Bill Gates on the iPad: Needs a stylus and a keyboard
Bill Gates thinks the iPad is OK, but lacking compared to his own vision of tablet computing. Speaking to business blog Bnet he said, "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."
He added "So it's not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with the iPhone where I say, 'Oh my God, Microsoft didn't aim high enough. It's a nice reader, but there's nothing on the iPad I look at and say, 'Oh, I wish Microsoft had done that."
He was a lot nicer than when Steve Ballmer famously dissed the iPhone. Of course Microsoft has been flogging tablet computers for years, and hasn't had the buzz that the iPad has received.
Of course, the iPad does allow a hardware keyboard to be used with it. As far as a stylus goes, Apple has been there and done that with the Newton. Gates also wanted to see voice input on the iPad, but with a built in microphone and some iPhone apps that already do that it's not a stretch to assume voice input will be available.
How about you? Will a stylus make the iPad just what you want?
[Thanks to Tommy for the tip]
