Bill Gates thinks the iPad needs a keyboard, Disney CEO loves it as it is
By Vlad Savov 
posted February 11th 2010 6:24AM
posted February 11th 2010 6:24AM
Unimpressed by the iPad, Bill goes on to say that he considers it a "nice reader," but not something that made him wish Microsoft had done it first. Don't tell that to Disney CEO Robert Iger though, who brings out the dreaded "game changer" tag when describing the potential he sees in the iPad for the creation of "essentially new forms of content." Lest we forget, Steve Jobs also sits on the Disney board, so this could be just a friendly tip of the hat by Iger. Either way, we're curious to see what new content Disney might scratch up, as well as to find out who's right in this newfound binary question: keyboard-equipped netbooks or longevous, ultrathin tablets -- what say you?"You know, I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard - in other words a netbook - will be the mainstream on that."
@69camaroSS
My whole point is based on seeing beyond the right now as Billy Gates and friends seem to struggle with so often. If the iPad takes off like did the iPhone and iPods it could pose a threat to MS in the way many start to views their "PCs".
The iPod and iPod Touch did not really take off tile later generations, that does not mean they were not good devices at launch.
@dave95
I absolutely agree with this. There will be people who want to tinker with their computer, and for them there will continue to be Windows, OS X and Linux. But there are definitely people who don't want to muck about with the OS and a simplified device like the iPad is precisely the sort of thing that can help. Mind you, I do wait to see what the price of it is going to be when it is eventually released outside of the US. As much as I love the concept I am not prepared to pay over the odds for what will be a convenience device rather than something I actually need.
@dave95
Lets also get rid of complicated cutlery and plates that have to be washed all the time and instead just "consume" apple branded microwave meals from special ear-attaching iGruel bags.
Why dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator?
I like to cook up meals so they are exactly the way I like them, present them on the plate the way I like and eat them using the tools of my choosing. Yes, this has involved a learning process. Yes, a life of tinned food would have been easier. No, I am glad that 'visionary' chefs did not tell me that tinned shite labeled as a gourmet dinner is the way to go.
(well at least I didn't use a car metaphor) :)
@dave95
If Steve is seeing into the future, he should have released a device that actually was worth $500. "Simplifying" and 'deliberately controlling what content people can view on the internet' are two different things. Steve is looking to the future hoping that everyone will just adopt HTML 5 and flash will disappear, but he isn't being realistic about the time frame. We are 20-30 years from that actually happening, if it does. The facts are that Flash is the best we got and his "great, new, superior, revolutionary" web device can't display it. I call that false advertising, and it should be sold with a warning label. "This device will not display 20% of the available content on the internet."
This is not a phone that fits in a pocket; it is a purpose-built internet device, which fails to fulfill its primary purpose.
Jobs has the shot! He shoots, and. . . He bricks it!
Why not a longeveous ultra thin netbook engadget? I think netbooks need some adjectives.
Love my aspire timeline.
Yeah, Bill -- physical keyboards, that get dirty and break from time to time, is the future. Not.
@Mark Free
Uhhhhh. . . I've been using various keyboards for 25 years and have never had one break that belonged to me. Physical Keyboards will be in our future for a long time.
if you can't play what you download on the tablet you just shelled out 500+ dollars for... meh
Well, I can understand the keyboard "ain't its thing", they could have at least given it an SD slot and a bloody USB port.
@Loonie
I wonder how much it is going to do over WiFi and Bluetooth. I can absolutely see your point and I've been wondering how data is supposed to be moved around. It certainly will be annoying if any transfer of data is going to require either iTunes or MobileMe.
I'd go for an ultra thin tablet. Netbooks/tablet isn't for primary use anyways. Rather have something cool and slim than something common and ugly. However I'd want that tablet to be able to do about the same things as a netbook. Shape up, Apple!
@blinddance
Surely all that is necessary is for developers (perhaps Apple themselves as well) to write the applications that will enable the iPad to "do what netbooks do". Frankly, this sort of thing reminds me a bit of Field Of Dreams and the immortal line, "If you build it, he will come". As the App Store has clearly demonstrated, give developers an interesting platform and they will provide genuinely interesting and useful applications. The same will likely happen with the iPad but you can guarantee that they won't be big iPhone applications.
@Kelmon I'm not disagreeing with you, and am in fact waiting for what kind of interesting solutions 3rd party developers will present. But the most notible function I'm missing in the iPad is multi-task and flash, and that's something only Apple can introduce. A fresher more effective UI would be sweet too, as well as a less controlled App Store.
The problem with the Ipad is the price and the fact that it doesnt do anything the ipod touch or the iphone does.
