Mindshare and omnipresence. Think of it as a gateway drug. When I began tinkering on computers at the age of 14, everything was based on Microsoft. The iPad (an

Mindshare and omnipresence. Think of it as a gateway drug. When I began tinkering on computers at the age of 14, everything was based on Microsoft. The iPad (and Apple) has utterly destroyed that notion for today's youth. Today's 11 year old picks up an iPad and starts tapping away. Guess what they're going to want to build when they're 18, or 21? Windows (and any OS for that matter) is only as good as the apps (read-> solutions) that reside on it. As more and more kids lose their attention on MS products to Apple ones, it means less awareness of MS's flagship products (Win+Office).