Asher Moses reports for The Sydney Morning Herald, “As virtually the entire consumer electronics industry throws its weight behind tablet computers, Microsoft’s global chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie said today that he did not know whether the booming new category was here to stay.”
MacDailyNews Take: The perfect man for the job.
Moses continues, “Speaking at a lunch held in Sydney by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), Mundie, who reports directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, said he did not know whether tablets like the iPad would ‘remain with us or not.'”
MacDailyNews Take: That’s okay, neither does Ballmer.
Moses continues, “Mundie’s views diverge from that of Apple founder Steve Jobs, who believes tablets form an integral part of the ‘post-PC’ era… Microsoft has consistently criticised tablets for lacking traditional PC features like keyboards. Ballmer has previously said the iPad was just a new type of PC form factor.”
MacDailyNews Take: Let’s see, should we listen to the guy who “doesn’t know” who’s with a company that, after a decade of trying, has sold fewer tablets than Apple lost in shipping during the last year, or should we listen to the guy who showed the world how to correctly do the personal computer, the modern OS, CG feature films, the personal media player, the smartphone, and the tablet, among other things? Tough choice.
Moses continues, “Microsoft founder Bill Gates attempted to kick-start the tablet revolution over a decade ago when the company supported a range of laptop-like devices with screens that could swivel to become tablets, operated by a stylus. However, these types of tablets never took off and it took Apple’s iPad to bring the technology to the masses. Now, tablets are the fastest-growing category of computers but it is largely a two-horse race between Apple and Google’s Android.”
MacDailyNews Take: Mundie’s brand of stupidity must be contagious. Asher, if tablets are largely “a two-horse race between Apple and Google’s Android,” then Apple is a Triple Crown winner and Google’s Android just dropped to the ground, a newly-born illegal clone created from Apple’s DNA, struggling to stand up on wobbly legs. Some “two-horse race.”
Moses continues, “Several Windows 7-based tablets have been announced – Acer launched two in Australia today – but these have been heavily criticised because they do not offer a more modern touch-friendly interface, instead attempting to shoe-horn the regular desktop version of Windows into a tablet form factor.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Matt C.,” “Jason N.,” “Tim H.,” “CJ,” and “mastcell” for the heads up.]