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enemarkgeisler11-blog · 6 years

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fadingfartconnoisseur · 7 years

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My Worst Travel Moments of 2017

Travel isn’t only about the good times. Don’t be fooled by the perfect photos and smiling selfies — behind all the awesome times on social media are the times when you’re racing for a flight and terrified you’re about to miss it. The times when you’re sick as a dog and can barely drag yourself out of bed. The times when you’re lonely, missing good times at home. And the times when you’re frustrated at trying to order food that you end up at McDonald’s.

I like to write about those times every year because it’s a good reminder that travel is not a panacea to all of the issues in your life. If you have problems at home, the road could potentially make them worse. Some of my bad times?

In 2012, I got my credit cards hacked while in Portugal and Spain.

In 2013, I developed giant hives in Busan, South Korea, and it was nine months before they stopped popping up on a daily basis.

In 2014, I got head lice in New Orleans. Because clearly I am a small child.

In 2015, I got locked in a vestibule with a cockroach in Avola, Sicily, and had to call my Airbnb host to set me and my mom free.

And in 2016, I fell backwards and slammed my head on the bedpost in Passau, Germany, giving me my first concussion ever and necessitating a hospital visit in Munich.

2017 wasn’t one of my worst years, but plenty of shenanigans ensued along the way. Here are some of my bad times that I took with the good.

When a Piece of my Car Fell Off in Key Largo

For my second trip to the Keys this year, I was to fly into Miami and drive down to Key West before flying back. I picked up my rental car with no issues and drove through Miami for the umpteenth time that year.

Until the next day when I got to the drive-through Starbucks in Key Largo. Then I suddenly noticed a scraping noise everywhere I went.

As I pulled into a parking lot, looking for a good photography spot, a lady called out to me and pointed out that a piece of my car was dragging beneath the bumper. At that point I was about a mile from my guesthouse, so I decided to pop the plastic back into place as best I could and drive back.

It held, but soon enough it popped out again. I called the rental company. Their response? “We can get you a new car, but we’ll need to take you up to Miami and do it there.”

“I can’t come up to Miami,” I told them. “That’s three hours round-trip. I’m working. Why can’t you bring me a car?”

Turns out that was literally the only option.

After thinking about it carefully, I decided to tempt fate and borrow the guesthouse’s roll of duct tape. One of the guests insisted on helping me tape it up.

And wouldn’t you know — it held in place for two more hours, all the way to Key West.

I was terrified the whole drive, though. Never again!

The Chaotic Arrival in Russia

I’m glad I did the St. Peter Line Ferry to Russia, but I’m never doing it again. The main reason? It was completely disorganized and I had no idea what was going on. That didn’t compare to the arrival in Russia, though — it was utterly CHAOTIC upon arrival.

There were supposed to be lines at the arrival booth but everyone just swelled into a pile of lumps, pushing each other out of the way. Parents let their late arriving adult children cut ahead of others. I thought a fight would break out at one point.

And of course I ended up getting questioned for 20 minutes about my heavily worn passport filled with stamps. They were shocked that I planned to stay in Russia overnight. I had to point out that the ferry wa staying for two full days! At one point I didn’t think they were going to let me in at all.

And then I got in, and St. Petersburg was absolutely lovely…but I’m never coming by ferry again.

I will also say that my worst sleep of the year was on the St. Peter Line Ferry. Nothing like trying to sleep in what feels like an undersized twin bed as springs dig into your back and “Y.M.C.A.” blares from the nightclub right above your room…

Killing My Computer in Vail

After five years with one computer, I knew it was time to upgrade soon. Even so, I wasn’t ready for the decision to be made for me against my will.

While at my hotel in Vail, I lifted up the lid to the water bottle, forgetting that it had water in it, and it leapt out and splashed across my keyboard.

I freaked out. I turned it off, dried it out, let it evaporate. But 24 hours later, the top row of keys on the keyboard refused to work at all. And I couldn’t even get on my computer because it wouldn’t let me type my password.

The good news is that I was prepared for this and had the money saved up — even if I got it fixed, it was time for a new computer anyway. After consulting my friends in the Travel Blog Success group over which computer to get, I found a 13″ refurbished MacBook Pro and had it shipped to the Upper West Side store right away.

You know what else I bought? A silicone keyboard protector. Now that lives on my keyboard 24/7 just in case another spill is in my future.

