The Technology Studio

The Technology Studio director Chris Finch was recently approached by leading healthcare publication Pharmaceutical Field to comment on the launch of the Microsoft Surface.

Available to read in this month’s copy of the magazine, Chris’ article outlines how, in his opinion, the Microsoft Surface could have a huge impact within the pharmaceutical industry, despite the current success of the iPad.

Upon it’s release we at The Technology Studio couldn’t resist playing… a lot… with the new Surface; and we liked it.

From a hardware perspective, the Surface RT has a magnetic cover that turns into a keyboard. When combined with the built in kick stand this makes typing with the Surface a viable alternative to a laptop. The screen of The Surface is a different shape to the iPad and whilst the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio looks a bit odd in portrait mode it is great for displaying video and other content in landscape. The Surface has built in connectivity that the iPad doesn’t including full-size USB, micro SD and HD video out ports.

The Surface RT runs the traditional Microsoft Office software – Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Although you can’t install other existing windows applications on the Surface RT, this should be a possibility with the Surface Pro which is launching in 2013. This makes the Surface a viable alternative to a laptop/netbook making it possible to have a single device where this is not currently possible with an iPad.

So, do we think that the Surface could become the appendage that all pharmaceutical sales representatives need? Yes.

Chris highlights within his article how the use of tablets within the industry is already becoming the norm: ‘’The use of Apple’s iPad by pharmaceutical sales representatives in the US more than doubled from 2011 to 65%.’’

However, when considering the benefits in terms of both hardware and software mentioned above, Chris concludes that from a sales and marketing perspective, ‘’the Microsoft Surface may have a big future within the pharmaceutical sector… like it or not, the primary purpose of the iPad provided to you by your company is not for your entertainment – it is a business tool with the objective of making you more efficient and effective’’ and unfortunately for Apple, we believe that the Surface does just this, better.

Take a look at Chris’s article in Pf Digital, via the Pharmaceutical Field website http://www.pharmafield.co.uk/ to see an in-depth analysis of how we think the launch of the Microsoft Surface will impact the technology that pharmaceutical sales and marketing employees may be using over the coming months.

As I am sure you will be aware from our site we have lots of friends and clients in the pharmaceutical industry and one of our best friends (who will remain nameless to protect the guilty) sent this joke through this morning.

Here’s the joke ….

The British Medical Association has weighed in on the new Prime Minister David Cameron’s health care proposals. The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.  The Gastroenterologists had a sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.  The Obstetricians felt they were all labouring under a misconception.  Ophthalmologists considered the idea short-sighted.  Pathologists yelled; "Over my dead body!" while the Paediatricians said, "Oh, Grow up!"  The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.  The Surgeons were fed up with the cuts and decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.  The ENT specialists didn’t swallow it, and just wouldn’t hear of it.  The Pharmacologists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter…."  The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.  The Anaesthetists thought the whole idea was a gas, but the Cardiologists didn’t have the heart to say no.  In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the a*******s in London.

However, if you want a serious view on the British Medical Association’s view on the government’s plans, please refer to the article on the BBC website – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12203000