Apple slams shut Microsoft’s window of opportunity for Office on iPad

“Apple’s decision to give away its own software for writing documents or spreadsheets and making presentations on an iPad presents a conundrum for Microsoft, whose Office suite is yet to arrive on devices other than its own,” Tim Bradshaw writes for Financial Times. “The software giant has so far held Office back from Apple’s iOS platform as a way to drive sales of its Surface tablet.”

MacDailyNews Take: Gee, that’s working out well, huh?

“However, the Surface has so far failed to achieve anything like the iPad’s success, with unsold inventory of one version causing a $900m writedown in July [Apple recently sold their 170,000,000th iPad – MDN Ed.],” Bradshaw writes. “Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s departing chief executive, has said Office 365, which costs $100 a year, will come to the iPad at some point but he has given no indication when or for what price.”

MacDailyNews Take: It’s garbage. Nobody in their right mind wants it. Shove it up your caboose sideways, Monkey Boy.

“Some analysts assert that Microsoft missed its best window of opportunity to bring Office to the iPad, after Apple said on Tuesday that it would give away its rival iWork apps to new customers,” Bradshaw writes. “Analysts say that after Apple cut the iWork suite’s price from $30 to free when a new iPad or iPhone is bought, these apps could be good enough for people not to need to wait for Office. ‘Apple are showing that the software is an addition to the hardware and is something that increases engagement – and they are not charging for it,’ said Carolina Milanesi, mobile analyst at Gartner. ‘They are going to make life more complicated for Microsoft who actually has a business charging for software.'”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Die Manuresoft, but first suffer crippling, debilitating pain.

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