Almost Being Late Back to the Cruise in St. Maarten

(Yes, I’m using this photo for the third time in two weeks. I can’t write about St. Maarten without sharing this photo!)

I like to be early. I like to leave extra time. For me, one of the worst feelings in the world is feeling like I’m going to be late for a flight.

So when the bus dropped me in Maho Beach and I asked about return buses, an the locals said, “It comes when it comes,” I thought I would have to leave extra early to get back on time, just in case.

But then I decided to loosen up. See more of those amazing take-offs and landings before being forced to return to the ship.

Which seemed okay…until I got a cab and the roads were filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic.

St. Maarten, at least on the Dutch side, is basically one main road. If that road is stuck, everything is stuck. And when the ride that took 20 minutes on the way there took closer to an hour on the way back, as time clicked closer and closer to the time that THE CRUISE WAS SCHEDULED TO LEAVE, I began to full-out panic.

My passport was on board. What would I do?! How long would they hold the boat for me, just in case?! When the hell would I get my stuff back? Where would they even send it?! My blood pressure was through the roof.

It was just after the time when I got back on board. God, I was relieved to make it back on time. I practically kissed the crew.

I later found out there had been a regatta that day, hence the traffic. And everybody had been caught up in the same gridlock as us, though the tour groups to Maho Beach had left much earlier as a precaution.

Never again, NEVER AGAIN, am I cutting it that close.

When I Got Attacked by Russians Online

Definitely the worst tech headache this summer was when my site got attacked by Russian networks. And I wasn’t the only one — some of my blogging colleagues were hit as well. Just like the DNC!

Basically, they were sending tons of shitty traffic to my site, trying to overload it. This also temporarily halted my display income as the traffic was so low quality.

Basically, it took a LONG ASS TIME for it to be fixed. But I will give credit where it’s due — it was the team at Sucuri who finally figured out how to block the traffic. If you’re a blogger, I highly recommend their services. It just costs $9.99 per month.

Additionally, today my site is hosted with Performance Foundry. While I’ve used different hosting companies for different reasons over the years, I’m now glad to be with PF because They Can Handle The Bad Shit and I get to worry a lot less.

Not Knowing How to Start My Car in Oulu

I haven’t had a car since 2008, when I moved from Somerville to downtown Boston. Since then, the only times I drive are when I’m home visiting my parents or when I rent a car for a trip, so it always surprises me when I see new high-tech features in cars.

Some of them are great (I love the lumbar support button in my dad’s new car!). And some are bewildering. Like trying to turn it on in the first place when there isn’t even a slot for the key. How does that work?!

It was the morning after my all-night party at the World Air Guitar Championships in Oulu, Finland, and I had to pick up my rental car and drive five hours across the country to Kuopio and then Porosalmi.

It was hard enough finding the right place — the rental office wasn’t open that day, so I had to be driven to a different location. The rental car employee dropped me off at the car with the keys and left.

I loaded up the car. I adjusted the seat and mirrors. And for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to turn on the car. HOW?! There was a button, and it definitely turned things on, but it was quiet and didn’t seem to be working — isn’t this how hybrid cars were now?

After fifteen minutes, I was nearly in tears. Nothing was turning the car on.

Finally, an older woman came out of a nearby apartment building and I begged her to help me. She pointed out the obvious — I was supposed to step on the break while simultaneously pushing the ignition button. The engine roared to life.

“Kiitos. Thank you so much,” I told her. “You’ve saved me.”

“You’re from America?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “New York.”

“My daughter lives in Houston.”

And just for the record, that’s the Finnish equivalent of a deep, intimate conversation. I love that introverted country.

Every Minute I Wasted on the Landmark Forum

Have you heard of the Landmark Forum? Google it and you’ll find people calling it a cult.

I haven’t written about the Landmark Forum in depth, and I’m still wrestling with whether I should write about it in detail. Maybe someday I will.

It’s a personal development seminar. I ended up there because a friend who had done the Forum invited me to do it. It had changed her life and she thought it could change mine, too.

As the days passed (it was a four-day event), soon it became clear that this wasn’t working for me. I wasn’t having the breakthroughs that other people seemed to be having. The “big revelation” was a phrase you’d expect an emo kid to scrawl on his biology book when he was trying to be edgy.

But that wasn’t all.

