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Bill Gates: iPad Users Are Frustrated They Can't Type Or Create Documents
An anonymous reader writes "While Apple views the tablet and PC markets as two separate entities, Microsoft takes the opposing view. During a CNBC interview this morning, Gates continued to toe the party line insofar as he praised the benefits of Microsoft's tablets and Windows 8 while explaining that iPad users are frustrated because they have trouble typing and creating documents. 'With Windows 8, Microsoft is trying to gain share in what has been dominated by the iPad-type device. But a lot of those users are frustrated, they can't type, they can't create documents. They don't have Office there. So we're providing them something with the benefits they've seen that have made that a big category, but without giving up what they expect in a PC.'"
Because what I use my PC for and what I use my tablet for are entirely different things, and by trying to merge them into a single experience you produce a laptop I don't want to use and a tablet I don't want to use. And apparently I'm not alone, judging by the incredible failure Microsoft's Surface offerings have been.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
that no one seriously expect a tablet to be a PC
No, but the option for more overlap is nice. Especially when it has nothing to do with actual processing power issues, and not even screen size with a tablet, but simply peripheral and OS problems.
If nothing else... PRINTING would be awfully nice from a tablet. Too bad both Android and Apple have clunky hacks (well, I'm not too familiar with the Apple one, but I understand it's not a native print-to-printer thing). It's not like it's a hard problem to solve, it's been solved for years.
Same with typing. ASUS has a good thing, IMO, going with their Transformer tablets (I own one). I think it was smart for Microsoft to do it.
I'm sure it's not for everyone. Not everyone likes smartphones, either (I don't have one) ... some for very similar reasons ("nobody seriously expects a phone to be a computer"). But, hey, some do. And I've heard, actually, some very good things about the Windows tablets. The bad thing, of course, is that they are expensive :)
And Microsoft keeps demonstrating that they just don't get it, that no one seriously expect a tablet to be a PC, and that no one wants their PC to be a tablet.
I wouldn't mind if the screen on my laptop was removable, if it worked just like magic. and the usb ports on the base unit kept working when the screen was detached and it was in range. that would be sweet at home.
however the whole windows 8 thing is a masterful diversion from the real thing that MS has riding on it.. I might sound like a broken record here, but the real thing why windows 8 is significant is that they're extending microsoft tax to 3rd party software - and nobody is talking about it. on rt it's _all_ 3rd party sw, if you pay then you pay part of the money to MS, on regular 8 it's just metro stuff currently, however now they can "give in" and give the regular desktop more prominent role again in their plans and have regular desktop apps distributed through their store as well then and people will praise them for being sensible. adobe is trying to fight that with subscription model(3rd party payments?), since in the future they sure as fuck wouldn't want to pay MS 30% of a 2500 dollar sale.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
I think you are overestimating the intelligence of a very profitable demographic for the tablet market, while Gates may be more right on.
There are people who buy tablets as their PCs and only then realize why keyboards are still a thing. Hell, I've heard of a whole school that decided to get all the teachers computers, then decided to get them ipads. This was not an unpopular idea until shortly after it was actually implemented.
there is both free and commercial AirPrint server software that can make any printer available to an iOS device..
I own an OfficeJet 4500, which is not AirPrint compatible. I checked the Wikipedia article you linked for more information about this "AirPrint server software" you mentioned, but the first footnote after "GNU/Linux" resulted in "Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at www.rho.cc". The second link works, but it's very complicated to set up. Furthermore, it mentions that it uses Avahi, and I've found that Avahi doesn't work if a Windows Server is on the same network because Windows Server's use of the .local top-level domain by default conflicts with Zeroconf.
Earlier this year I was involved in a collaborative writing project where all three authors were using iPads and the documents were hosted as goggle docs in a shared repository.
One author was using a 3rd party bluetooth keyboard, myself and the 3rd author were using the onscreen keyboard. For edits and proofing the workflow with the iPads and google docs worked really well.
I have subsequently purchased one of the Logictech keyboard for when I travel and want the capability to type longer documents. I frequently type shorter documents on the iPad onscreen keyboard directly.
Sara
Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
No, that's not the only thing that needs to change. As you noted, multi-touch gestures don't work with a standard mouse (could possibly work with Apple's Magix Mouse or Magic Trackpad). You also need to add a mouse pointer so you can see what you're pointing at, scrolling has to be addressed (there are no scroll bars in most apps), and you have to create suitable replacements for touch&hold. And, while the current iOS method of selecting text could be adapted to using a mouse, that would be a clumsy way to use a mouse compared to how we've learned to select text using a mouse for the last 30 years. Certainly, the multi-touch gestures are the biggest obstacle, but there are other obstacles to address. The point is that it's not a trivial issue, it's one that has some real UI and usability questions to address before supporting a mouse.
make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
For most pedestrian PC use cases, you don't need a bruiser of a CPU or a GPU. In the case of an HTPC, a lot of people (myself included) get great results out of using just about the most trailing edge kit available. Most home and office users don't push their machines. That's why tablets are so popular.
Most people outside of conspicous consumption gamers just don't push their systems.
Right now, I am not pushing my system. The most important aspect of my desktop right now is not the CPU or the GPU. It's the big fat monitor and nice keyboard. It's all of the parts that aren't the actual PC.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.