Microsoft rep pans iPad Pro, says Apple's tablet is 'always going to be a companion device'
Apple's foray into large-format touchscreen productivity is by its very nature incapable of being the same kind of standalone workhorse as Microsoft's Surface line, a spokesperson for the Redmond-based company said this week.
"Microsoft really wants you to only carry one device for tablet and PC use," Microsoft's Dan Laycock told TrustedReviews. "Whereas the iPad Pro is always going to be a companion device."
Part of the reason for this distinction is the differing approaches to applications and content, Laycock noted. Apple based the iPad Pro on iOS rather than Mac OS X -- shutting out many professional desktop applications -- while the Surface runs Windows 10.
"We don't see it as a one-to-one comparison, because this [the Surface] is a full PC, you're running full apps," he said.
Laycock also dredged up late Apple CEO Steve Jobs's famous rant against styluses while reiterating Microsoft's own bona fides.
"At one point in time, Apple declared that if there's a stylus, that's failure," Laycock said. "We're a huge believer in the pen; we know our customers love it."
"Microsoft really wants you to only carry one device for tablet and PC use," Microsoft's Dan Laycock told TrustedReviews. "Whereas the iPad Pro is always going to be a companion device."
Part of the reason for this distinction is the differing approaches to applications and content, Laycock noted. Apple based the iPad Pro on iOS rather than Mac OS X -- shutting out many professional desktop applications -- while the Surface runs Windows 10.
"We don't see it as a one-to-one comparison, because this [the Surface] is a full PC, you're running full apps," he said.
Laycock also dredged up late Apple CEO Steve Jobs's famous rant against styluses while reiterating Microsoft's own bona fides.
"At one point in time, Apple declared that if there's a stylus, that's failure," Laycock said. "We're a huge believer in the pen; we know our customers love it."
Comments
I wonder what all those iPads used in enterprise/corporate (where they completely dominate everyone else) are being used for? Playing games at meetings while the laptop beside them is being used for work?
Edited: I forgot to add, if MS keeps making statements like this Apple won't invite you on stage at their next keynote.
Exactly right!
The iPad Pro is "good enough" for most people. For anybody else with their professional edge use cases, there is the Mac.
At one point in time I hated to eat a tomato. Now I don't.
Once upon a time Steve Job said that using a Stylus was a sign of failure. That was probably true in the time of a Psion.
Technology has moved on. That is clearly no longer the case.
It is clearly time for MS to play a different tune.
As for other 'professional' apps like Microsoft Office, the iPad Pro w/ iOS versions of those apps is just fine in the vast majority of cases (going through presentations in Powerpoint, marking up Word documents, etc). Only hardcore spreadsheet editors would find it constraining, but they're a minority and tend not to be on-the-go, so would just opt for a regular PC (cheaper) anyways.
Welcome to the latest.
Apple's philosophy has always been "Keep the hard stuff out of sight of the user." So tailor your software to the platform it's running on, and do all the work of compatability at the back end.
So when MS design a tablet, you need a stylus for the UI elements that don't scale properly, and a keyboard for text input, but you can run exactly the same software on it as on your desktop PC.
When Apple design a tablet, they redesign the UI elements to work properly on the platform, design the hardware to provide optimal performance for a tablet, and create a model for iOS and MacOS apps to complement eachother.
Which of these models is more succesful? Well which one is selling more tablets, even to users of the other's desktop OS?