What brought me over the edge was when the instructor told a story about how they welcomed a child molester to the Forum with open arms. And apparently when a young woman brought in the relative who sexually assaulted her repeatedly as a child, everyone was cheering because he had made this decision to change his life.

I immediately went up to the microphone and let loose. How could you let a child molester into a room full of sexual abuse survivors? Did they call the police? How could this possibly be framed as a good thing? Did they want his money so much that it didn’t matter that he was a child molester, sitting amongst them?

For the first time in three days, the instructor was caught off guard.

After I spoke, the Landmark Forum offered me a full refund of $695.

I think that says it all.

For the record, I don’t think the Landmark Forum is a cult. However, I do think that they use many techniques that cults use. They instill a belief that everyone who hasn’t gone through the Forum will never be as good or evolved as people who have gone through the Forum. Every minute is controlled with almost no downtime; you have assignments to do on your breaks and you work from 9 AM to 10 PM or later. All doubts that attendees express are swiftly countered and shut down by the instructor. They encourage you to recruit everyone you know to join the Forum. There are several other courses afterward that they encourage you to keep taking, all of which cost additional money.

And while they make it seem like everyone loves it, the people above in the photo attended my Forum and didn’t get anything out of it, either. The defining mood was, “What the hell did I just spend $695 on?” It felt amazing to confess to each other that we were creeped out by the whole thing.

So yeah. Besides the friend who recruited me, I have several other friends who have done the Forum in various cities and countries and it did work for them. And they’re all great people, smart people, educated people. But the more I think about it, the more I realize those people share a number of personality traits that I personally do not have.

So would I recommend it? No, I would not. But who knows? Maybe it would work for you. I wouldn’t recommend you spend $695 on as big a gamble as that, though. And if you go, for God’s sake, don’t welcome a pedophile with open arms.

The Weird Ass Table Next To Ours in the Hamptons

On a day trip to the Hamptons with my friends Beth and Colleen, we decided to get dinner at Almond in Bridgehampton. The food was fantastic (their lobster pasta was one of the best dishes I’ve had all year) but the experience was ruined by this odd experience with the table next to ours.

They were a bunch of gay guys our age, several drinks into their night. One of them turned to Beth and said something like, “Sorry our friends are drunk,” and Beth said something back like, “Oh, that’s fine with us.”

They MUST have misheard her, because there’s no other explanation for what happened next.

The men suddenly started glaring at us, saying rude things about us to each other. Then one leaned over and said, “You’re in town for the weekend? Oh, that’s CUUUUUTE. I live here.”

What the fuck?!

Here’s the thing: I felt afraid, and I think my friends may have felt the same way. We were frozen, looking at each other with giant faux smiles on our faces, afraid of what they would say if we said anything. And you might think that there was no reason to be afraid, that we were in the middle of a restaurant, that these guys were gay anyway and it couldn’t possibly lead to sexual assault. It wasn’t about sex — it was about power, just as all sexual harassment and assault is. These men thought we didn’t belong in their space and they wanted us to be afraid of them.

Every time we talked or laughed, the guys would swivel their heads in our direction, angry expressions on their faces. One guy even slammed his head on our table and pretended it was an accident.

The men left the restaurant when our entrees came and as soon as they were gone, we exploded. What was their problem? Why would you treat strangers like that? What did they think Beth had said? I still have no idea what happened all these months later.

A Day of Delay Hell in Charlotte

On the way back from Asheville, I had a layover in Charlotte. That two-hour layover turned into ten hours and counting. And it wasn’t an ordinary layover — there were thunderstorms in New York, so they kept delaying it by an hour, another hour, yet another hour, every hour, then canceling the flight, then delaying the rebooked flight. If I had known, I would have gone out into Charlotte to explore! Hell, I would have taken a later flight from Asheville!

Charlotte is not the greatest airport in which to be stranded. Less healthy food, far less bookstores, yet a lot more fast food. If you end up stranded there…yeah, good luck with that.

I was supposed to be home by 4:00 PM but I didn’t get home until 1:30 AM. Worst transit day of the year.

Finding Out I Had to Move

On the last day of November, hours before I was to fly to Vegas, my landlady told me that she was selling the building and I had to move.

