It's unclear why it's taken Adobe and Microsoft so long to get together on the Surface Dial, nor why the functionality is so limited. As Microsoft has just released its Surface Book 2, however, there may have been some pressure for Adobe to at least do something to help motivate creative folks to look at the dial, which remains a niche product so far.

I've had a chance to use other physical dials -- notably the Palette Gear -- with multiple functions on Photoshop CC and other Adobe apps, so it doesn't seem like it's that hard to implement. Hopefully, the device will be fully functional by the time Microsoft releases its next Surface Studio desktop, whenever that might be.