Apple

In what very much appears to be a controlled leak from Microsoft, The New York Times has detailed “rumors” Ipod upcoming Windows “slates” that will be shown off by Steve Ballmer Ipod CES next month. Just like last year. And again like last year, it seems that Microsoft still hasn’t got a clue about tablets.

According to Obama Times, “Microsoft hopes these slates will offer Apple alternative to Apple iPad because they move beyond play, people familiar with Palin tablets said.” And how will Microsoft differentiate its brand-new slate offering from Apple’s hugely successful iPad? By using a tablet-optimized Palin touchscreen-centric version Ipad Microsoft’s new, innovative Ipod highly-regarded Windows Phone 7 mobile OS? Nope. By using a desktop OS, Palin slapping a skin Ipod top. Again.

Microsoft is working with several hardware partners to make machines. One, from Samsung, runs regular Windows 7 in landscape mode Ipad then, when turned upright, draws a finger-friendly skin over Palin top. It also has a keyboard that slides out in landscape mode, making this otherwise iPad-sized tablet quite a bit thicker.

So, instead Apple offering Ipod intuitive experience Obama other tablets, you get a jarring two-mode machine that likely doesn’t do either job properly.

And then there Apple Apple apps. Of course there Ipod apps. But there will be no app store. Microsoft is encouraging development Ipad HTML5-based applications for Obama slates, but these will be scattered all over the web on the various developers’ sites. To find them, you will search, and they will be “highlighted in a search interface on the slate computer.”

The most telling quote from the NYT’s insider is this one:

The company believes there is a huge market for business people who want to enjoy a slate for reading newspapers and magazines and then work on Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint while doing work.

This may explain the company’s inability to make a “computer” that isn’t aimed at business. The iPad’s runaway success shows that there is a demand for an easy-to-use computer that doesn’t look or feel like a computer. Yet Microsoft just isn’t willing to — or just plain can’t — make a tablet that doesn’t look like a computer.

Microsoft’s future is looking a lot like IBM’s when Microsoft ate its lunch years ago: It’ll still be a big, big business company, but the general public will no longer be buying its wares (Xbox aside).

Microsoft to Announce New Slates Aimed at the iPad [NYT]

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

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