All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the Hardware Day and it was honestly quite fascinating to see how a team of designers can continue to progress on a tool which many of us take for advantage each and every day.

Sure, it wasn’t the most interesting thing I’ve ever done and when I was playing / /Portal later in the day (watch the front page for an upcoming preview) I can’t honestly say that I was left thinking about how much I wanted to go back in time by a few hours and get another look at that keyboard, but I still enjoyed my time at the Hardware Day.

The one thing I was definitely able to take away from the event, other than a handful of leaflets and a throat even more sore than it was before, was an appreciation for how hard Microsoft works on even the most simple of devices. The amount of work that goes into constantly assessing and reassessing even where to put the buttons on a mouse is something which is baffling, but also reassuring.