Microsoft boss to wave tablets in CES faces – again
Satisfaction's what you need, Steve
Microsoft is reportedly going to attempt to conjure some magic from slate computing at next month's CES event in Las Vegas.
According to the New York Times, which cites people familiar with the matter, Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer will announce a number of devices built by hardware pals Samsung, Dell and others.
Apparently, the Samsung tablet will be "similar in size and shape to the Apple iPad, although it is not as thin".
So would-be slate consumers can expect a chunkier slab running Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system in landscape mode, compared with its Jobsian rival.
A layered interface will pop up when the keyboard is hidden and the gizmo is held in the portrait position.
This won't be the first time Ballmer has attempted to big up slate computing. In fact he did at this year's CES event in January when he waved around no less than three tablet computers on stage, all of which failed to hit the shops in 2010.
And not long after that brave but ultimately poorly timed display of affection for all things slab-like, to use Ballmer parlance, the "blah blah blah" iPad landed just a few weeks later. ®
COMMENTS
Microsoft barking up the wrong UI
Microsoft is caught between a rock and, well, Windows. In its ongoing pursuit of maintaining the relevancy of Windows, Microsoft has bolted its floorboards to a mouse-centric UI - all the while the world is moving towards touch-centric UI. Trying to adapt Windows to a touch-centric low-resource environment is like Formula 1 racing with a dump truck.
Driven by the never-ending desire to avoid "cannibalism" (having anything at Microsoft compete with Windows or Office), Microsoft has deftly avoided putting itself in the position of being able to really compete with the iPad. It certainly has the resources, but it would need to (among other things) aggressively build an application community which is separate from Windows (shockers!). This will certainly happen - after Windows revenue has dropped by about 50%, and then it will be a way-too-late act of desperation.
Brilliant business plan
Keep showing my products that are not available anywhere.
I get excited about tablets.
I buy an iPad.
How much is Apple paying for all this fantastic advertising?
Best CEO ever
I'm sure that if I was wrong as often as Steve is, I'd be sacked. In my job, (technical, not management) there's an expectation that I know what I'm doing.
Wish I got paid like him too.
Slated
Even if they come up with a tablet that runs Windows 7 well, most people will say "where can I plug my keyboard and mouse in" or "bigger monitor".
These aren't tablet computers, they're just small form factor laptops (minus keyboard).
Tsk! Don't be silly!
When the aide asked Mr Ballmer to "keep taking the tablets" it was not a reminder for the consumer fair - it was a reinforcement of a medical instruction?
