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Bill Gates: iPad Users Are Frustrated They Can't Type Or Create Documents

Posted by samzenpus on from the words-for-word dept.

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.'"

21 of 618 comments (clear)

  1. And... by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    1. Re:And... by CannonballHead · · Score: 5, Informative

      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 :)

    2. Re:And... by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Informative

      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.
    3. Re:And... by Nadaka · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I like physical keyboards.
      My Samsung galaxy S Relay has one good enough for texting and light email/browsing.
      My Asus Transformer Infinity has one good enough for modest writing, it also attaches to a usb mouse.
      My desktop has a really nice one with real mechanical keys.

      There is literally no reason an Iphone or Ipad couldn't use a bluetooth keyboard or mouse.

    4. Re:And... by interkin3tic · · Score: 5, Informative

      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.

    5. Re:And... by rudy_wayne · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps you are the one who doesn't get it. Why should a fully capable PC and a tablet be two different experiences?

      Because a fully functional PC is for content creation while a tablet is for content consumption. And many people don't understand the difference.

      People who use their PC for nothing but browsing the web, occassionaly sending email and posting to Facebook or Twitter are perfect candidates for a tablet. People who do real work use a "fully functional PC". Last year, the two largest PC companies, HP and Lenovo, sold a combined total of 110 Million PCs. Regardless of how that compares to tablet sales or previous year's PC sales, that's a lot of computers.

      While tablets have certainly become popular, due to the fact that there are a lot of content consumers out there. the rumors of the death of the PC are greatly exaggerated.

    6. Re:And... by Nyder · · Score: 5, Funny

      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.

      Ya, Bill Gates is the last person I'd take advice from when it comes to Apple products.

      --
      Be seeing you...
    7. Re:And... by lgw · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I would like to have a single device that is a lightweight tablet with a tablet interface, but when I drop it into a dock with a real keyboard, mouse, and screen, it switches UI modes to the right UI for that. A "single experience" would be a flawed approach IMO.

      Even better if it would switch "experience" at need to also be my HTPC and gaming console when I have my TV connected and want to switch over to using a remote, or game controllers. The tablet hardware isn't there yet (for 3D gaming), but I expect it will be within 5 years or so.

      There's no technical bar here - it just seems to be a mindset thing. Tablet / PC / console / HTPC - why not have the tablet be the core of all of that, and just switch UI "experience" depending on what input devices and display I'm using at the moment? Let the software developers choose to support whichever of those "experiences" they care about for their products.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    8. Re:And... by Proteus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where are you getting the idea that Apple... or any of Apple's fans... think that tablets will completely replace PCs? Apple's "post-PC era" commentary has almost entirely been focused on the idea that most people neither need nor want a "Home PC", and that a combination of tablet and phone will suit most people's needs (read: consuming media, writing the occasional letter or email message, etc.) admirably.

      Most commentary I've seen points out that a more traditional PC is well-suited to creation-heavy tasks, but that the convenience, relatively low cost, portability, and low learning-curve of touch-based computing will tend to relegate PC's to a niche market -- certain classes of business users and the "high-power" users (developers, scientists, etc.).

      FWIW, I think Apple is probably right. And the general idea -- most people need an "appliance", not a PC -- is a pretty good one that brings to life the dream of truly accessible computing. What scares me about it is that the major player in the space (Apple) is choosing to lock the general-purposeness of their devices away; and that others entering the market are following suit to some extent (Android manufacturers ship locked to their own app store in many cases, MS is pushing the App Store model for Metro [I refuse to stop calling it that], etc.).

      I think that path will make it a lot harder for the sort of serendipitous discovery of computing, development, and related things to occur. If I'd only had an iPad as a kid, instead of an 8088 with a compiler, I'm not sure I'd be a developer today.

      --
      We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex—but Congress can. – Cullen Hightower
    9. Re:And... by Zeio · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And Windows 8 is so terrible between the Ribbon and the Windows 8 interface this has happened:

      - All the secretaries, etc, need to be retrained. Yes they may be "more productive" after the retrain, but they must be retrained. The Ribbon has been accepted by now, but the new Win8 UI is a horrorshow.

      - For the computer mavens, gurus and hobbyists and IT guys - I really think the latest crop of Windows garbage is like another windows ME. Lets ignore it, maybe it will go away. I think Windows 7 GUI + Office 2010 is just about the final version that works. Office 2013 is crap, horrible GUI, horrible look, and Windows 8 is so bad that everyone I know who is using it has at least Start8 installed and paid for. Its laughable.

      As for me, I'm tired. Ubuntu, RHEL, CentOS, FreeBSD, Solaris, Windows XP, 7, OS X. Whatever. Its a mess that keeps getting messier and crappier mostly. Boring. People reinventing the wheel, resolving old solved problems, etc. Stupid. The industry is kind of in a bad state. Nobody has the discipline to stop changing stuff and hone in on stability anymore. Rugs have to been ripped out from underneath with ever increasing frequency. Things feel horribly unarchitected.

      My current favorite OS is actually android. Take the bazaar and productize it. Not bad. Getting better by the day.

