Apple CEO Likens Surface To Car That Flies, Floats 377
theodp writes "Conceding that he hadn't actually played with one, Apple CEO Tim Cook told Wall Street that Microsoft's Surface tablet is 'a fairly compromised, confusing product' in the company's 4Q earnings call. Cook joked, 'I supposed you could design a car that flies and floats, but it wouldn't do those things very well.' In Apple's 2Q earnings call, Cook also mocked the idea of touch on a laptop or desktop, quipping, 'You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going be pleasing to the user.' Cook added, 'We've done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn't work. Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical.' So, is Cook just pulling a page from Steve Jobs' people-don't-read-anymore playbook, or is he unaware that children happily used vertical touch screens forty years ago on UIUC's PLATO System (more PLATO History)?"
DOA.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Sounds almost as DOA as a 7" tablet to me....
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...and why do all the articles about Windows 8 boil down to, "Small children can use it!!!"
Re:DOA.. (Score:5, Funny)
Children are our future, after all.
Re:DOA.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Back in the late 80's, there was some competition where people had to set up a new PC vs a new Mac. Apple and Microsoft sent representatives.
Apple sent a 7 year old.
It became a benchmark of usability and was used in advertisements e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmjvgOAhC_4 [youtube.com]
(Does anyone have info on the contest? it was pre-Internet boom... I can't find a reference for it.)
Re:DOA.. (Score:5, Informative)
That wasn't the 1980s. The iMac he was setting up is from 1998.
Re:DOA.. (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know what the problem is, when I was 7 I was pretty good at setting up PCs as well. I actually made a fair bit of spare cash doing it for friends and neighbors.
By Apple's assumptive logic, that means that Apple is against the free market and fair competition.
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Re:DOA.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple/Jobs has a history of shitting on concepts that they are simultaneously developing.
OTOH, MS/Ballmer has a history of mocking things as well while lagging behing in the market.
Time will tell what type of CEO Cook will be. Hopefully his hubris is just a smokescreen to mask moves and not arrogance for its own sake.
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Nothing new from Apple. Remember the I'm a Mac, I'm a PC ads? Pure FUD.
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Still, Apple spreading FUD on Microsoft instead of the other way around makes me wanna think Microsoft is cool. Probably not a good strategy on Apple's part.
Cook is becoming the new Ballmer. I plan to buy an x86 Surface when it is available. I will keep the iPad 1 that I have, but don't plan to buy another one. The Surface, if executed properly by Microsoft will be the killer hardware / software combination especially when linked with SkyDrive.
Well I thought that was Windows Phone 7 which was the product that would bring Microsoft back to relevance. Or was it the Zune?
Re:DOA.. (Score:5, Informative)
Yea, I will accept the authority of your biggest competitor to make your decisions. What do you expect Tim Cook to say. "It actually looks like a good product, we are now shaking in our boots."?
I have been using Windows 8 for a few months as my primary OS at home... Overall I have been quite please with it. I expect as more Windows UI aka Metro apps are made there will be less of an issue of arm vs. Intel.
Re:DOA.. (Score:5, Informative)
Interestingly it appears that Microsoft was quite complementary about the iPad during its presentation.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6385/microsoft-surface-review [anandtech.com]
A Different Perspective
A week ago, I sat in an auditorium and listened to Steve Sinofsky talk about the tablet market. He talked about how the iPad was a great device, and a logical extension of the iPhone. Give iOS a bigger screen and all of the sudden you could do some things better on this new device. He talked about Android tablets, and Google’s learning process there, going from a phone OS on a tablet to eventually building Holo and creating a tablet-specific experience. He had nothing but good things to say about both competitors. I couldn’t tell just how sincere he was being, I don’t know Mr. Sinofsky all that well, but his thoughts were genuine, his analysis spot-on. Both Apple and Google tablets were good, in their own ways. What Steve said next didn’t really resonate with me until I had spent a few days with Surface. He called Surface and Windows RT Microsoft’s “perspective” on tablets. I don’t know if he even specifically called it a tablet, what stuck out was his emphasis on perspective.
Re:DOA.. (Score:5, Insightful)
By the way, I hate Apple but I hate vertical touch screens for everyday PC use because it's a stupid gimmick that makes people feel all futuristic when in reality it's 1/3 the speed of a mouse. What a paradox!
Re:DOA.. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Why can't people think past today? Think forward. Yesterday, as I was doing some iPad app development, I accidentally touched my laptop screen to scroll, thinking it was a touch screen for a second.
