Ballmer demonstrated the device running the Amazon Kindle desktop application with the hit book "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer. The cover of the book ironically shows a pair of hands cradling an apple.
Seriously? Who wrote the article? The cover is of a book that is selling well that many people can identify. I highly doubt its any sort of sub-liminal message about how MS wishes they were Apple (come on MS, grow up, do your own thing!) Its not even the correct Apple anyways. Macintosh Apples (as in the actual food) typically have a more round shape, and aren't as deep of red. They are delicious however.
I think its groping for straws to point that out.
Anyhow, I'd love to see Apple at this point NOT release a "Slate" PC. Just to show other companies the "You all just chase us" mentality they have.
Everyone (including Apple since they do copy on a few things too) needs to stop chasing the other dogs tail, and forge their own path! Tons of creative minds out there, make use of them. All computers (Mac, Windows, Linux) do the same things in the same way... break the mold. If I had the talent and patience, I'd program it myself, but I can't.
And notice there is no release date, only later this year. It seems that they want to wait to see what Apple produces so that they can try and copy the good concepts and get them in before release.
History will show this for what it is... a desperate move by a floundering company.
It is almost as if they want to be accused of copying Apple.
Does something have to exist before you copy it? I am looking forward to the "rumored" apple tablet as much as the next person, though at this point in time it is just a rumor will no specs, kinda hard to copy. If Apple were not to announce the tablet on the 26th of Jan and "speculated" a lot of people carrying on here, are going to look kinda stupid.
This is a HP product anyway running Win, its not a M$ product.
So is it official that Courier is truly Vaporware?
I actually wouldn't count on that, just yet. The fact that it wasn't announced last night does not mean it never will be. Remember: this is Microsoft we're talking about, a company known for being well behind the curve. How long did it take for them to release their "iPod Killer" Zune? Five years? Microsoft doesn't bank on winning customers by creating excellent products ahead of demand; they expect to coast on their tremendous capital, and if necessary out-spend the competition.
It is by no means surprising or telling that the Courier didn't beat the iSlate (should it actually arrive this month) out the door.
D'oh!... of all the possible covers to showcase they chose one with a big Apple on it? Lots of forehead smacking going on in Redmond this morning...
But not by anyone with any power. I suspect Ballmer thought it was a good not-so-subtle dig at Apple. Instead, it just brought Apple to people's attention. If Apple doesn't announce a slate at the end of January, they will look bad. But if they do and it has some REAL innovation - like a deforming screen - then MS's thunder will be quite stolen.
Who knows? Maybe Ballmer is not that bright. Whoever made the script said they needed to display a book popular with young, hip, people and Twilight was chosen with no thought to the fact that the cover prominently displays an APPLE!!! Ballmer's company's products have shown he has no sense of aesthetics. Maybe he missed the significance.
I also wouldn't put it past Steve J. to put some sort of "retaliation" in whatever is announced on the 27th. I can easily picture him watching Ballmer's keynote, seeing the Apple, and jumping up shouting a stream of expletives. And immediately turning his attention on how to get back at Ballmer. Nerd CEO fight!
Seriously, there has to be an Apple sympathizer deep inside Redmond controlling Marketing for Microsoft. Does anyone really think that HP will have a usable product for sale before the next CES? Thud. They will wait for the Apple device and then start bragging up some as-yet-unnamed device that does everything the Apple does plus much, much more because of the almighty Windows 7. Whatever.
The Lenovo laptop with the detachable screen is pretty cool, though. Plus it's actually a working device! It's not something that I have an interest in, but it's a cool concept for sure. Kudos to them.
Once again Balmer + Microsoft prove that they know as much about being innovative as i know about weaving baskets. They had THE chance to up the ante by showing off the 'courier' device but no, window 7 (yawn!) on some clunky tablet hardware by HP and Archos. Who know, they are probably incapable of actually producing a device like that. And I wonder if Bill is kicking himself in the butt for having left the store with a nutjob like Balmer in charge. Probably not....
not like Bill Gates didn't demo a tablet back in 2001
Yep, tablet PCs have been around for ages - screens you could remove off of a keyboard and such.
The AMAZING faux pas I reckon is demonstrating it working by featuring the Kindle software on it. How odd! No doubt these machines will cost more than Kindles, if you want to use Kindle software for reading books and magazines - and it does this very well - why not buy the cheaper Kindle?
And Kindle uses its own DRM - so purchsed product files can't work with other eReaders. Isn't there an open standard that MS could have announced it was supporting?
Without a new UI and a parade of developers to showcase it, they never should have shown that. Should have let HP take the heat for producing just another form factor for Windows. The leaked "Courier" concept video was all about the UI, Windows was really no where to be seen. For all the interest that video stirred up, MS just squashed it, ground it into their heel. If you're gonna do the keynote at CES, its best to not look like you're rummaging through a box for something interesting to show your audience. Watching them parade Halo out again and hearing them try and sputter out "2010 is going to be our best year ever!" was just baffling and sad. Wow.
If you guys all want some fun head over to PCWorld's blog, link below. The PC fanboys are defending Ballmer's screw up and claiming the Apple Tablet is vaporware, it is hilarious. I have never trolled before but could not resist stoking the fire there. It's a good and well balanced article actually.