I would buy it if it were say $199 since you cant bring it everywhere with you and you have to buy each application seperately.
A tablet/netbook is much cheaper in the long run after you factor in applications and things like that.
@majortom1981
I think you'll find that the bigger screen makes a heck of a difference and will mean that the device runs different software applications. I love the iPhone's ability to surf the World Wide Web when I'm away from my computer but I'd much rather do that on the iPad then either the iPhone or my laptop. This is purely because the iPad's form is just right for reading on the sofa.
Actually... it was hard to really understand what Iger was saying because he was talking through his vag... and Bill Gates is just jealous... he said the same kind of crap about the iPod... and how'd that go?
Why do so many of you assume the iPad is all there is? It is a rev1.0 device - the first of its kind, and I'm sure Apple plans to build on the concept. Do you remember the first netbooks? They were utter crap, tiny 7" screens, useless keyboards, and people laughed at them.
@Ed T
Funny to see so many spouting off on this thing as though it will never get updated past gen 1 (ie various iPods, iPhones).
@Ed T Right. Because it makes more sense to talk about fictional products that may or may not ever be released than it does to talk about what Apple has actually announced. /s
I will concede that if the iPad gets better hardware, software, apps, and a price cut it will be more attractive. Other than that I will refrain from commenting on products that only exist in imagination. Seriously, WTF? Because the iPad could some day be a great device we can't criticize what exists today?
Hey. Don't criticize the Chevy Cobalt. If they made it more reliable, gave it a better engine, made it bigger, cut three thousand off the price, and redesigned it it could be a great car!
Are those fists from the movie "Unspeakable" ?
I am still bummed that the umpc form factors never really took off and sort of morphed into pads, I am a big fan of the form factor of the wibrain and the asus "R"'s
Until a tablet comes out that supports: Flash and Silverlight, HD video, wireless video output, multi-tasking, front-facing camera, bluetooth connectivity for keyboards/mice, expandable storage, removable battery, usb ports, gps, app/music/video store, e-books, some kind of linkage to newspapers and magazines, I would not call it a 'game changer.'
Nothing will change the tablet game until a viable revenue stream is generated for the content providers. I don't see this happening with just app store content. I see this happening with magazines, newspapers, or even commercials via Hulu that have interactive advertisements, links to purchase products on the fly, etc. I see tablet-like devices as both the future and the savior of traditionally printed media, but I also don't see this happening for quite some time yet.
@Domer
By the time all that happens, the game will have already changed, and you will have missed your chance to call it anything.
Well you can tell Bill Gates I'm unimpressed with WinMo 6.5 still requiring a stylus 3 years after the iPhone launched proving a device that size should not use a stylus. Why is it one of the richest companies in the world cannot build a decent mobile OS within 3 years? WinMo7, comming soon...should have been out 2 years ago! Wonder if we'll have to wait for WinMo7.1 (aka SP1) before it's half way decent? Oh well, atleast Win7 has finally caught up (mostly) to Apple's OSX, how many years did that take?
When is the last time Microsoft came out with something completely unique and mind blowing? Natal?, but that's for gaming, what about on the PC or mobile....why is such a large company completely lacking in creativity?? Boring....
Keep it up Apple, atleast you know how to change the world and keep things fun and interesting while finding ways to make technology improve our lives rather than overcomplicate them.
@blampright
My winmo6.5 device is great and it didn't come with a stylus. Can't say I miss having one, except for writing on screen (it was brill for that).
If WInMo7 comes out as a hip an happnin' media device I will probably stick with 6.5 - it honestly fits the bill for me just perfectly - better I might add than an iPhone (I am a business user).
Whenever I ask people why they want flash support they say it's because they want to watch Youtube, Hulu and Pandora. But then Youtube and Pandora are already available as apps and the apps easily beat the web versions.
Now Hulu is a different beast. It doesn't even run properly on a fully fledged laptop unless it has a dedicated graphics card. How the hell is it supposed to run on a mobile device? On my Sony Vaio X - top of the line 2.0Ghz intel Atom processor, SSD hard drive and 2GB RAM Hulu is jittery beyond usability....Hulu in it's present form is not viable on any mobile platform. Period.
So that leaves the Flash ads....think of Apple providing an inbuilt flash blocker!
No multi tasking. When I ask what do you need multi tasking for. The most common needs are being able to listen to music whille doing something else...well you can multi task - i.e browse the web while listening to your ipod. You can also use an app while listening to your ipod on the iphone or ipad. The only exception is being able to listen to Pandora or XM while browsing...
The point is that Apple has thought through the user experience and made optimization decisions based on it. While general multi tasking and flash seems like good ideas...in reality they are not that usable for most people. The fact that no flash support has resulted in apps that are better than their web versions in every way is very telling.