Why not enable touch on that screen as well to simply supplement current input methods? Let people use either depending on the moment and context of what they are working on.
All day vertical touch screen use would be tiring, of course, but there are plenty of plausible short term use cases, including the one I
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Have you tried using a touch screen for PC use? I've been using a Cintiq 24 HD Touch for a couple of months now and I love it to death.
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Sounds almost as DOA as a 7" tablet to me
Much as I am loathe to agree with Steve Jobs, I have to agree with him on that. To me personally, I don't see much use for a tablet that's less than 10". Smaller than that, and I can just use my smartphone instead. I want something big enough to read magazines and comic books on, and 7" don't cut it.
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Much as I am loathe to agree with Steve Jobs, I have to agree with him on that. To me personally, I don't see much use for a tablet that's less than 10". Smaller than that, and I can just use my smartphone instead. I want something big enough to read magazines and comic books on, and 7" don't cut it.
Owning a 10" tablet, I very much wish I'd bought a smaller one. It's too big and too heavy to comfortably carry around and most web sites switch to mobile versions designed for a 3" phone screen anyway (Slashdot is one of the exceptions as it randomly switches between desktop and mobile versions regardless of whether I'm using a desktop, laptop or tablet).
A 7" tablet seems about the right size to me.
Nice (Score:5, Insightful)
So, not only do we display such stories as the shocking revleation that Apple was going to live stream its product announcement (only to Apple owners), but now we get stories about what Apple thinks about other products. Is anyone shocked that Apple is less-than-impressed with a Microsoft product? Next we'll have a story about how Mitt Romney thinks Obama has made policy mistakes.
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My thought exactly.
Competitor bashes Microsoft product. Film at 11.
What exactly is news worthy about this?
Re:Nice (Score:5, Interesting)
My thought exactly.
Competitor bashes Microsoft product. Film at 11.
What exactly is news worthy about this?
Geeks/nerds are not generally considered to be terribly 'macho', at least not when compared to testicle-thinking, grunting and chest beating high-school jocks, but geeks do label some things as 'women's work' and usability research has to be near the top of that list. To be fair to Apple (unpopular as that may be at the moment) they do conduct A LOT of usability research and it has gotten them quite far in terms of product design, development and sales figures so I'm betting that Tim Cook isn't just venting hot air when he talks about what does and does not work when it comes to tablets, laptops and fusions of the two. I'll admit that I'd really like to see some sort of fusion device. There are times I wish I could comfortably do things like rotate my laptop through 90 degrees to read PDF's in landscape mode or sketch a diagram by hand with a stylus while taking notes. Typing notes is usually way more efficient but occasionally one wants to be able to sketch by hand because it's way faster. At other times though find myself wishing that iPad had an OS and apps that allows me to efficiently do sophisticated word-processing/graphics/programming work etc. Neither the iPad nor the Android tablets do that very well but from what I have seen so far Windows 8 tablets aren't terribly impressive either. In a perfect universe I'd like to see some totally new and innovative type of fusion device that makes way more radical changes that Windows 8 does and that would make both laptops and tablets obsolete (Hey... one can hope...)
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I can't argue with a single point you are making here. And I do agree, Apple has had to do a lot of research to build such consumer (not geek/nerd, consumer) friendly devices. I have an iPhone 4 currently, and an iPad, and they are friendly to the majority of the populace that just wants to pick up a device, play a simple game here and there, maybe watch some videos on Youtube or something. They are good for consumption of media, which is all most people care about.
My issue was with this getting such att
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You didn't see the part about flying cars?
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Heh, Mac users engaged in PC bashing as much as PC users engaged in Mac bashing, only reason I particularly bothered with Mac bashing... I got sick of all the idiotic fanaticism.
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And really, what other answer could they give ? They would not want to hint that their client should have a look at their competitor product, especially if they do not have a product that goes directly against it ready to be shipped next week. That like asking your CEO in a general meeting if he has any outsourcing plan, the answer is 'no' folk, even there is an announcement scheduled to take place right after the meeting.
The only "interest" of those questions in interviews is to gauge the stage performa
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The way I see it, the value in having this statement mentioned here is that we're all aware of it for later.
