Microsoft Surface Duo: Insert lament post here

I was reading Ron Amaedo’s post on ArsTechnica earlier today about the ending of software upgrade support for the first edition of the Microsoft Duo…

And once again, I felt depressed for the mobile industry.

This is one of the reasons I haven’t been writing much about the marketplace at all. There has, apart from the odd update, been nothing material to write about.

Witness, for example, the thousands of news stories and blogs about the new iPhone with USB-C support. Next.

What went wrong with the Duo?

Well Ron does a good job of covering the basics. I wonder what the team at Microsoft were actually thinking, though.

They had the opportunity to bring a completely new device context to the market that really changed things.

I was ready to call it my “Teams” device. Anyone who works in a Microsoft world at the office will identify. Many spend their days locked in Teams – and a companion device that executed that brilliantly aaaaaand had the best Office app experience bar none? Compelling.

I was prepared to carry two devices. The iPhone and the Duo. I was prepared to move to a Duo first world at work. That’s what I was envisioning – at least, that’s what I thought the team at Microsoft were aiming for with the device.

I also was prepared to look beyond the $1,400 retail price on the basis that the technology would be phenomenal and that the ROI calculation would be a no-brainer (e.g. 8 hours per day on the Duo plugged in and walk-about for collaboration would easily have the CFO nodding in approval – because the sums made sense on a per hour basis across the year and because they wanted one too).

It would be so powerful that I would just stick in a keyboard and screen when I got to the office. That was my thinking.

And it would be absolutely fantastic as I walked around the office, in meetings and whatever during the business day. It would be a compelling tool and absolutely integrated into my Microsoft world.

That’s what I was thinking.

I never expected (or wanted) and iPhone replacement. This was the workhorse work device.

Gahhhhh.

How frustrating.

Come on Microsoft – is there a reboot of the Duo coming or are we doomed to an iPhone/Samsung world?