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Feb 09, 10 - 02:21 pm Comment from: NCMacMan

Next we'll see baby buggies with iPads in them because their users will baby their iPads.

......no?

Feb 09, 10 - 02:25 pm Comment from: silverhawk

I've owned Apple computers since the 80's. Does that make me conceited? I think so.

iPad is not a computing device. It is a social interaction and media consumption appliance. The word computing or computers should not appear any where near iPad no matter how the geeks may want.

This is not to say iPad is not capable of having complex applications to perform any kind of computing desired. It simply will be done in a manner more like an appliance and less like a computer (window/Mac OS).

Feb 09, 10 - 02:28 pm Comment from: Lava_Head_UK

Never!

You can count that HP will have a crude, simple, plain, basic (choose whatever adjective you feel applies) copy with touch controls and touch menus within a year. Running Windows 7 lite or something. It will be converted Netbook hardware with touch screen and whatever music and video and browser apps they can cram in. Maybe even Dell will try one, they copy everything else Apple does... Of course Amazon will have to respond too...

Just remember, Apple did it first.

Feb 09, 10 - 02:29 pm Comment from: VAL4Mother

Beleaguered Microsoft will introduce ZunePad, and we all will wish we had an FM radio in our iPad.

Microsoft will be placed in such a difficult position that even superb leadership would be hard pressed to cope with it all,

...so their current leadership would have no chance whatsoever.

Feb 09, 10 - 02:36 pm Comment from: Wha

RE: "Next we'll see baby buggies with iPads in them because their users will baby their iPads."

I have a iPad nursery setup at my place for everyone who can't afford Kindercare. Interested schmucks need apply. I take checks.

Dream on fanboy! Why would ms try to copy a already dead product. The ipad will soon carry the icrap label. Overhyped, overpriced and underspec'd iPod touch!!!!!!!

Feb 09, 10 - 02:49 pm Comment from: Deus Ex Technica

It's far more likely that... "Saddam Hussein can come back and counter the threat exemplified by advancing U.S. forces"...

Even if Microsoft resurrects itself from its foggy morass of flailing market decisions to build a tablet, it will be way too little, and much too late.

Poor, poor Tezza. At least Zune Tang is ironic and funny.

John Martellaro writes for The Mac Observer.
He's the only reason I visit there.
Ex-Apple.
Quality shows through.

NO. They don't make their own hardware therefore they cannot harmonize software and hardware together.

Ah, Tezza, ye of little vision or imagination.

Come back in a year and make your statement again. You won't because it would be complete nonsense...just as it is now.

How about let them originate something for a change. With Microsoft their always Johnny come lately. And its always second rate crap.

Feb 09, 10 - 02:57 pm Comment from: m159

No.

Any other questions?

Feb 09, 10 - 03:04 pm Comment from: Botvinnik

man, well said.

Feb 09, 10 - 03:06 pm Comment from: Olmecmystic

@Gabriel:

Ssshhhh! (Whispers): Leave that used car salesman in place for as long as it takes! We're almost there!

Peace.
Olmecmystic

The iPad and netbooks are companion devices, not computer replacements. Households will still need at least one computer, but not several, especially laptops. Companies will still need computers for some jobs, however most employees will only need a task specific device. They can be easily replaced and give more security. Currently netbooks can't compete. The bloat of Win anything keeps their small processors from being efficient. The worthless trackpad and keyboards makes them hard to use. Who is creating software that runs well on them now? Google is already years ahead of MS in being able to jump into this market. MS will have to make some fundamental changes to keep up, however they do have the talent and resources to do it. The questions is will they.

I think the smartest thing Apple could have done differently would be iWork for iPad that saves primarily in MS Office format.

Like it or not, 99.999...% of the world's documents are in that format and Apple could gain more converts by providing a tidy front end to the office format, than by siloing their users into a 0.00000...1% format.

Why will Microsoft copy CRAPPLE new toy when they already reinvented decades ago. Dream on MACTARDS! Dream on!

http://www.bing.com When it comes to decisions that matter, Bing & Decide

"Microsoft will be placed in such a difficult position that even superb leadership would be hard pressed to cope with it all"

With superb leadership, MS could wipe the floor with Apple.
They just don't have superb leadership.

Feb 09, 10 - 03:22 pm Comment from: iPhoneEnvy

Don't feed the Tezza

Feb 09, 10 - 03:24 pm Comment from: iPhoneEnvy

I miss Zune Tang's posts.. At least they were intellegent. All the impostors are like other companies copying Apple. They just fall short...