As an Apple fan, I get a chuckle whenever someone brings up some of the things Ballmer said about the iPhone prior to its launch. They were clearly shortsighted statements and shouldn't have been made. But, despite being an Apple fan, I can't help but get the same sense here. Maybe Cook is right and the Surface will flop. If that happens, no one will care that he was right. But if it doesn't flop, he
They need to ignore MS (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously - don't talk about them, don't mention them, don't respond to reporters about them, and DONT COMPARE YOURSELVES TO THEM. Once you let them into the conversation about a product, you're granting them an equivalence in many people's eyes. Don't give them the sanction.
Re:They need to ignore MS (Score:5, Insightful)
don't talk about them, don't mention them, don't respond to reporters about them, and DONT COMPARE YOURSELVES TO THEM
Are you joking? I'm a product manager - I constantly field questions from customers, sales, the media asking how our product compares to X. WTF do you think the "I'm a Mac I'm a PC" ads were all about? Companies that refuse to acknowledge competition do so at their peril. BlackBerry, anyone?
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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Lately? Since the day the Mac was introduced the core of the marketing campaign has been comparison. Whether it be IBM or Microsoft or Google their ad campaigns emphasize how they are better.
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A true professional should be recommending the technology that best fits the needs of your customer. Choosing technology based solely on who made is short sighted. Most hardcore geeks suffer from a sever case of tunnel vision when it comes to pushing their pet technologies. They usually pay no attention to how much work it would take to actually implement their favorite technology platform.
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Especially don't mention a company that pummeled you in the OS wars for a decade.
But Apple shouldn't worry about Microsoft, because technology companies never have resurgences.
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You don't compare yourself to your competition only when they have a serious advantage over you. The iPad vs Surface. They are actually very similar devices. The key difference is in different approach to the UI. Apple will happily compare themselves to the Surface because they have the First Mover Advantage, also they have a large user base, and made common many of the touch UI elements.
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Worst of both Worlds (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple's walled garden has early mover advantage and gazillion apps.
Android's open nature has attracted dozens of OEMs to make the hardware, and also has gazillion apps now.
The Surface is neither open, nor are developers flocking to i since Microsoft is now screwing over developers like they have done OEMs.
So it is neither open nor low-cost; and bound to be a colossal failure. No need for Cook to break into sweat...
Re:Worst of both Worlds (Score:4, Interesting)
I think MS is hedging on their install base and businesses.
By getting them all on this Walled Garden they are thinking they will become the Apple of the business world; of course this does not take into account that if businesses will have to retain their staff, why would they stick to MS?
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I'm not so sure. The same logic could work in a lot of ways for VHS over Betamax and HD-DVD over Blu-Ray.
Times are changing and so are motivations and techniques. Unfortunately I can see Apple sticking this one out over Android. As far as MS goes - the only way they can win is with a good PR campaign. Seeing MSs advertisements, the only thing I think their PR team is good at, is turning up to work drunk or stoned, an
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It means I can put visual studio on it and with an actual fucking keyboard that comes attached to it, theoretically I can use it to develop on.
Yes, and guess what: you could do that with any Windows version from Windows98 onwards. But the important question is:
Is Visual Studio going to allow you to develop apps for Windows 8 and Windows RT? I don't think so - only one, not both.
And besides, who would buy your app when the equivalents are in abundance on a lower cost platform like Android; or sexier one
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Once you get into serious business applications, the alleged cheapness of Microsoft quickly dissipates. It is more myth now than reality. In truth, Balmer wants to ream you just as badly as Ellison does. He will too if you give him an opportunity.
Mainly you just get really incompetent people calling themselves a sysadmin or db admin or app admin.This is driven by the whole mythology of cheapness and the related mythology that you don't have to understand what you're doing to use Windows.
You sell the idea th
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I'm not sure of any product MS had done well or right in their earlier releases, but they at least tend* to improve things, over time.
This release is no threat to Apple, but future releases might be, if MS tends to figure things out.
* Office 2003->2007 is an obvious counter example, so is the Zune. However most other products have tended to improve over them. This does not bean they have gotten to be best on the market, or even good (which is a more subjective measure anyway), just improved.
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Damn. Forgot 98->ME, or XP to Vista, and possible Win 7->8.
Still, that's 3 releases and a product line, out of how many product lines and releases?
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nor are developers flocking to i since Microsoft is now screwing over developers
What, by designing WinRT to use the same languages and devtools as WPF and Silverlight? By providing one of the best IDEs on the market today? By providing whole SDKs for free?
