Okay guys, I've got to come out with something here. I'm kind of a lurker on HN so I don't really say much...but I need to say something before I continue with my comment here: I really love Microsoft products.<p>The (fledgling) start up I'm working on is built on .NET. I'm a BizSpark member and my 9 to 5s have all been in .NET shops. My senior project in college was written on .NET which led me to contracting at Microsoft for a while while I finished my degree. And while I was there I was continually impressed by the quality of the people I interacted with and how dedicated and passionate they were to and about their technologies.<p>I can talk all day about what I like and what I don't like about specific technologies they put out but my comment today isn't on the quality of their products. It is on Steve Ballmer's atrocious presentation skills.<p>The way this man talks is like a marketeer in that doesn't really "get" technology and dances around the technical aspects with marketing speak and hand waving. He cannot afford to continue to deny that his competitors are beating the <i>shit</i> out of them in a number of markets that they oh-so-badly want to participate in but just <i>cannot</i> execute in for one reason or another. And beyond that, in 2010, when your CEO competition is Zuckerberg, Jobs, and Schmidt, you really <i>really</i> can't afford to not really get technology.<p>Microsoft if you're out there, if you're listening to me, please for the love of the gigantic, rich, strong community that surrounds your company and technologies, please PLEASE eject Steve Ballmer. He's been slowly sinking the ship for 10 years (yes, it is mostly his doing) and you can't keep this up.
Microsoft conference attendees can all laugh at the poor iPad user bent over an obviously flawed form factor when they should be using one of those tablets with flip-around keyboards that have been out for 10 years running Windows.<p>And everyone at WWDC can laugh all the way to the bank every time Apple sells another million iPads.<p>The customers have spoken. Is denial really Ballmer's best option at this point?
Ballmer's incompetence is compounded when he talks shit. Its like The Emperor's New Clothes, except its been going on for so long that everyone knows hes not wearing invisible robes. All, apparently except for Bill G and the others on the board of directors that keep him gainfully employed.
This reminds me of the reddit Q&A with the IE9 guys ... they (Microsoft) don't realize that they're no longer the ones defining where technology goes and as a result they'll keep missing the boat on the technological trends that are shaping the future.<p>Its going to be very satisfying to watch them eventually realize they've been left behind.
>My netbook has to be coaxed through the day with Wi-Fi switched off in order to get more than a few hours out of the battery; my 15″ laptop only goes 2-3 hours between charges (newer models may be better, but I can’t change laptops at the drop of a hat); meanwhile, I find the iPad easy enough to type on in landscape mode, it turns on/off instantly and, after 8 hours taking notes and tweeting yesterday, it still had an indicated battery charge of 55%.<p>Sounds like this guy's real problem is battery life (and, to a lesser extent, slow resume from sleep), not keyboard vs. no keyboard. The iPad gets 16 hours or whatever in part because it has a 9.7 inch screen compared to his laptops 15 inches or so. My netbook with a 10.5 inch screen gets 8 real hours of battery life.<p>So yes, keyboardlessness is good insofar as it enables you to have a tiny screen (since a tiny screen with a usable size keyboard would be awkward). But I only use my netbook 6 or less hours a day, so for me I easily trade the difference between 8 and 16 hours for a real keyboard. As battery life gets better, that will make sense for more people, <i>unless</i> keyboardless entry starts making big progress (which is possible). But even then, I'd still rather have a larger screen and $200.
<i>"I was also juggling a camera (on my Nokia phone), a voice recorder (on my iPhone) and taking notes/tweeting on the iPad whilst listening to Mr Ballmer."</i><p>That strikes me as a lot of redundancy. So, I see Balmer's point when he said, "I think we can make life a little simpler for people, if we do the right job."
The article doesn't deliver what the title promises: Steve Ballmer telling someone what he should do with his iPad.<p>It's more of a fluff sentimental piece about a guy operating multiple gadgets while not sitting down comfortably.
I recently went from a 2007 MacBook to a Lenovo X201 with 9-cell battery, and it's worth pointing out that the much-improved battery life (3-5 hours -> maybe 6-9), lower weight (5.5 pounds to 3.5) and heat (uncomfortably warm -> barely noticeable) have made a <i>huge</i> difference in how I use it. Even the size difference, though not quite as dramatic, is very noticeable.<p>I used to really debate whether or not I needed my computer when I left the house, but now I tend to not think about it (3.5 pounds is pretty negligible, where 5.5 was verging on uncomfortable to shoulder), and I need to worry a lot less about preserving battery power than I used to. In that respect, I definitely see the argument for the iPad in his situation (though it's still apples to oranges), but if what he really wants is a long battery life and portability, there are pretty viable options out there that are still full-fledged computers.
"Media Center is big and, when people say ‘hey, we could optimise more for clients’ I think what they generally mean is ‘Big Buttons’. Big Buttons that’s, I think, a codeword for Big Buttons and Media Center is Big Buttons not Little Buttons."<p>So wait... Will there be Big Buttons?<p>Aside from that, it feels like He's focusing on this one area of UX design. I hope this doesn't forecast an imbalance in the experience of the finished product.<p>It reminds me a little of Web 2.0:<p>"Web 2.0 is shiny and rounded, and when people say `shiny and rounded' they really mean `shiny and rounded buttons.'"
<i>...touch applications which we will encourage people to write.</i><p>This seems like a very telling phrase. If they partner with someone to build a great tablet device, running a great Windows OS, they won't need to encourage development for it - the demand will be obvious.
Every time I read what comes out of Steve Ballmer's mouth I wonder if that guy has ever touched a computer. Microsoft's employees need to acquire some parrots and eye patches. It's mutiny time.
That's particularly sad. The guys missed a smartphone market, now they miss a tablet market while they are the ones that should make a decent and usable alternative.
There is some truth in his point about big buttons. The idea of using a traditional keyboard+mouse interface with software designed for fingers is actually pretty appealing, just because of the ease of use constraints on the software.