4 ms·

Their history with Windows is not an advantage if the design of it is cumbersome and full of compromises. Which, more than anything, is what the point of the ar

Their history with Windows is not an advantage if the design of it is cumbersome and full of compromises. Which, more than anything, is what the point of the article is getting at. Microsoft has had a decade of chances in this market to pull off the "business tablet" market you're suggesting. And, well, they just haven't done it yet. If this is such a competitive advantage, why wasn't the iPad put on a Mac OSX architecture? Sometimes, an interface reboot is downright necessary. The Xbox 360, I'd argue, is the most successful non-Windows-related product they sell because it's clear that the interface design was tailored for the product. That's their problem. They don't know when to let go of their legacy and start fresh.

andrewf 16y ago
That Apple pulled off the interface reboot is, I think, the most astounding thing about the iOS devices. You can't beat the PC for breadth, depth, and availability of specialised apps. They've been evolving for 30 years now. But when the iPhone SDK became available there were 0 applications, and in less than 30 months the industry's grown an entire replacement software ecosystem that covers a great deal of what users want to do.
contextfree 16y ago
You could have made the same argument in 1989 about MSFT attempting to graft a GUI on top of the PC and DOS, though. They tried it a couple times with Windows 1 and 2 and largely failed, meanwhile Apple made a fresh start with the Mac and has been exciting everyone for five years, clearly MSFT's approach is inherently doomed to failure and they should either develop a brand-new HW/SW system from scratch or give up on GUI OS development and focus on Mac applications.
- CamperBob 16y ago
  That's a really important point, I think. Looking back over the past 25 years, what has Apple consistently done better than any other technology company? Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. What has Microsoft consistently done? Just as you say, they consistently deliver a couple of turkey drops, and then start to get it right in version 3. It's not clear what "version 3" of MS's tablet strategy really is, or whether their product-development effort has reached that level yet. But if history is any guide, we'll know it when they ship it. Most likely, it will happen around the same time that Apple's proprietary, grasping nature starts to become self-defeating.

andrewf 16y ago

That Apple pulled off the interface reboot is, I think, the most astounding thing about the iOS devices. You can't beat the PC for breadth, depth, and availability of specialised apps. They've been evolving for 30 years now. But when the iPhone SDK became available there were 0 applications, and in less than 30 months the industry's grown an entire replacement software ecosystem that covers a great deal of what users want to do.

contextfree 16y ago

You could have made the same argument in 1989 about MSFT attempting to graft a GUI on top of the PC and DOS, though. They tried it a couple times with Windows 1 and 2 and largely failed, meanwhile Apple made a fresh start with the Mac and has been exciting everyone for five years, clearly MSFT's approach is inherently doomed to failure and they should either develop a brand-new HW/SW system from scratch or give up on GUI OS development and focus on Mac applications.

CamperBob 16y ago
That's a really important point, I think. Looking back over the past 25 years, what has Apple consistently done better than any other technology company? Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. What has Microsoft consistently done? Just as you say, they consistently deliver a couple of turkey drops, and then start to get it right in version 3. It's not clear what "version 3" of MS's tablet strategy really is, or whether their product-development effort has reached that level yet. But if history is any guide, we'll know it when they ship it. Most likely, it will happen around the same time that Apple's proprietary, grasping nature starts to become self-defeating.