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As far as I can tell, the Win32 API hasn't changed all that much from the days of Windows 3.1. .NET is also a stable API, as the entire 2.0 API exists all the way through to 4.5. Similarly, COM has remaned fundamentally unchanged over the years. And the Silverlight API tells a similar story.
OK, so now we have WinRT. It uses XAML and C#/VB (like WPF and Silverlight), or it can use C++. It sits on top of both .NET and Win32 (.NET also sits on Win32). What's more, the latest Visual Studio supports all these AP
Compromised and Confusing (Score:5, Funny)
Fatigue (Score:3, Insightful)
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Eric S Raymond had an interesting take on the gorilla arm problem. They key is the position of the screen [ibiblio.org].
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I can't be the only person who, after working with tablets / netbooks with touch screens (in my case primarily an Asus Transformer) finds that I now have a deep seated expectation that all screens should have touch interfaces, and not infrequently find myself poking at my laptop. Not for all uses, of course. For heavy use I'm far more likely to use another point controller (by preference either a clit mouse or wacom tablet) but as another option? I'd use it all the time on any screen that's fairly close to
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But his solution is... put the touch screen on a tablet (or smartphone). He specifically points out that the touch screen has to be low, and for long term use you have to be able to position it wherever you want, with your other hand. You can't do that with a notebook form factor.
Re:Fatigue (Score:4, Insightful)
I suspect Apple's dismissal of vertical touch screen usage has to do with muscle fatigue. Try holding your arms out in front of you without resting your hands on anything for 5-10 minutes, and I think you'll see what he's getting at. People want to love Minority Report-style interfaces, but the truth is that there are reasons for not using them. Is it a well-founded argument against vertical screens? I guess we'll see!
I agree that this won't be used much, but most users will just use touch-screen in tablet mode and keyboard/mousepad in other modes
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It's completely orthogonal.
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This is why I thought back in the '80s that computers would eventually become a drafting desk configuration. Take a monster-sized flat-panel iMac, set it to about 20 degrees from horizontal, add a capacitive touch screen, and add the ability to filter out signals from non-touch objects on the screen. (cap touch should already be mostly immune to that) But what if you put papers over the screen and cover stuff up? If the screen big enough it's still just a window management problem. (Unless you're one of tho
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(Unless you're one of those idiots who always runs Windows apps maximized to full screen no matter how big it is.)
you mean Windows 8 users who cannot get Metro apps to run in anything other than full-screen (ok, except for a little 2nd window)
I don't think an interactive table is much good for a desktop replacement - where would I put my coffee mug? If anything, it will be a flat-screen, slightly angled for view that you get like some news anchors have in their desks.
Makes me want it (Score:5, Funny)
A car that flies and floats? Sign me up.
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Yes. I too thought that this was a rather retarded sort of criticism.
It makes it sound like Microsoft is selling something out of a James Bond movie.
Must be unbiased (Score:5, Insightful)
After all, he has no dog in this fight.
Oh wait, he's from a competitor.
Wonder if he has incentive to twist the truth a little bit?
Apple seems desperate these days.
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The key issue with Apple is their operating margin. They aren't a bubble company
PE past 14, forward 10 with is low for growing company. The market already has priced in stagnant earnings growth. Even with Apple's current 22.6 yoy growth. The only thing that is likely to bring the stock down would be:
a) shrinking revenue, i.e. an iPhone that customers hated or serious manufacturing problems
b) margin collapse rather than a gradual fall
The stock price is not based on hype. If anything Apple is underp
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I think there may be a problem in the future with smartphone saturation. Once everyone and their brother's dog has the smartphone of their choice, the market will stagnate and Apple will need another horse to ride.
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The fact that MS & followers tried & failed for years to deliver a tablet that interested more than a few thousand people whereas Apple has sold millions seems more relevant as to who is correct. If Apple thought that a tablet with keyboard was needed they could have brought one out. They didn't & believing that this is because they believe that they could have made money off of it but chose not to do so shows an absence of insight.
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After all, he has no dog in this fight.
Oh wait, he's from a competitor.
Wonder if he has incentive to twist the truth a little bit?
Apple seems desperate these days.
Not really convinced Apple is desperate, or that having successful products with overlapping markets excludes you from having an opinion. Now Microsoft with a new product having crippled your Desktop experience to gain a foothold in Mobile market after being overtaken in Market value by Apple and Google, could be labelled desperate.
