The always entertaining, often unable-to-see-the-future-because-of-seeing-only-the-past John Dvorak in PC on where Microsoft doesn’t get it:
When Microsoft was pushing its relatively lame portable initiative, almost every desktop and laptop manufacturer instantly developed a pad device. The best ones were incredibly expensive and poorly marketed. The massive excitement was driven by zero reality, wishful thinking, and a lot of hot air from Microsoft. As wild and interesting as it all was, the current moment will likely make us forget that all previous iterations of pad-based computing ever happened. Goodbye WinPad.
Despite Dvorak’s usual laundry list of missing items from the iPad, he positively gushes:
Apple has ignited a rocket with an unknown payload. One thing is for sure: in the coming months and years, we’re sure to see a lot of ripples from this device. Hang on!
What of Microsoft?
What is completely overlooked at the moment, is the potential to sink Microsoft, once and for all—or at least relegate the company to commodity computing (formerly known as desktop computing). The irony, of course, is that Microsoft predicted the trend toward pad computing. It just didn’t predict that it, as a company, wouldn’t be playing in the big game. There is a very real possibility now that Linux will finally be able to make inroads on the desktop, since the Android OS is the one true competitor to the Apple iPad OS.