This was the last thing I wanted to hear. I adore my apartment and wanted to continue living there for at least another year or two. Plus, not only is moving in New York annoying and expensive, but it’s even tougher for self-employed people. New York tenants have a lot of rights, so to counter that, they make it difficult for people to rent in the first place. For example, you need to prove income of 40 times the monthly rent in a year. And even if you make that much, a lot of landlords are skittish about renting to self-employed people.

I was so nervous, I didn’t eat or sleep for a week. I got stress headaches. I had no appetite. I couldn’t do anything at the gym.

That said, I was able to remedy the situation quickly. I set up apartment viewing appointments within an hour of the news. I applied for the second apartment I saw. And thankfully, after a lot of work and sleepless nights and sending every proof of income that I had, I was accepted into a new apartment extremely close to where I live now.

The new place is great. It’s not a brownstone anymore (now that I know how easily brownstones can be sold out from under you, I’m a bit over brownstone living), but it’s a much bigger, gut-renovated apartment with tons of closet space and a separate kitchen. Moving day is January 15, and I can’t wait to share my new place with you.

A Sexually Harassing Driver in St. Kitts

Picture this: you get off your cruise ship in St. Kitts for the day. You decide to eschew a shore excursion and instead hire a driver for the day. This will give you a chance to explore and take all the photos you need without having to confirm to a schedule.

So you step into the driver’s van. And before he’s even left the parking lot, he’s leaning out the window and yelling sexual things at a woman walking by. She ignored him. I practically had flames bursting out of my ears.

“But it’s the Caribbean.”

It’s not just the Caribbean. It’s fucking everywhere.

THE RAINDROP CAKE WAS A LIE

I know a lot of New York/Instagram/Buzzfeed food trends are overblown, but nothing was as bad as the raindrop cake, which I sampled at Smorgasburg in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I had been seeing this for weeks: it was a clear orb, yet something that you ate like a cake.

Beth and I decided to try them: one clear, one purple. We each forked over eight dollars, hoping that this would be worth it.

We sampled them. And…they were essentially plain sugary gelatin.

I felt like an idiot. How had I built this dish up so much in my mind? Did I really think it would be as cool as the Instagrams and Buzzfeed articles claimed? HOW FAR HAD MY MIND GONE IN THE NAME OF EATING TRENDY FOOD?

There is so much good food at Smorgasburg. I especially recommend the fries from Bolivian Llama Party. But make sure you avoid the raindrop cake.

What were your worst travel moments of the year?

The post My Worst Travel Moments of 2017 appeared first on Adventurous Kate.

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ramialkarmi · 7 years

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Microsoft's Surface Pro is proof that two-in-one devices are the way forward (MSFT, AAPL)

The 2017 Surface Pro is the latest entry in Microsoft's lineup of two-in-one detachable devices.

It has tablet-like hardware, but uses a built-in kickstand and peripherals like a mouse and keyboard to turn into a laptop-like computer.

It features Windows 10, Microsoft's operating system.

With some work, it could become a category-defining laptop replacement.

Microsoft recently released the latest version of its two-in-one laptop and tablet, the 2017 Surface Pro.

Business Insider's Matt Weinberger reviewed the device last month, and called it "a great, little, lightweight, touchscreen Windows 10 laptop" with just a few tradeoffs.

I had the chance to use the product myself and tried to answer a fundamental question: can this device replace my laptop?

My laptop is a 15-inch, late 2013, fully maxed out MacBook Pro with Retina display. It has been my everyday machine since the day I bought it, and for the most part, possibly the best consumer electronics device I have ever owned

As you can imagine, the bar for me was high, but the Surface delivered.

First of all, when it comes to fit and finish, the Surface Pro uses a high-quality magnesium alloy that gives a sense of stiffness and durability reminiscent of Apple devices. It doesn't happen often that gadgets delight, especially if you are used to seeing (and using) dozens of them, but the Surface Pro strikes a fine balance between elegance, look, personality, and usability. But turning it on while sitting at your desk is one thing; putting it through its paces is another.

Before using the device, I was convinced that it would be hard for me to give up my personal MacBook Pro, or even the MacBook Air I work with at the office. However, the Surface Pro proved that not only can it replace my laptop, but it could actually be a better device in a number of situations. I don't think it's quite where it wants to be yet (i.e. a perfect hybrid device), but it may be the closest thing to a truly next-generation computer I have ever used.