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I really like the look of the surface hardware (Score:4, Insightful)
PLATO (Score:5, Interesting)
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There are a lot of useful purposes for a touch screen. The fact that you don't use them is indicative of nothing but your preference and software habits.
I beg to differ. There are literally HUNREDS of Point-of-Sale programs, all of which work faster with touch screens than with a keyboard and mouse. There is also the learning industry, where disabled or young children can interact with relatively advanced digital technology.
There are fields like testing, interactive advertising, surveying(polling), etc wher
So what he really means is... (Score:5, Insightful)
'I supposed you could design a car that flies and floats, but it wouldn't do those things very well
So the headline should read:
Apple CEO Likens Surface To Car That Flies, Floats And Does Neither Very Well.
A car that flew and floated, lacking other qualifiers, would be awesome.
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A car that flew and floated, lacking other qualifiers, would be awesome.
That is a hovercraft...and yes they are awesome...but they make piss poor cars.
He didn't have the time? (Score:5, Funny)
I don't get the car thing (Score:2)
Can someone explain this comparison to me with a tablet analogy?
Shocking! (Score:2)
I'm shocked... during an earnings call reporting a second quarter of missed earnings estimates, a stock price down 20% in a month, and an overall media reaction to your last two rounds of product updates that can be summed up as "meh", and the CEO decides he needs to talk smack about a competitor product?
I. Can't. Believe. It.
Frankly, I think Cook and company needs focus a little bit more on what they can do well in their products, post-Jobs, and a focus a little less on the competition. As someone who woul
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They didn't miss their earnings estimates. As usual, they beat their own estimates. As usual, they missed the absurdly inflated estimates of stock analysts that have never gotten an Apple earnings call right in the history of earnings calls. (The large institutions were largely correct, however.)
The CEO ALWAYS has to talk smack about the competitor's product. The REAL proof is whether or not he does nothing about it while he's talking smack, a la Ballmer. But I greatly suspect that he's already got a team o
Seriously? (Score:2)
"So, is Cook just pulling a page from Steve Jobs' people-don't-read-anymore playbook, or is he unaware that children happily used vertical touch screens forty years ago on UIUC's PLATO System (more PLATO History)?"
This sentence should have been left at the bottom of the barrel where it was scraped from. And please for-the-love-of-god how the fuck does an article from 40 years ago about a bunch of kids playing on an early touchscreen evidence in favor of vertical touch screens? They're kids! They will pay wi
Ghandi Time... (Score:2)
Where Apple is the British:
First they ignore you
Then they laugh at you (we've reached this stage)
Then they fight you
Then you win.
Stop right there (Score:5, Insightful)
"Conceding that he hadn't actually played with one ...
Stop right there.
Flying Car Manufacturer (Score:5, Funny)
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Why vertical? (Score:4, Interesting)
"Touch screens don't want to be vertical"...
So, you're saying that a desktop HAS to be vertical? What happened to thinking out of the box? Disappointing, Tim!~
I can fully imagine a 20-24" touch screen lying on my desktop, facing up (maybe angled 10-15 degrees towards me), where my keyboard is right now. That'd be a pretty natural interface. If it had finger touch, plus a more accurate stylus for finer work, it'd be very useful.
MadCow.
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UCK! My neck is sore just thinking about that. You don't work for a chiropractor do you?
Or... (Score:2)
'I supposed you could design a car that flies and floats, but it wouldn't do those things very well.'
Or you could design a smart-phone that cannot make phone calls, but it wouldn't make phone calls very well.
Someone upload a video of him saying this.. (Score:5, Insightful)
..so that in a couple of years when Apple announces its competing product we see what he has to say. Apple has a history of dissing other products and then quietly incorporating those very features into their own ones later.
2007 - iPhone launches without the ability to install apps. According to Jobs, web apps should be more than sufficient. Same goes for cut n paste - 'Who needs it anyway?' until it appeared on the next model.
And most recently, 'Who needs a 7" tablet?' Voila - the iPad Mini.
Materials (Score:2, Interesting)
Input Will Depend on Voice vs QWERTY (Score:2)
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Yeah, because when we're working in an office we really want everyone to be talking to their computers all the time. That will really make for a good working environment.
It's a trap. (Score:3)
The ARM Surface isn't really designed to be a real product. In true Microsoft style it's job is two fold. First, to waste time and keep the M$ faithful from buying an iPad or Android tablet unti the Intel Version of the Surface is ready for production. Secondly, and even more importantly it will allow Microsoft to force ARM tablet manufacturers into paying the famous Microsoft Tax on all tablets they produce or face the wrath ans usual sanctions.
