Use Surface to avoid the holiday headache
We wanted to learn more about some of your biggest holiday struggles and see if Surface could make travel a bit more jolly. We worked with the fine folks at Lab42 to conduct a survey of 2014 holiday travelers, and it turns out it’s the little things that give people the biggest headaches. For those of you hitting the road with electronic devices, remembering all the different chargers and worrying about battery life caused stress and anxiety; not to mention if your kids are dragging along two or three products of their own! Others called out airport security as a travel pain point with multiple devices. We’ve all been there; wishing we were TSA pre-checked, grabbing bins…one for your laptop, one for your Festivus cardigan, all while trying to take off your shoes and belt. Luckily, those traveling with the tablet that can replace your laptop don’t have to worry about removing their Surface from their bag.
Even though it’s a holiday and the plane has been boarded, 74 percent of us need a device that can run full productivity software, so we can work on documents, spreadsheets and presentations (sounds a lot like Office!). Whether it’s just an excuse for some downtime away from the ruckus (you know, so you don’t have to hear Uncle Jim’s story about the blizzard of ’45 for the fifteenth time) or a big project you didn’t quite finish at work, 42 percent will be using electronic devices for work on the go. Those are high numbers for a supposedly relaxing time. But because work doesn’t always stop when we want it to, it means making the most of the time waiting on the tarmac is even MORE important!
Happily for some of us, playing games, watching movies and reading books are top of mind while traveling for the holidays. But how much space IS there in carry-ons? We’ve all tried jamming books and magazines in our bags alongside our tablets, laptops and the multitude of chargers to keep things running. With busy jet-setters carrying a laptop (or multiple laptops, as half the respondents claimed to carry separate devices for work and personal time), the amount of stuff adds up, and weight –luggage weight, not post-holiday meal body weight – was a concern for 44 percent of people who answered the survey. As we found during National Backpack Awareness Day back in September, bag weight is becoming an increasing problem that is having negative impacts on health – come on people, lighten up!
We understand that every traveler has their go-to items in their bag, but we think Surface Pro 3 can help alleviate a lot of the stress (physical and mental) that comes with lugging around an overstuffed carry-on through security or trying to obtain work-life balance. A staggering 88 percent of people said it’s important to combine everything for work and personal time into one device, yet many carry multiple electronics that each serve one specific purpose. Surface makes it easy to switch between work and play at moment’s notice.
Aside from work habits and pain points, the survey also found interesting data on buying habits. Did you know 88 percent of people said they’d likely purchase their top wish list item if they didn’t receive it as a gift? There’s plenty more insight in our infographic below.
So don’t let holiday travel drag you down this year – get out there and enjoy yourself! Have fun and make the travel time easier and less stressful! If you have to do work, then do it, and then quickly jump into a game of Sudoku, watch holiday movies, read to your kids or show your family the photos from your summer vacation, all on Surface Pro 3. It can condense a powerful laptop, tablet and e-reader into a single machine to help save weight, space and stress, giving you time to see family face-to-face (and even Uncle Jim with Skype if he’s still in Akron). Whatever your plans are this holiday season, make the most of it and have fun…and happy holidays from all of us!