Feb 09, 10 - 03:28 pm Comment from: Steve Hix

"iPad is not a computing device. It is a social interaction and media consumption appliance."

This is just silliness; of course it's a computing device, covering all the requirements for them:

- accepts data input
- processes said data according to specific programmed rules
- produces output (in any number of different modalities).

Social interaction and media consumption are just two of the uses to which it's likely to be put, not to which it is limited.

Feb 09, 10 - 03:30 pm Comment from: HughB

Yes where is Zune Tang. He has style. These 8th graders like PC trying to channel him are just lame.

Feb 09, 10 - 03:31 pm Comment from: thethirdshoe

Excellent article. This IS where we are headed.

"The move to appliance computing will not mean the end of the general purpose computer used to create videos, audio, art, ads, Websites, and applications. What it does mean is that the mix of computers will change. That will be a major disruptive influence on the PC business. Instead of 100 percent of the people being forced to use a very capable, insecure general purpose computer, only those technical people who need one will buy one."

My sources say no.

Feb 09, 10 - 03:31 pm Comment from: Steve Hix

"I think the smartest thing Apple could have done differently would be iWork for iPad that saves primarily in MS Office format."

Rejoice, then. Office formats are supported by the iPad's iWork applications.

Or did you miss the keynote, or fail to read about them on their respective iPad pages at Apple's site?

Compatibility with dinosaurian formats is thus achieved.

Feb 09, 10 - 03:32 pm Comment from: TigerCliff

HP and MS have already announced and showed (at least in form factor) what to expect "in 2010." Search YouTube to see the HP guy and gal showing their slate device.

Truth is there's room for competition and that's good for everyone as the new category/segment emerges.

HP and the others will be tied to the MS or Android experience, which will fall short of Apple... but it's guaranteed people will buy those too... they'll have feature that *some* customers will find as advatanges (expandable memory, USB ports, Flash).

Frankly, I welcome a little heat toward Apple from their competitors here.

Feb 09, 10 - 03:33 pm Comment from: RicMac

@rob
You're forgetting that MS did originate that big ass table of theirs. So.... they got that going for them. And that game thing they do that has cost them gillions and gillions of dollars to date.
When you think of it, MS is a pretty awesome company, way better than Apple. (wink, wink)

Feb 09, 10 - 03:36 pm Comment from: qka

@ Mehran & Tezza

What is the weather like on your planets?

Just you wait! Microsoft will have their Super 7 Vista Touch system on the market out soon! By the end of the year. Or 2011. Or maybe they'll call it Live Touch! Maybe by 2012. But just wait. It will be sooo worth it.

@Mehran

No it's not. Just because its target isn't us geeks it doesn't mean it is limited to media consumption only. The iPhone better suits your description.

Feb 09, 10 - 03:48 pm Comment from: lurker

@Wha - Kindlecare?

Feb 09, 10 - 03:52 pm Comment from: breeze

iPad has something different to offer everyone. That's why it'll sell like hot cakes.

Everybody's got one, Everybody's got one, Stacey Jones has two.

After Microsoft buys an ipad and gets a chance to study it, I'm sure we'll see an Microsoft os product very similar to the ipad's os.

Feb 09, 10 - 03:59 pm Comment from: DLMeyer

We are running into a language problem, here. The iPad is obviously a "computer", but not what most think of as "a computer". Any more than they think of a Wii as "a computer". And the iPad is more of "a computer" than any (or all?) of the game consoles.
But, the article says "a computer" needs to have a huge, complex, OS and huge, complex, applications, some of which are part of an "Office Suite". The iPad does have an OS and quite a few apps, and the most complex of those are part of an "Office Suite", but none of these hold a candle to those on a Windows or OSX box. And ... if you toss in a version of iLife the equivalent of the iPad's iWork, 90% or more of all users will be able to "get by" with it, more often than not, especially when away from 'home'.

Feb 09, 10 - 04:08 pm Comment from: Jubei

Easy. Microsoft can catch up right now. They can even beat the iPad to the punch. All they have to do is strap a BAT on somebody's back, make a ledge or bracket to support the weight on your rear end, attach 3 or 4 car batteries and "BOOM", you got your iBack or Windows MyASS shipping today.

Feb 09, 10 - 04:22 pm Comment from: Gregg Thurman

"Frankly, I welcome a little heat toward Apple from their competitors here."

