This is slightly off topic, but Ballmer has to be crazy to overlook the strengths they have. Microsoft owns Amalga (see: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Amalga" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Amalga</a>) which is an information retrieval tool for hospitals that ER doctors to reduce the time spent on searching for information.<p>Now let's take a step back and see what it is.<p>It's a tool which has the ability to manage <i>40 TB</i> of data in <i>real time</i> and provide more than <i>12000</i> pieces of data for each patient. Can you imagine how rich a resource that is?<p>Let's say that microsoft invests considerably in a centralized server and continuously mines the data coming in and strips patient data live to the bare minimum the ER doctor needs to see. Moreover, what if they see trends in what is happening in an entire city, before people even realize it and alert the authorities to prepare before some wave hits. Imagine if they could work with people to reduce costs by mining this truckloads of data in real time. Why are they aping Apple? Why?<p>Microsoft had IBM's "A Smarter Planet" initiative before the latter even dreamed of it, but did they even know about it?<p>It's the proverbial story; don't look where you can't go or you'll miss the riches below. They have some absolutely amazing gems locked up in the research labs that can change entire industries if leveraged in the right way. Moreover, Microsoft has the might to do it.<p>They don't need an iPad killer they need a Microsoft Executive Killer(tm).
The iPad is not a computer. The iPad is not a computer. Say it with me, Microsoft. Join in, half the tech industry.<p>Nobody framed it better than Apple themselves at the iPad launch. On the big screen was an iPhone, a MacBook, and in between them, an iPad. Steve called it a new category, and that wasn't just marketing speak. It really is a new kind of gadget, designed to make you do things that you previously did not do. This is why everybody says they have no use for it.. because they truly don't, until they have one in their hands.<p>With that in mind, Microsoft and the rest of the tablet me-too wave, probably don't appreciate what they are up against. There is no tablet market, there is an iPad market. Microsoft's best shot would be an X-Pad. Everyone else should get behind Google. But really, I think Apple is going to own this category for a good decade.
What I don't get is why a company like Microsoft - rich and no longer in the lead doesn't setup a couple of well funded skunk works companies. Drop the baggage (ie don't force them to use windows and allow a new culture to emerge) and give each one a target - touch computing or something else and let 'em go.<p>Microsoft has all the pieces - money , good engineers, marketing etc. but it's not working. They have the financial space to do something radical and disruptive to themselves and jump on that if it pans out.<p>Either that or just get some strong with real vision at the helm who is capable of turning it around.<p>Perhaps its much the same thing
This is crazy talk. Microsoft needs a Windows compatible OS so they can leverage the millions of windows applications already written. To start from scratch would give up one of their main advantages. Best to stick with Windows, and focus on optimizing Windows 8 and Office 2012 for the tablet form factor. I love my iPad but I'd be willing to take a half-step back to a Windows tablet if it meant I could run Microsoft Office and other applications I need for my workflow.<p>I think MS Office is much better positioned for tablets than most people realize. Ribbon strips provide friendly finger-sized buttons that are perfectly sized for tablets. If they can add media center and some sort of X-Box gaming they'll have a killer device. Granted, Apple will still own the "consumption device" market but there is a big need for "business tablets".
The weird thing is that Microsoft seems to have all the pieces necessary. If they just make a new shell the multi-touch, gestures, system-wide search, etc, etc is already there. WPF apps are probably easy ports since they are coded in a pretty semantic way. How hard could be to make a shell inspired by the Metro UI scheme?
The best thing Microsoft could do at this point is put together a Metro style touch-centric UI that is the default for Windows tablets. Give developers a quick & dirty way to port their existing applications to a touch-centric UI. It wouldn't be the most elegant solution but it would be closer to what people seem to want in a tablet.
The sad thing is Microsoft could succeed so wonderfully here, but the reality is almost certainly they won't.<p>Create a stripped down, simple OS based on Windows (even iOS is derived from OSX), create a compelling app store, and a framework for writing apps for it based on Silverlight. Bam! Very compelling piece of hardware. Not only that but these type of apps are what Silverlight was destined for. I'd <i>much</i> rather write these types of apps in Silverlight than Cocoa Touch.