Posted on 05/06/2013 7:32:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Bill Gates took a shot at the iPad while explaining Microsoft's rationale for the Surface this morning on CNBC.
He was asked about the declining PC market. He said that tablets are growing in popularity, and it's "going to be harder and harder to distinguish products" that are PCs versus tablets.
The Surface, he says, brings the "portability of the tablet but the richness of the PC."
He then said of people using iPad-like devices, "A lot of those users are frustrated, they can't type, they can't create documents, they don't have Office there."
While some people are frustrated by the iPad's limitations, most embrace it. Apple sold 19.5 million iPads last quarter. Over that same period, HP, the world's number one PC seller, sold 11.7 million PCs, according to Gartner.
It's a cliche, but the truth is that the iPad just works for surfing the web, light emailing, videos, and some games.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
A lot of enterprises rely on COBOL as well.
All I want is a unit with a billboard sized hyper resolution full 3-D display, a comfortable full sized keyboard, with a numeric pad, a wireless mouse, and input tablet/3-D mouse, rilly fast processor, immense memory, intuitive interface, hella fast connectivity, surround sound, pizza oven and soda dispenser, and I want it to fit in my pocket and pocketbook...
I misspoke. The soda dispenser should be a beverage dispenser, I’m gonna want coffee...
< smack with CRC Math Tables book >
Slide rules are for the weak. If you aren't interpolating logarithm tables by hand you might as well just be counting on your fingers.
My wife has a Kindle HD Fire which she absolutely loves. It is way more than a reader. She uses it to surf the net, watch movies on Netflix, check and compose email, play games and listen to radio (via Tunein). Cost is about $200 for the small version. Sharp screen and decent sound.
I’m in agreement with you. I have an Ipad, a kindle, an older iMac which I just replaced with a multi-touch Windows8 machine, a Dell laptop, a Google laptop and a MacBook. My next “work” computer that I purchase, will be a Surface Pro.
Everyone I know, my house included, are far happier with apple products than microsoft.
I still love my desktop PC, but the only tablet I have is a first generation iPad. I do not look at the iPad as a "real" computer; but rather as a portable substitute. Rather than go into the room where the PC is, I just use the iPad for checking emails, surfing the internet, etc. If I'm watching a TV show, I may look it up on IMDB to find out more info on it. I can sit out on the deck and smoke a cigar and use the iPad for internet, email, ordering something online, etc.
However, I would never use an iPad for serious work. I don't like typing on it, and it is small for looking at spreadsheets, etc. I carry it when I travel to keep up with email and stuff. I can listen to music on it as I would an iPod, and watch/stream programs on it. I usually watch a TV program or a Bible study lecture on it while I'm riding my recumbent bike. I would never consider it a real workstation type of computer, but I have no complaints for what it is. I happen to like having both a PC and a tablet.
I got something at Kickstarter that does just that!
My wifey’s Ipad (version 1) crashes on some apps she uses. No Flash isn’t a huge deal, but if she happens to want to watch something that involves flash, well, no.
But it has been a solid device for 2.5 years or so. Me, I touch type, and just absolutely despise trying to type anything on her Ipad, or a couple of other small tab devices we own. sux. But if I ever end up with a wireless keyboard/mouse and some pad device, I COULD be happy, I suppose.
I have not seriously looked at the Surface, but maybe I should.
But I will always have a big fat windows machine to run games on. I was hoping to rebuild my machine, or possibly build a totally new machine, hotrodded, with massive GPU power, processing power, memory power, that uses lots of power. Maybe even built a cockpit. But it’s getting shoved back in the priority list yet again.
“and I want it to fit in my pocket”
Attach a mini projector to your phone might help.
And what’s worse, the people in those individual photos are probably texting each other.
Hear, Hear.
“Hes still the chairman though.”
And apparently the primary reason Ballmer hasn’t been fired.
Details, please?
“Sorry, Bill. I know not a single person who is unhappy or confused about their iPad. It is a tremendous device. I do recognize it is not a replacement for a lap top, but it has many uses.”
Indeed. I’m losing customers from my PC/IT business because of the iPad, because my customers find that it does 99% of what they need to do, and it just works without hiring a guy like me to make it work.
Before posting my response/reply, as per previous replies/posts, I still feel that a large part of I phone, I Pad, and Mac users are members of the Apple cult and use their expensive equipment as expensive show off toys to which they are addicted to and are used minimally to overcome issues in the real world.
Recent events with people I’m related too re using the I Pads have made me a believer in I Pads.
My family and friends used to call me a Tech Wiz. Then, when I retired, my black box HPs and Windows were all I needed and a simple Trac Cell phone. I went from Tech Wiz to a semi luddite.
I haven’t changed that much. My current HP Pavilion with Windows 7 is one year old and I have a new Trac LG phone to text my younger relatives.
Two younger relative’s recent experiences with the I Pads are positive, and I can see me possibly using the I Pad Mini for trips and use in the tv room to avoid going to my home office. Most of those uses are to answer a question from my wife re general things to budget and other personal items. I could use a WiFi mini pad for those uses and at most hotels and places we vacation at.
One of the younger relatives in his fourties is a mid level manager in post harvesting and finishing an expensive perishable farm product for retail sales. He is an avid weekend outdoors guy and often does his very active weekend things in areas he doesn’t really know. He uses his I Pad, not a mini, with Verizon 4G Lite, to get maps, weather and apps re the races/events. It is amazing the data, precise where/time points (no more need for a GPS) and for incredible photos of the events.
He and his immediate supervisor are looking into using I Pads to replace bulky portable PCS re real time data on the where their crops are, re any problems and best harvest windows and other apps after harvest.
The other user is a young female relative, recently accepted at a very good private high school. The school requires a high end I Pad with Max Memory and she uses the school WiFi and her home Wi Fi. All of her text books and other printed learning material will be available on her I Pad. Supposedly, that will pay for the I Pad’s cost, $750, after the first-second year. Also, she will not be lugging 40 +#’s of books and other paper around, saving her back. We bought her the I Pad and her parents bought her the required key board, which she had to pass a typing test. Even though, she will not officially start school until this September, she uses her new I Pad daily to receive messages, reading material and other matter.
The young lady’s dad is a top exec in a heavy duty world which is using more high tech each day. He and similar level managers recently went to I phones to ease their phone and email load via use of the I Phone when out of their offices.
Their rules have become, don’t phone me if you can text me. If what you need to be considered/approved is too long for a text, use email limited to a couple of paragraphs.
This has been very successful on both sides of the users.
The on site photos taken with the I Phones document the problems, questions, issues, successes and opportunities in the field for clearer understanding on both sides of their company and customers.
This young man has been watching his daughter’s use of the I Pad and his relative’s uses as noted above. An I Pad mini might become a tool around the office, in the field and traveling companion for him and his peers.
Bill Gates and his MS thugs and HP/Dell and other makers of PC’ had better be looking at how to compete with the I Pads and maybe the I Phones for real business uses.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.