Top 9 posts from 6 months of microsoft.com/next

Following yesterday’s post on a look back at the last 6 months of Next, I decided to put together a downloadable PDF that captures some of my favorite stories from the last 6 months. These aren’t necessarily the most successful in terms of views (though they’re all in the top 10% of page views), they're more a list of my favorites for a variety of reasons.

Sometimes, kicking back with paper and a fine drink is a nice way to read this type of content. It also makes for a great “business card” for me to leave with people when explaining what Next is and what have been the most enjoyable posts for me.

If you want to stay digital and simply catch up on some of my favorite posts, here they are along with a brief explanation of why they made the list

• Augmented Reality – coming soon to a contact lens near you
  It turned out to be one of the most popular posts on the blog to date. Not quite sure why other than it was inspired by a great post on PSFK and some very cool technology at the University of Washington.

• What can a washing machine teach us about NUI?
  This post was based on a talk I gave in Belgium around natural user interfaces and used an image from an internal Microsoft presentation that took a washing machine dial to show how un-natural interfaces have become.

• Machine Learning for dummies
  Based on a great discussion I had with John Platt from Microsoft Research that paved the way for me to understand this topic and why it’s so important to the future of computing.

• The personality of Windows Phone 7
  This is a post I’d had in mind even before WP7 launched. In fact I wrote it in my mind about a year ago when I was playing with a prototype phone my old boss had been given at an internal conference. Even back then it had an attention to detail in the UI that made me smile.

• A tour of my Microsoft workspace: Steve Clayton
  Nobody is more surprised than I am that this is currently in the top 5 most popular posts on the blog. One colleague even asked me why I was bothering as my workspace is so dull – it’s true, my desk is dull but that’s not really my workspace. Read on to find out what is.

• Microsoft Applied Sciences – building the ultimate display
  Steven Bathiche was one of the first people I met when I set out to explore Redmond and find some fresh faces who are building the future. Boy, is this guy building the future. When you piece it all together, he has what it takes to build the ultimate display.

• My confession about Microsoft R&D
  Another post that had been in my brain for some time and I knew I had to out myself as being caught up in this myth. Sure, Microsoft spends a lot of $$ on R&D but if you think all that $$ goes to Microsoft Research, you’re as wrong as I was.

• When will my walls become computers?
  Pretty soon is the answer…and in many ways. Projectors can do this now but the real treat comes when you can talk to those walls. Trust me.

• The Jaron Lanier rollercoaster
  I had no idea that Jaron even worked at Microsoft, let alone how fascinating he is in person. He’s a legend in the industry and sometimes, that’s a recipe for disappointment when you meet people face to face. I’ve had one or two let downs when I’ve met legends at Microsoft but not with Jaron. He’s the real deal – complex? Yep. Fascinating? Definitely.