Flashback Friday: Microsoft’s Original Surface

If the name “Surface” seemed familiar to this week when Microsoft introduced its new line of tablets, there was a reason for that.

Back in 2008 Microsoft released the Surface which was, at the time, a table-sized interface that could be used in businesses for a host of different situations. The dream wast that some day these devices would be in homes everywhere, but that always seemed a bit far-fetched to most pundits out there.

In 2011 the name of the software changed to PixelSense and no one seemed to think too much about the name change. Now we learn in 2012 that the reason for this was the company planned to repurpose the title for another use.  With the exception of the touch interface, this doesn’t even feel like a spiritual successor to the original concept, but the name is Microsoft’s to do with as it pleases.

There is still a part of me that would like to see the Surface tables show up in more locations.