The developers, and "consumers" that buy Windows RT are just cannon fodder.
I hate this crap (Score:2)
It's needless bashing of the competition from CEOs (not just Apple, Microsoft and a shit-ton of other tech companies are guilty as well) that gives me such a headache. It does nothing but rile up the fanboys and push out crap "stories" for the media to get giddy over.
Seems like everyone is trying to out-do each other in terms of being negative, and it's very off-putting. Plus it's dangerous - you might find yourself trying to sell something later which is curiously familiar to the very thing you bashed in t
Tim Cook translation - (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm shocked! (Score:2)
Do you mean to tell me that an organization, even a for-profit business, might not be completely unbiased in criticizing its competition if doing so suited its best interests? I find this deeply troubling.
Change the ergonomics equation (Score:2)
Chalkboard?
In other words, change the ergonomic equation and it could work.
Frankly I'd like to try the surface to make my own decision, but I don't want to use Windows. I prefer my 2009 MacBook Pro.
However if the display converted to a drawable surface with pressure-sensitive pen like a wacom tablet I would seriously consider it. It might be okay if you can pick the display up off the stand easily, but for everyday use and anything harder than pushing a play button will scream for a mouse, or a horizontal s
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p.s. I hereby bequeath to the world this maybe new idea for a wall computer. Display is big and long like a chalkboard or wall sized screen. Has a keyboard like a counter top at the bottom of the chalkboard where erasers normally go. Other possible pointer / input devices like a standard modern planetarium control booth setup, and remote operation from a plurality of networked computers, also okay. Can network with an unlimited of similar devices like a CAVE or CAVERN system, and can display them tiled, or
Choices are good... (Score:2)
Actually... (Score:5, Interesting)
Nice to hear Cook pointing out the fact that vertical touchscreens really don't work. Not just in their testing -- this was a thing, pre-PC, in many of the 70s and 80s CAD workstations. There were touchscreens, light pens, and other "directly interacting with the monitor" input devices. They all failed. It wasn't expense (not in dedicated CAD, prices were so high, paying $1000+ for an interface device would have been lost in the noise), it wasn't functionality (they worked fine)... it was people. We don't like repetitive stress, but particularly on large motor functions. Reaching up, away from your normal comfortable seating position, to touch a large monitor -- just not something that's good for you.
Of course, they wouldn't be Microsoft if they didn't entirely not learn from the past, and actually do it worse. Touch-with-finger screens are inherently a compromise. You wouldn't choose to smear greasy fingers over your viewing device if you could help it.... it's a compromise some are willing to make in order to have an easy to use pocket computer. On the desktop, we use off-screen, horizontally mounted control devices.
But it's clear Microsoft didn't have any cognitive psychologists working on any part of the mess that is The-UI-Formerly-Known-As-Metro, either. This will make one hell of a cautionary tale, though -- hopefully we can stop trying these same kind of stupid ideas on mainstream Linux distros...
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You'll probably lose your warranty for holding it wrong.
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...but to do so without knowing anything other than, "it's a competing product, and we didn't make it, therefore, it sucks balls, obviously," is just pathetic.
...but that is not what he said. He pointed out the obvious weakness of Surface, Its a confusing device. Almost everyone agrees with that assessment. Now by stating this he may have acknowledged Surface as a competing product.
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"or is he unaware that children happily used vertical touch screens forty years ago on UIUC's PLATO System?""
You had to dig up an example from forty years ago because apparently nobody has bothered to do that since. Your forty year old exception proves Apple's contention - people generally prefer horizontal displays. There have been vertical displays in computing history but they are the negligible exceptions. For a reason.
Much as agree strongly that Pluto is a particularly good example; Vertical screens have always been my preference for certain tasks. [Miss my rotating Monitor]. Today on My large Widescreen monitor. I normally work in two vertical windows [Text Browsing], and Play in Widescreen. On my TV I want it Widescreen, and as large as possible to fill my vision. On my 7" tablet like everyone else I read vertically...ans watch movies horizontally. On my smartphone, almost everything is vertical, apart from 3D gaming,
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You're gonna need two hands to hold this bitch
I guess you'll have to work the touch screen with your nose (yes... except you with what you're thinking, sir, need therapy!).