Surface has come a long way

When Microsoft first launched the original Surface products, it pitched an idea that seemed either weirdly unconvincing or just too ahead of its time, which eventually became the device's very marketing tagline: "The tablet that can replace your laptop." The firm suggested that its shape was reminiscent of a tablet — a black slate with all the electronics underneath the display — but the idea was to use it as a laptop replacement.

The Redmond company gave the Surface a kickstand to better resemble a traditional clamshell portable computer, and created a keyboard cover with a trackpad that essentially turned it into a "standard" Windows computer.

However, the main problem the first Surface had wasn't hardware, but software: Windows RT, the operating system (OS) it shipped with, did not support all of Windows' legacy apps, which alienated even those customers who may have been interested in the idea. It didn't work.

Then, months later, the first Surface Pro launched with Windows 8; a system that many people deemed to be too different from its predecessor. Not unlike RT, Windows 8 had an interface primarily focused on touch input, whereas the bulk of the applications were still designed to be navigated with the traditional mouse and keyboard combination.

The first Surface and Surface Pro seemed like an enticing idea on paper, but their hardware limitations (like the single-angle kickstand) and the non-mature software (Windows RT and Windows 8) severely limited their success.

Microsoft didn't budge, however, and continued to invest in the idea and the Surface brand in general with new iterations of both products. It refined them over the years, giving them new features such as a more adjustable kickstand, faster processors, better displays and weight distribution, and a stiffer keyboard. Most of all, Microsoft launched Windows 10, which is arguably one of the best releases of the operating system in years.

The 2017 Surface Pro is the culmination of this journey.

The Surface Pro holds its own as a traditional laptop

If the Surface Pro wants to replace a MacBook — or a traditional laptop in general — it has to be just as good as one to begin with. One of the hardest things to do when it comes to switching over to some new personal tech is trying to break the habit.

We use our smartphones, tablets, and computers every day to do all sorts of things, and we inevitably fall into patterns that make things simpler. When a new product swoops in, things change and that change can be hard; just think of keyboard shortcuts, trackpad gestures, and even the position where buttons to close and minimise windows are (top left on macOS, top right on Windows).

Moving to the Surface Pro meant I had to change many things: the shape of the device is different, the size is different, and of course the OS is different. For instance, Windows 10 has a lock screen, much like mobile devices, whereas macOS doesn't. The way the two OSes handle multiple desktops is different, and the absence of a Spotlight-like feature out of the box was jarring (I eventually downloaded an app, Wox, that handles that task just fine). Even the fact that I couldn't do a five-finger pinch on the trackpad to see all my apps was annoying at first.

But none of that mattered after some expected adjusting. I downloaded a few apps and did some muscle memory work to remind myself to, say, use the three-finger swipe gesture to switch between apps instead of dragging windows around. What did matter was that the device is fast, and can easily keep half a dozen apps open and still zip through pretty much any task. The high-resolution screen makes everything pop, and the keyboard and trackpad are good enough not to make me long for something more "traditional."

The Surface Pro runs Windows 10, which (unlike Windows 8) is a full-blown desktop-first OS, and as such it works perfectly with peripherals like an external mouse and all of the legacy Windows apps many people use every day. The Surface Pro is a computer, and a very capable one: The maxed out version features an i7 processor coupled with 16GB of RAM, after all, like some of the best, top-of-the-line Windows machines out there (think Dell's XPS 13 or the HP Spectre x360).

It won't last the 13.5 hours Microsoft touts on the official product page, but I comfortably got around seven all the time, with five or six apps running and an unspeakable number of browser tabs open. The main (and, possibly, only major) issue I had was when trying to use the device on the tube. I had to keep the Surface on my lap, and it didn't feel as secure as a standard laptop due to its top-heavy structure. However, it never got to a point where it became unusable, mostly because its low weight and contained dimensions made it easy to use in almost any position.

The Surface Pro also has fantastic tablet hardware

The Surface Pro acts like a computer, and has a full-fledged OS that supports it. But its strength actually shows when you remember that, at its structural heart, it is still fundamentally a tablet. Remove the magnetic keyboard, close the kickstand, and what you have in your hands is a 12.3-inch slate that sports a gorgeous touchscreen display.

When you are sitting on a desk or a chair with a device on your lap, the difference between a regular laptop and the Surface Pro is way less pronounced than one might think. That might depend on how and where you are sitting, but in my personal use I didn't really miss the shape of my MacBook. I mostly rejoiced at the Surface's low weight: If you're lying on your sofa or in bed and just want to do some casual browsing — like reading, or watching Netflix — the Surface Pro is a godsend.

