Bill Gates: There is 'a strong possibility' Apple needs a Surface-like device
During a PBS interview on Monday night Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that Surface may prompt Apple to shift its iPad strategy in order to compete with the capabilities offered by the upcoming Windows 8 tablet.
Gates gushed about Microsoft's Surface during a Charlie Rose expos? saying the device is a completely new form factor which he said was "exciting" for the market, according to CNET.
The tech mogul went on to say that consumers can have the best of both worlds with a tablet that runs a full-fledged desktop operating system, clearly alluding to the iPad's stripped-down iOS. Indeed, most of the talk regarding Surface drew direct and indirect comparisons to Apple's tablet offering which is the unquestioned leader in the space.
"You don't have to make a compromise," Gates said. "You can have everything you like about a tablet and everything you like about a PC all in one device. And so that should change the way people look at things."
Speaking to Microsoft's first attempt at a tablet format, Gates said that he had the idea "way too early," noting that "there were a few things that could have been done differently to bring [a Windows tablet] to critical mass."
When pressed about why late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was able to get the iPad platform off the ground, Gates cited market timing and the "package that he had put together." The "package" is assumedly the successful combination of Apple's industrial hardware design and the company's multi-touch mobile operating system that was both easy to use and easy on the eyes. Early attempts at Windows-based tablets were not "thin and attractive" and indeed many Surface progenitors looked like normal laptops or were merely "convertibles" with rotatable displays.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Surface two weeks ago in a surprise event and revealed the company would be launching two versions of the device, an ARM-supported model called Surface for Windows RT and an Intel Core i5 iteration dubbed Surface for Windows 8 Pro.
The new device, which is to be Microsoft branded, has caused some controversy with OEMs that license Windows for their hardware. Shortly after Surface was announced, Acer founder Stan Shih said that the tablet is just a ploy to boost Windows 8 adoption and guessed that Microsoft would abandon the project after the first models roll out later this year. More recently, HP was said to be ditching Windows RT altogether in favor of other mobile operating systems though the rumor has yet to be verified.
Apple has dominated the tablet market since the inception of the first iPad in 2010 and has enjoyed a great deal of success with the most-recent Retina display model. Some estimates see the iPad's marketshare sitting at 60 percent for 2012 and could account for 50.9 percent of total shipments by 2017. Tablet sales are forecast to surpass laptops in the next four years and will grow from 121 million units in 2012 to 416 million in 2016.
A smaller, 7.85-inch version of the iPad is rumored to be in the works for a release date later this fall. The most recent reports claim that the device will sport an IGZO display and be priced between $250 to $300.
Gates gushed about Microsoft's Surface during a Charlie Rose expos? saying the device is a completely new form factor which he said was "exciting" for the market, according to CNET.
The tech mogul went on to say that consumers can have the best of both worlds with a tablet that runs a full-fledged desktop operating system, clearly alluding to the iPad's stripped-down iOS. Indeed, most of the talk regarding Surface drew direct and indirect comparisons to Apple's tablet offering which is the unquestioned leader in the space.
"You don't have to make a compromise," Gates said. "You can have everything you like about a tablet and everything you like about a PC all in one device. And so that should change the way people look at things."
Speaking to Microsoft's first attempt at a tablet format, Gates said that he had the idea "way too early," noting that "there were a few things that could have been done differently to bring [a Windows tablet] to critical mass."
When pressed about why late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was able to get the iPad platform off the ground, Gates cited market timing and the "package that he had put together." The "package" is assumedly the successful combination of Apple's industrial hardware design and the company's multi-touch mobile operating system that was both easy to use and easy on the eyes. Early attempts at Windows-based tablets were not "thin and attractive" and indeed many Surface progenitors looked like normal laptops or were merely "convertibles" with rotatable displays.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the Surface two weeks ago in a surprise event and revealed the company would be launching two versions of the device, an ARM-supported model called Surface for Windows RT and an Intel Core i5 iteration dubbed Surface for Windows 8 Pro.
The new device, which is to be Microsoft branded, has caused some controversy with OEMs that license Windows for their hardware. Shortly after Surface was announced, Acer founder Stan Shih said that the tablet is just a ploy to boost Windows 8 adoption and guessed that Microsoft would abandon the project after the first models roll out later this year. More recently, HP was said to be ditching Windows RT altogether in favor of other mobile operating systems though the rumor has yet to be verified.
Apple has dominated the tablet market since the inception of the first iPad in 2010 and has enjoyed a great deal of success with the most-recent Retina display model. Some estimates see the iPad's marketshare sitting at 60 percent for 2012 and could account for 50.9 percent of total shipments by 2017. Tablet sales are forecast to surpass laptops in the next four years and will grow from 121 million units in 2012 to 416 million in 2016.
A smaller, 7.85-inch version of the iPad is rumored to be in the works for a release date later this fall. The most recent reports claim that the device will sport an IGZO display and be priced between $250 to $300.
Comments
LOL! What a marroon!
Hilarious. All you have to do is buy the "Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover" for your iPad, and you have the Microsoft Surface.
I think he should see Microsoft actually release either Surface before he makes comments about Apple needing to match it.
Apple needs a "Surface" like device like a healthy person needs cancer.
If Apple ever came out with something like that, then I think that it's time to consider selling some AAPL shares.
OK - I don't post often, but when I have I feel that they have been fairly decent posts and contributed to the discussion. Hopefully that has earned me the right to get a way with this gem I just had to log in to share:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA *gasp* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
That is all.
Thanks.
Microsoft is so scared shitless that Windows will NOT be on tablets that they had to build a X86 tablet to KEEP it around a little while longer. Those tablets may sell or they may not. Some business users may gobble them up, but consumers do not need full-blown PCs. They just need something to tweet, email, store pics, facebook, etc. Scientists and engineers may need windows, but consumers don't.
Sorry, Bill.
haha what a douche.
It may well be fit for purpose but for it to be fully useable you're going to have to cart around a keyboard, mouse, stylus and extra batteries or at least cables to plug it in. Don't get me wrong, I hope its dynamic and brilliant because it will help encourage innovation and keep Apple on its toes but from a home user perspective, Apple will continue to dominate with its holistic approach. It's a new toy for windows lovers to get into and be able to play with file explorer and keep the hackers and virus writers busy and the virus companies rich. I wish it the best of luck.
No, Bill. No. A PC is much more powerful than a tablet, be it a laptop, all-in-one or desktop like the Mac Pro. If people want a lot of power, they can use a PC.
For a tablet, we're set, thanks! If we want, we can even connect a wireless keyboard to the iPad. But we don't really want that.
Thanks, however, and good luck plugging Microsoft crap devices.
Though what they think anyone would want with a desktop OS on a multitouch device is anyone's guess. They don't seem to have learned from the last decade.
I'm sorry, but between my iPad and my MBA that can run all three major OS's, I think I'm covered, Bill.
Doesn't Microsoft need a Surface-like device first? Or did I miss the roll-out?
Quote:
"You don't have to make a compromise," Gates said. "You can have everything you like about a tablet and everything you like about a PC all in one device..."
LOL! Is he really out of touch with his own company? Somebody needs to tell him that Surface isn't an "all in one device" it's two separate devices - one which runs PC apps and one which runs mobile apps, and those apps are not interchangeable! Perhaps he didn't yet watch the announcement last week
yeah would be nice to have a tablet for actual talented people
iPad is for that group that everything they own other people made and everything that has ever inspired them other people have imagined - be nice to have a tablet for the rest of us.
iOS has always been the dumbing down of Apple - the device for "joe" - who can produce little with their time - reason why it has so many silly video games