Comments
Ballmer demonstrated the device running the Amazon Kindle desktop application with the hit book "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer. The cover of the book ironically shows a pair of hands cradling an apple.
Seriously? Who wrote the article? The cover is of a book that is selling well that many people can identify. I highly doubt its any sort of sub-liminal message about how MS wishes they were Apple (come on MS, grow up, do your own thing!) Its not even the correct Apple anyways. Macintosh Apples (as in the actual food) typically have a more round shape, and aren't as deep of red. They are delicious however.
I think its groping for straws to point that out.
Anyhow, I'd love to see Apple at this point NOT release a "Slate" PC. Just to show other companies the "You all just chase us" mentality they have.
Everyone (including Apple since they do copy on a few things too) needs to stop chasing the other dogs tail, and forge their own path! Tons of creative minds out there, make use of them. All computers (Mac, Windows, Linux) do the same things in the same way... break the mold. If I had the talent and patience, I'd program it myself, but I can't.
History will show this for what it is... a desperate move by a floundering company.
It is almost as if they want to be accused of copying Apple.
not like Bill Gates didn't demo a tablet back in 2001
History will show this for what it is... a desperate move by a floundering company.
It is almost as if they want to be accused of copying Apple.
Does something have to exist before you copy it? I am looking forward to the "rumored" apple tablet as much as the next person, though at this point in time it is just a rumor will no specs, kinda hard to copy. If Apple were not to announce the tablet on the 26th of Jan and "speculated" a lot of people carrying on here, are going to look kinda stupid.
This is a HP product anyway running Win, its not a M$ product.
So is it official that Courier is truly Vaporware?
I actually wouldn't count on that, just yet. The fact that it wasn't announced last night does not mean it never will be. Remember: this is Microsoft we're talking about, a company known for being well behind the curve. How long did it take for them to release their "iPod Killer" Zune? Five years? Microsoft doesn't bank on winning customers by creating excellent products ahead of demand; they expect to coast on their tremendous capital, and if necessary out-spend the competition.
It is by no means surprising or telling that the Courier didn't beat the iSlate (should it actually arrive this month) out the door.
not like Bill Gates didn't demo a tablet back in 2001
So what happened?
So what happened?
A whole lotta nothing.
D'oh!... of all the possible covers to showcase they chose one with a big Apple on it? Lots of forehead smacking going on in Redmond this morning...
But not by anyone with any power. I suspect Ballmer thought it was a good not-so-subtle dig at Apple. Instead, it just brought Apple to people's attention. If Apple doesn't announce a slate at the end of January, they will look bad. But if they do and it has some REAL innovation - like a deforming screen - then MS's thunder will be quite stolen.
Who knows? Maybe Ballmer is not that bright. Whoever made the script said they needed to display a book popular with young, hip, people and Twilight was chosen with no thought to the fact that the cover prominently displays an APPLE!!! Ballmer's company's products have shown he has no sense of aesthetics. Maybe he missed the significance.
I also wouldn't put it past Steve J. to put some sort of "retaliation" in whatever is announced on the 27th. I can easily picture him watching Ballmer's keynote, seeing the Apple, and jumping up shouting a stream of expletives. And immediately turning his attention on how to get back at Ballmer. Nerd CEO fight!
- Jasen.
The Lenovo laptop with the detachable screen is pretty cool, though. Plus it's actually a working device! It's not something that I have an interest in, but it's a cool concept for sure. Kudos to them.
Don't even acknowledge it's real...do you see where I'm coming from here? Anyone notice how he conscientiously said 'PC' ninety nine times?
A vile Harkkonen in a red sweater showed us a damn Walgreens digital photo frame. You as a fan of technology should be offended...I know I am.
No demo of how you'd use it or why as a consumer would you really want it and have to have it.
Just held it, clumsily tapped at it and put it away.
It will fail.
I CANT WAIT to see what Apple has planned.
not like Bill Gates didn't demo a tablet back in 2001
Yep, tablet PCs have been around for ages - screens you could remove off of a keyboard and such.
The AMAZING faux pas I reckon is demonstrating it working by featuring the Kindle software on it. How odd! No doubt these machines will cost more than Kindles, if you want to use Kindle software for reading books and magazines - and it does this very well - why not buy the cheaper Kindle?
And Kindle uses its own DRM - so purchsed product files can't work with other eReaders. Isn't there an open standard that MS could have announced it was supporting?
I have a PPC Mac and you need the latest cruddy Silverlight plugin to watch it on their site, but it won't install on a PPC.
It doesn't seem to be available on Youtube either.
Does anyone know how or where I can watch this impressive keynote?
I have a PPC Mac and you need the latest cruddy MS Silverlight plugin to watch it on their site, but it won't install on a PPC.
It doesn't seem to be available on Youtube either.
Save your time
Looks like Apple has the tech world right where they want it: yawning at the competition and giving Mr. Jobs (relatively) undivided attention.
Too little too late on the smart-phones, but a unwelcome guest in the market share arena, should strengthen Apple and RIM.
The "App Store" combined with the new UI will make Apple's tablet rein supreme.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/18617...pointment.html
... in terms of attitude, philosophy, and progressive thinking, they've been on a slide since 98 or 99.
Nope. Microsoft has been on that slide since April 4, 1975.