      --
      Legalize the constitution. Think for yourself question authority.
    10. Re:And... by SerpentMage · · Score: 5, Interesting

      THANK-YOU...

      Steve jobs himself said, "When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks because that's what you needed on the farms." Cars became more popular as cities rose, and things like power steering and automatic transmission became popular.

      "PCs are going to be like trucks," Jobs said. "They are still going to be around." However, he said, only "one out of x people will need them.""

      http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-20006526-56.html

      Where people said that he thought PC's would die is something I don't get. He NEVER said that!!! The problem is that Bill Gates thinks everybody needs a pickup truck, which is clearly not the case!

      --

      "You can't make a race horse of a pig"
      "No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
    11. Re:And... by mcrbids · · Score: 5, Interesting

      With my phone, a Razr Maxx HDD, I find myself commonly doing "real work" on the go, where Swype on the screen just doesn't cut it. I got myself an iGo folding BT keyboard and LOVE IT. Android comes with QuickOffice which does a passable job at MS Office compatibility, and which I've used many times in conjunction with the email and JuiceSSH for remote access to servers.

      I wish apps weren't full screen; It's trivial to plug my phone into a nearby TV with HDMI and, with bluetooth keyboard, have an impromptu "PC" with pretty impressive "content creation" capability. Copy/Paste is still weak, but it's improving rapidly.

      My phone is more powerful than the majority of computers I've used in my almost-20-year history working in information technology. It's silly to think it's not ever going to be considerable as a PC replacement.

      --
      I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
  2. Personally by themaddone · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's true.

    --Sent from my iPad

  3. Microsoft is fustrated tooo. by davydagger · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft is fustrated that still, no one gives a shit about windows 8, and no one wants windows rt, and they were all DOA.

    As much as I despise apple products, no cult-of-crapple iPad users would ever think twice about anything else, and if they did, it would more likely be android.

  4. but without giving up what they expect in a PC. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Like a start menu. oh wait.

  5. I don't get Microsoft's strategy here by dingen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So according to Bill it boils down to MS Office (because you can simply get a keyboard for an iPad, just as you can for a Surface tablet).

    The thing is however:

    a) there's no native Office for Surface either (Office 2013 has no Metro-interface and isn't particularly suited for touch screens, even in touch-mode)
    b) they are woking on a version of Office for iOS and Android
    c) you can use Office 365 on whatever device that has a browser, which includes Surface, but also the iPad and all of the Android devices out there

    How does that make the Surface any more attractive than the competition?

    --
    Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
  6. I know everyone is going to hate on Bill but... by Loco3KGT · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I 100% agree with him. I can't type /at all/ on my iPad 2. Because I'm not the disciplined type that raises their fingers 100% before hitting the next key I find the iPad trippng up a lot. It also doesn't keep up when I'm typing quickly and I'm not patient enough to slow down to wait for it. I've even tried two third party keyboards and wasn't impressed with them (1 because it was small and travel sized, the other is that new fangled overlay .. I can't remember the name but I was a part of the kickstarter). Anyway, when it comes to typing anything of substance I always put down the iPad and go to my desktop computer.

    In the end my iPad 2 has become the samething my X-Box has become, a bad, over-priced Netflix player.

    --
    Blessed be he who reads this post, Cursed be he who tells my boss.
  7. What's my son doing up there in his bedroom? by ProfessorDoom · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear Abby,

        Ever since we got my 13-year old an iPad, he's gone up to his bedroom after dinner each night and asked us to not disturb him while he "creates a document." Today I learned from Bill Gates that he can't actually create a document.

        Should I knock before entering his room to ask about this?

  8. Re:Yeah by LordLimecat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are you seriously implying that touchscreen is the new, better method of input?

    What exactly do you do on a computer? Im gonna guess its not

    • Writing proposals
    • Writing code
    • Doing financial work
    • Doing systems administration

    Or anything, really, that involves rapidly moving data from your brain onto a computer. Or does the new Lightning connector have that capability built into it?

  9. Re:We Already Tried This. by couchslug · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Netbooks didn't "die" on their own.

    They were designed with crippling "birth defects" (weak CPU, limited RAM) so as not to eat notebook market share. It worked and after the initial surge, sales dropped off.

    Many people still like them, but when I can get a used Thinkpad X2whatever for cheap it makes no sense for me to buy one.

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  10. Re:Yeah by PCM2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    One thing I've noticed since switching to a Windows tablet is how lousy the onscreen keyboard is. On most platforms, touchscreen keyboards try to incorporate things like predictive text, auto-capitalization, etc to help you type, because they realize that a touchscreen with no tactile feedback is a less-than-idea way to type. The Windows onscreen keyboards have none of that. What's more, they seem wildly inaccurate ... the visual feedback seems to be telling me that I'm hitting the right keys, but when I look up at what I entered, half of the letters are keys right next to the ones I thought I was hitting (and although I can touch type on a physical keyboard, I do have to look at the keys on a tablet).

    What exactly do you do on a computer? Im gonna guess its not

    Writing proposals
    Writing code
    Doing financial work
    Doing systems administration

    Screw all of that. Before you can do any of that, you have to enter your password to login to the system first. Try that when you have a strong password and you can't be totally sure what keys you're pressing.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!