I celebrate competition to Apple's products, because nobody responds better to competition than Apple.

@ Steve Hix

If iWork for iPad supports Office formats as badly as iWork does on the Mac, then it's not very good. iWork cannot do something simple like allow the user to fix a typo in a Word document. First iWork mangles the document on opening into an iWork format, then requires that you export it back out ( mangling it again ) into the Office format. The resulting file is very different from the original.

With most of the world's documents existing in Office format, Apple would do a great service to their users in allowing them seamless access to them.

Feb 09, 10 - 04:44 pm Comment from: Mr. Reeee

@PXT

Dealing with Word files in Pages is pretty seamless and pain-free.

Maybe you need to learn how to use Pages.

Feb 09, 10 - 04:47 pm Comment from: Demon

"Can Microsoft catch up and counter the threat exemplified by Apple’s revolutionary iPad?"

The Answer is a simple one, in one word. No!

@PXT

Actually, Pages is quite more compatible with Words than different installation of Word is to each other.

Feb 09, 10 - 05:37 pm Comment from: Demon

Microsoft and it's vision of the future of the computer (This includes laptop and desktop systems, smart phones and every other type of computer a person might use) industry is flawed. Microsoft does not what the OS or the computer to be invisible to the user. They want it to standout front and center. They want the user to know that the computer is in control of their task and their work.

Apple as a different plan and a different vision. Apple wants the computer, OS and Application to be invisible to the user. The only thing the user should be aware of is the task that they need to do. Apple wants the Computer to be a tool to put the user in charge to make the user front and center. Apple puts the user in control of the task.

I want to add that most old school Tech Bloggers and Punters share Microsoft vision of the future and not Apple's view. Googles view of the future is just so, evil and perverted I'll just skip it today. Microsoft in years past before the anti-trust loss and before Bill wigged out in the depositions for the Anti-trust case. Microsoft was the media darlings, in the same way that Google is the media darlings today. Apple has never been media darlings they've been scorned and tried like evil children from basically day one. That is not to say that Apple doesn't get good press. Apple as always pioneered the path and opened the doors for others. Sometimes that's been good for them and sometimes it hasn't. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer have been wrong about the direction of their own industry from day one. Apple, Woz and Jobs set Apple on a path that it is still on today. Yes, Apple did have to buy Next and bring Jobs back in to run the company to get it back on track but Apple is back on Track and Jobs has built a team that share the Apple Vision and they know how to get that vision out to the people to use it. Apple will remain the pioneering leader and drive the technology industry on. Microsoft, Goggle and the others will either trail, fail or bail with Apple pace for innovations.

Remember the Apple knowledge Navigator?

Feb 09, 10 - 08:07 pm Comment from: Jubei

@Dan

"Remember the Apple knowledge Navigator?"

Yep and in some ways we are already there with the iPhone and specially with the iPad on its way.

http://pulsar.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/AppleKnowledgeNavigatorPromo.mov

Feb 09, 10 - 09:27 pm Comment from: David Cramer

RE: "Microsoft will be placed in such a difficult position that even
superb leadership would be hard pressed to cope with it all"

I've suffered the experience of working in organizations like Microsoft that had been founded and run by amoral and incompetent leadership

Actually, Microsoft has a much bigger problem than just finding a better leader, and it's probably a decade or more too late to get rid of Ballmer. See how effective it was to get rid of Gates (in a manner of speaking).

The problem is that for companies like that, the majority of people in the orgchart are there because they can function successfully in a dysfunctional environment. That's a weird skill, requiring a peculiar adaptability for dysfunction. Which is not to say the people at Microsoft are evil, but they have adapted to dysfunctionality in ways that are uniquely resistant to change.

Everything in a dysfunctional organization resists change, plus by definition, the methods of resistance are reeally dirty!

Piecemeal change is impossible, replacing the leadership is impossible, replacing a majority of staff is impossible. Do you think you can just change the mission statement (the real one, that is, not the printed one in the little frame on the wall behind the receptionist).?

Feb 10, 10 - 01:01 am Comment from: ChrissyOne

Any machine that doesn't take all its input in assembly language isn't a 'real' computer, you fools! Why, when I was a kid, all we had were millions of light switches to turn on and off.
And we were THANKFUL.

Feb 10, 10 - 02:22 pm Comment from: Cubert

C1,
I had to punch cards.