Interesting quotes from Microsoft’s CTO in SFgate.com:
Microsoft’s chief technical officer and strategic leader Craig Mundie told an audience in Australia that he’s not sure if tablets are here to stay.
He called the iPad an “in between” device and said “Personally I don’t know whether I believe that space will be a persistent one or not.”
Later he elaborated that tablets “are not very good for creating things” and are mainly being used for consumption, not creation of content. “I don’t know whether consumption things will remain a category by themselves or not,” he added.
Apparently he missed Apple’s introduction of iMovie and Garage Band for the iPad 2 earlier this month.
Doesn’t happen often – me – speechless.
Haha, this made me laugh!
I agree with him.
Tablet like the iPad are immature products and the iPad is only successful because it is an Apple product. If Microsoft waste its times and efforts releasing a similar product it will fail.
I think that Microsoft should work on significantly different products and paradigm for this category of device.
Personnaly i would be way more interested by a next generation of Tablet PC, which could be the future of the laptop PC, and Surface based devices.
I guess I have to disagree.
How do you define immature? If the Ipad is in its 2nd version, has the most apps of any tablet, defined the genre and is consistently sold out – what is more mature?
True, Apple has the most apps among the tablets (which I think has become their main selling point), but as a percentage of the total, how many of those apps are actually useful (for anything at all)? They seem to be mostly garbage apps to entertain our simple minds (pouring a beer can, simulating a Zippo cigarette lighter, etc.). I’m not saying the other tablet brands don’t have their garbage apps as well, but if we look at the apps that are actually good for something, I wonder who would have the highest percentage of functional apps.
By the way, I agree with Craig Mundie. As laptops become thinner and thinner, and laptop processors become smaller and more powerful, I think tablet users will move back to laptops, and tablets will go away.
True, Apple has the most apps among the tablets (which I think has become their main selling point), but as a percentage of the total, how many of those apps are actually useful (for anything at all)? They seem to be mostly garbage apps to entertain our simple minds (pouring a beer can, simulating a Zippo cigarette lighter, etc.). I’m not saying the other tablet brands don’t have their garbage apps as well, but if we look at the apps that are actually good for something, I wonder who would have the highest percentage of functional apps.
— % of total apps being useful has nothing to do with anything. Anyone who has an Ipad (as I do) will tell you that it has tons of apps that add value to your daily life. If you think the form factor of laptops is the issue, you have no idea. The Ipad just works, has a simple UI, doesn’t crash, isn’t heavy and is reliable. The fact that it entertains as well is a plus. In addition, now that businesses have a real mobile platform, the amount of business apps being written for the Ipad will exponentially multiply.
By the way, I agree with Craig Mundie. As laptops become thinner and thinner, and laptop processors become smaller and more powerful, I think tablet users will move back to laptops, and tablets will go away.
— Yeah, that sounds like the argument VCR people made when the DVD was being introduced. Buy an Ipad, fly cross country (or international) and watch movies/use apps for 10 hours and then come back and tell me you would prefer to have had a laptop. Not going to happen…
I believe books are primarily a consumption product. Likewise smartphones, e-readers, radio, and TV, all fall into the category of consumption products. People do not buy products, they buy lifestyle, convenience, productivity. A well designed Tablet PC can provide some or all of those things. I am not now and unless things change at Apple, never will be an Apple fan. However, their products sell because they are well researched both from a marketing and functional standpoint. Tablet PCs will continue to sell if their consumption functions are easy and deliver the information people want. To the degree they can also provide communication capability, via text, voice and video will only enhance their market growth.