Bill Gates says lack of a physical QWERTY makes the Apple iPad "frustrating"
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates made a visit to CNBC's Squawk Box on Monday and among the topics discussed was the tablet market. Unlike BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins, who gives tablets just five years to live, Gates sees the device thriving and noted that tablets are growing in popularity. With the tablet market on the way up and the PC market on the way down, the Microsoft chairman told the television audience that soon the lines between a tablet and a PC will be completely blurred.
So what does Bill Gates think about the industry leading Apple iPad? Not surprisingly, he did not give a ringing endorsement of Apple's slate, saying that the lack of a physical QWERTY keyboard is"frustrating" users of iPad-like tablets. "A lot of those users are frustrated, they can't type, they can't create documents, they don't have Office there," Gates said. The Microsoft Surface, on the other hand, offers the optional Type Cover which is a dock that provides a QWERTY keyboard with raised keys and doubles as a protective cover for the tablet's screen.
Obviously not the most impartial observer, Gates spoke about the Microsoft Surface and said it had the "portability of the tablet but the richness of the PC." Despite Gates' comments, the Apple iPad continues to trounce the Surface where it counts, at the cash register.
source: CNBC via BusinessInsider
source: CNBC via BusinessInsider
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