I found it particularly useful when I decided to cook something after having finished work; I took the keyboard away, laid the tablet down to its maximum aperture (the kickstand opens up to a 165-degree angle) and followed a recipe on a YouTube video, occasionally scrolling with my (still clean) fingers. I could never have done that with my MacBook, as the screen doesn't fold down nearly as much, is not touch responsive, and most of all it occupies too much space.

Windows 10 also has a "Tablet Mode" which redesigns the taskbar at the bottom and makes tiles bigger. Not everything adjusts perfectly to a touch-first experience, but it is more than enough for the kind of lightweight stuff you would want to do while switching away from productivity apps and so-called "real work."

To become the ultimate two-in-one, Surface Pro needs better tablet software

This is where the Surface Pro left me wanting more. It's such a powerful and capable device that I can't help but wonder how much better it could be if it offered better tablet optimisation. It is the other side of the iPad Pro coin: Apple's machine spawns from a strong tablet legacy, and it's trying to work its way around being a proper laptop replacement by tweaking the software to accommodate the needs and demands of more power users (like iOS 11's new iPad Pro-specific multitasking, and the introduction of a dock).

The Surface Pro, on the other hand, is a great computer that also happens to be a solid (if basic) tablet replacement, thanks to its versatile hardware structure and the presence of a touchscreen. And that is fine — if you are buying the Surface Pro to replace a laptop, you will lose some things (like a bigger screen) and gain others. In my experience, that is worth the tradeoff.

But the Surface Pro would benefit immensely from software tweaks similar to the ones Apple has done; namely, more and better apps designed with touch in mind. That is the biggest strength of the iPad Pro, and a very notable gap Microsoft is likely not going to close anytime soon, as most of the (still very few) apps in the Microsoft Store are designed to work on the primarily desktop-based Windows 10.

In an interview with Business Insider back in June, Microsoft's General Manager for Products Ryan Gavin said that despite the fact that the Surface lineup is branching out with products such as traditional laptops and all-in-one computers, Surface Pro still represents the "heart and soul" of Microsoft's devices.

This leads me to believe that Microsoft will keep pushing its hardware and software innovations with this machine more than any other. New features such as Windows Ink (Microsoft's dedicated set of tools to take advantage of pen peripherals in various apps like Word and the Edge browser), the new Surface Pen itself, and, more recently, Surface Dial (the puck-shaped accessory that works with Windows to add UI elements to select applications) make me think that the Surface Pro has cracked the right formula, and its software will get better as a result.

The Surface's hardware won't stop progressing, either. If there's one thing the Pro made me miss about my MacBook, it was the screen. 12.3" is fine for a tablet display, but as the thing you literally look at the most on your primary machine it tends to be a little small. However, I can definitely see Microsoft cutting down the bezel (like Apple has done with the latest iPad Pros), stretching the front panel, and slimming the device, also accommodating a more spacious keyboard in the process. Even just an extra inch could make for a big difference.

Much like the iPad Pro, hybrid devices are more prepared for the future

The lesson I learned from using Surface Pro is not too different from the one the iPad Pro taught me: two-in-ones are not quite there yet, but they are the productivity devices of the future ("pro," ultra-high-end computers notwithstanding, of course). Laptops have arguably peaked already: there's only so much you can do with the rigid clamshell form factor beyond slimming down and powering internal components up.

At their heart, laptops have stayed essentially the same for quite some time. Hybrid devices like Surface Pro and iPad Pro, on the other hand, still need to iron out a number of things before becoming both great laptops and great tablets at the same time — and, also, potentially much more.

Just think about the fact that, unlike normal laptops, Surface Pro also has a back camera. That alone opens up a world of possibilities that the forthcoming augmented reality wave is poised to bring. Or perhaps you will appreciate the fact that Microsoft offers a LTE option now, so you can enjoy the device's versatility while being online on the go.

Hybrids are on their way to becoming the true successor of laptops, and the 2017 edition of the Surface Pro (alongside the newer iPad Pros) are the most convincing efforts to make this kind of next generation dream a reality yet. I don't know who will get there first — Google, too, seems to have something up its sleeve — but the race will be an interesting one to follow.

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