device on, how to navigate around the device, and how to perform basic functions. The advanced manual is usually longer, more detailed, and most likely won't be read by the basic user. So, in that manual, I think one can dive deeper into the other functions of the device, but the manual still needs to be clear.

So far, I'm impressed with the Pandigital Super Nova tablet. Is it comparable to the Samsung Galaxy Tab or the iPad? No, but it is a good tablet for simple business tasks like file sharing via email and network shares, creating documents, and for its front and rear camera. I think it will be a good tablet for our needs.
 

Check it out here.