I was a Continuum early adopter. As soon as it became available in early 2016, I bought the puck and jumped right in.
At first it was just a fun experiment, but within a few weeks I could see where Microsoft wanted to go with the concept, and I was completely bought in.
Continuum became my daily driver. For 2 years I didn't pick up a laptop. I ran my entire business from Continuum.
Back then, Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 where virtually identical, from a front end perspective. From a daily driver perspective, there was very little that Continuum couldn't do.
This was the future.
The only downside, I found, was that my Lumia 950 battery was degrading quickly. Within a year of (8-10 hours a day) Continuum usage, the battery would barely last 5 hours.
But so what. The Lumia opened up, and batteries were cheap. So I bought a few spares and away I went.
Unfortunately, by the end of 2017, Windows Mobile was dead, and Continuum was a victim by association.
The death of Continuum annoyed me greatly. It was such a huge advancement on pocket sized pc technology, and to give up on it was stupid.
Microsoft were onto something. I imagined them bringing out an enterprise bundle....phone, puck and surface pro sized screen with built in battery in one box. I would have bought that.
People walked into my office and saw Continuum at work and were astounded. They would have bought it too. In fact, a handful did. And they weren't traditional Windows Mobile users, but they were intrigued enough to want to try it out.
And why not? From a freelance consultant through to small/medium business perspective, Continuum offered huge savings potential. No more phones AND laptops. Just a phone, a screen and a OneDrive account to tie all your data to a safe storage point. That was literally all that was needed.
There's little doubt in my mind that walking away from Continuum was literally the stupidest act of short-sighted idiotic miscalculation that Microsoft have committed in the past 5 years.
It was a platinum opportunity for them to rebrand Windows Mobile as a pocketable pc enterprise solution. Continuum would have kept Windows Mobile alive. Of that, I have no doubt.
Anyway, I moved on. Bought an Android device, dusted off my Surface pro and got on with life.
Last night I found the old puck and phone setup lying in a shoebox. It hasn't been used in over a year.
I hooked it up and I'll be damned if it doesn't work nearly.....nearly.....as well as it did back in 2017.
Sure, some websites (cough...windows central...cough) don't load very well, some apps don't work at all, and it feels in need of a meaningful refresh, but it works.
I could open all my buisness focussed websites, my work database, my office documents, my email, OneDrive and maps It all worked.
And everything I was doing on my laptop at the office yesterday was right there on my phone, it connected to the cloud seamlessly and just grabbed everything.
I could literally start using Continuum today, as though the last 14 months in a shoebox never happened.
But I won't. Because Windows 10 Mobile is travelling toward a brick wall. A few months from now, it'll be a completely abandoned remnant of something with great potential.
To those at Microsoft who would have dedicated thousands of hours to the creation of Continuum, I don't know if you'll ever see this, but well done and thank you for the experience.
Your employer is a buffoon who doesn't deserve you.
At first it was just a fun experiment, but within a few weeks I could see where Microsoft wanted to go with the concept, and I was completely bought in.
Continuum became my daily driver. For 2 years I didn't pick up a laptop. I ran my entire business from Continuum.
Back then, Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 where virtually identical, from a front end perspective. From a daily driver perspective, there was very little that Continuum couldn't do.
This was the future.
The only downside, I found, was that my Lumia 950 battery was degrading quickly. Within a year of (8-10 hours a day) Continuum usage, the battery would barely last 5 hours.
But so what. The Lumia opened up, and batteries were cheap. So I bought a few spares and away I went.
Unfortunately, by the end of 2017, Windows Mobile was dead, and Continuum was a victim by association.
The death of Continuum annoyed me greatly. It was such a huge advancement on pocket sized pc technology, and to give up on it was stupid.
Microsoft were onto something. I imagined them bringing out an enterprise bundle....phone, puck and surface pro sized screen with built in battery in one box. I would have bought that.
People walked into my office and saw Continuum at work and were astounded. They would have bought it too. In fact, a handful did. And they weren't traditional Windows Mobile users, but they were intrigued enough to want to try it out.
And why not? From a freelance consultant through to small/medium business perspective, Continuum offered huge savings potential. No more phones AND laptops. Just a phone, a screen and a OneDrive account to tie all your data to a safe storage point. That was literally all that was needed.
There's little doubt in my mind that walking away from Continuum was literally the stupidest act of short-sighted idiotic miscalculation that Microsoft have committed in the past 5 years.
It was a platinum opportunity for them to rebrand Windows Mobile as a pocketable pc enterprise solution. Continuum would have kept Windows Mobile alive. Of that, I have no doubt.
Anyway, I moved on. Bought an Android device, dusted off my Surface pro and got on with life.
Last night I found the old puck and phone setup lying in a shoebox. It hasn't been used in over a year.
I hooked it up and I'll be damned if it doesn't work nearly.....nearly.....as well as it did back in 2017.
Sure, some websites (cough...windows central...cough) don't load very well, some apps don't work at all, and it feels in need of a meaningful refresh, but it works.
I could open all my buisness focussed websites, my work database, my office documents, my email, OneDrive and maps It all worked.
And everything I was doing on my laptop at the office yesterday was right there on my phone, it connected to the cloud seamlessly and just grabbed everything.
I could literally start using Continuum today, as though the last 14 months in a shoebox never happened.
But I won't. Because Windows 10 Mobile is travelling toward a brick wall. A few months from now, it'll be a completely abandoned remnant of something with great potential.
To those at Microsoft who would have dedicated thousands of hours to the creation of Continuum, I don't know if you'll ever see this, but well done and thank you for the experience.
Your employer is a buffoon who doesn't deserve you.
it's perfect.
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