You've nailed my reactions to it perfectly.
For me, the Neo was the leaked Microsoft Courier from the 2010s, showing a whole new vision of how to interact with computers. Even many of the software elements in the Neo video felt lifted from the Courier one.
It's similar to devices shown (simulated) in the various Office productivity videos of the time as well.
Ands the Duo mess. SO, many bad decisions there (and I have a first gen Duo). Microsoft forgot the first rule "You don't get a second chance to make first impressions..." The whole presentation really felt like Microsoft (or Panay) trying to out Apple Apple with the whole "we spent so much time on the hinge and getting that 'thunk' closing sound perfect" in order to justify a US$1500 price that should have been $750 tops give how much was missing from it... and that it basically was just two $300 phones glued together... badly.
I STILL want a Neo. Other OEMs are making two screen devices, but they are all two 12"+ screens making them unwieldly as laptops and equally awkward as electronic smart-books (as per the Courier). This needs to be two 8" screens. But it also needs to be at a price point that lets enough people buy it to create a market.
I feel like getting two Surface Gos and gluing them together