It is to Apple's credit that they know how to read the market. Otherwise listening to geeks on forums will result in Windows Mobile 6.5. It was everything a geek could possibly want from a mobile platform. Everything!
@jaffreywali
If you know what Trekkie Monster thinks the Internet is for, and you know that a large percentage of sites that support his claim use Flash, then you know why so many object to an iPad without Flash.
Please add bluetooth keyboard support.
Until then I will not buy an iPad.
Thank you.
Contradiction police! @1.30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuhHIqJyjY0
Hulu to Work on iPad?
http://www.maclife.com/article/news/hulu_work_ipad
Looks like Apple may indeed be starting the killing of Flash with the iPad but they have a long ways to go.
Stylus is the king! I hate fingerpainting!
I'm still annoyed that a computer has the option for a cheaper 3g plan than my phone. I use like 50 mb a month and would kill for a cheaper data plan.
Watch Star Trek, and do you see physical keyboards? Nope. Nuff said.
I don't think the iPad in it's current state is the future but I think the future is heading in a direction to go with everything virtual and less physical keys while not losing function...
Blast from the Past!!! Bill Gates thinks Apple has blown it with one of their products! Imagine that. Lets see.. off the top of my head, Bill Gates has bad mouthed the following Apple Products and ideas over the years: Plus, Se, SE-30, Quadra, LC and LC II, Cs, CX, RISC, Systems 8 and 9, OS-X, The iMac Bondi, (and each of the other colors, All the G4s, The Flat Screen iMac, The iBooks and Air, Apple TV, Airport, iTunes, Quicktime, The MOUSE!, Graphical Interface, Postscript, SCSI, USB, Firewire, iPod, Getting rid of Floppy Disks, and Color Management.
In exchange, he and Microsoft have given us Pictures for DOS (Called Windows 3-2000 and XP, Vista and 7), Movies for Windows , Windows Media Player and Silverlight or whatever it is now, over 1,500,000 Viruses, and probably the ultimate programming coup: The built in- Blue Screen of Death-CORE DUMP. We also have the multiple iPod Killers like Zune, Quicktime Killers, Explorer and Bloatware like OFFICE. And we also have the wonderful, logic shattering idea that a document should have an embedded application space which runs when you open the document. What a great idea.We have Bill Gates to thank for the fact that you do NOT own the software you buy. He was the one who pulled the wool over the eyes of IBM and got his stolen DOS software back to use to this day using a slick contract.
Nope, if Billy says the iPad needs a keyboard, my guess is that it probably shouldn't have one. As a retired Computer Geek, I am still amazed that it hasn't sunk in how much further along we would be if Microsoft hadn't crushed innovation for the last 30 years. Hell- my iBook would have cost $300 instead of $950.
I think it is interesting that both companies saw something that belonged to someone else and began their rise to fame from others' products. The difference between Gates, and Jobs and Woz was that Gates just took it, (DOS), licensed it as his product, and THEN went to the actual owner and paid a pittance for it without telling the guy they had already sold it. Jobs and Woz ASKED Bell Labs if they could use the Mouse thing and graphical idea and they were given the nod. They took the idea and ran with it, improved it, grew things from it. Gates - not so much. He just built on his grab-it mentality with hundreds of other peoples' products and ideas. He got rich and his stuff is laughable. His propaganda machine is wonderful though.
Here are the lies and the facts - Apples are too expensive!
(Fact) - to find a Windows PC that has all the functionality and power of the Mac is always more expensive.
Macs don't work for Business or Science-
(Fact) - Macs are the most effective and cheapest choice for most businesses because they are lass susceptible to virus attacks, are easier to manage, and can run both Windows and OS-X AT THE SAME TIME!
Finally- Macs cost too much for businesses to use and support.
Fact- The ROI on Macs has been twice as fast for Macs then Windows PCs Since System 6 and The SE-30. Beyond that the Mac still averages more than 2 users per machine while the Windows PC averages 0.6 to 0.8 users per machine.
Go Bill! Stay retired and give your money to charity.
I boycott all things Microsoft! ("I don't do windows!") The only thing Bill is good at is marketing ideas that he steals/co-opts from other people. It's well-known that Windows was created after the Steves showed Bill their innovative GUI design in the '70s. Bill licensed the OS to outside developers which is what gave the PC business/gamer advantage in terms of numbers of applications available. But there are few that could intelligently argue against the fact that the Apple computer is superior in every way. BTW, the iPad has an optional external keyboard available for purchase for those wonks that want it.
Uh shut up bill it's not great any way I would only buy it if it had osx on it that's what me and my homies wanted a touch screen mac not a big friken iPod with 3G