At the Apple earnings call, CEO Tim Cook was asked to make a few comments about the new Microsoft Surface tablet. Even if he admitted he hasn’t yet played with the new device, he still had some words to say about it. Cook stated that he read some reviews about the product and so made an opinion of it as being a “fairly compromised, confusing product”.

Cook thinks that the issues with Surface stem from the fact that Microsoft is not willing or capable of making “hard trade offs” like Apple is. Admittedly he knows what he is talking about. Cupertino sold 100 million iPods so far and reported a profit of $8.2 billion in the last three months leading to September 29.

Cook also seemed to be confident that users will continue to prefer the iPad due to the amazing user experience it provides. This is not the first time Apple CEO provides negative feedback about the Microsoft tablet. He previously stated that:

“You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but it won’t please anyone”.

In the enemy camp, Microsoft strongly believes it is filling a gap, uniting tablet and computer experience with the Surface.

Cook’s opinion might have been influenced by articles like Wired’s Mathew Honan review who talked about Surface as being “a tablet of both compromise and confusion”. The Verge’s Josh Topolsky also wrote: “Instead of being a no-compromise device, it often feels like a more-compromise one” – commenting on Microsoft’s statement of last year: “our goal was a no compromise design”.

By Radu

Source - Apple CEO Tim Cook calls Microsoft Surface 'compromised, confusing'

Wow...I can't believe these zillionaires are acting this way.

Originally Posted by AQ_OC

Wow...I can't believe these zillionaires are acting this way.

I figure if your product is good, no need to trash talk unless you feel threatened.

Is it me or does Cook look a little bit like Bill Gates?

I love the IPAD, it sits by the sofa, for surfing the internet and watching movies on it with air play, but that is all it is good for. It is **** for data manipulation and entry, it is ponderous to type on, and I cannot live without my laptop as I cannot use the IPAD to function professionally, and that is where apple has lost the plot! There is a huge gap between the IPAD which is a consumer device and the mac which is both a consumer and business capable machine.

Too many people are trying to run in IOS on IPAD with business needs, and the attempts to pass basic data between colleagues relies on cloud content or syncing with iTunes (Roll on the lightning connector - 5 years too late). All Microsoft are doing is breaking the gap between with Windows 8 pro, and going more head to head with the IPAD on RT.

Apple showed a new way to interface that people liked, but never closed the door in giving a device that could be a consumer and productivity tool scalable to a full MAC solution. (This despite customers screaming for it with very clunky and poor third party products to fill the gap and complaints that interface is via Itunes or cloud and email). What Windows RT and PRO do is give the ability to have a device that is your pen and paper, tablet media device and productivity tool and that is why I have just spent $900 on a slate with stylus and widi and USB and "Windows 8". I will miss the IPAD, but I think it now belongs in the hands of my two year old to play funny little Apps, Daddy is going to work!

PS.. I love VMWARE on the MAC so I can run windows!

Originally Posted by IFood

I love the IPAD, it sits by the sofa, for surfing the internet and watching movies on it with air play, but that is all it is good for. It is **** for data manipulation and entry, it is ponderous to type on, and I cannot live without my laptop as I cannot use the IPAD to function professionally, and that is where apple has lost the plot! There is a huge gap between the IPAD which is a consumer device and the mac which is both a consumer and business capable machine.

Too many people are trying to run in IOS on IPAD with business needs, and the attempts to pass basic data between colleagues relies on cloud content or syncing with iTunes (Roll on the lightning connector - 5 years too late). All Microsoft are doing is breaking the gap between with Windows 8 pro, and going more head to head with the IPAD on RT.

Apple showed a new way to interface that people liked, but never closed the door in giving a device that could be a consumer and productivity tool scalable to a full MAC solution. (This despite customers screaming for it with very clunky and poor third party products to fill the gap and complaints that interface is via Itunes or cloud and email). What Windows RT and PRO do is give the ability to have a device that is your pen and paper, tablet media device and productivity tool and that is why I have just spent $900 on a slate with stylus and widi and USB and "Windows 8". I will miss the IPAD, but I think it now belongs in the hands of my two year old to play funny little Apps, Daddy is going to work!

PS.. I love VMWARE on the MAC so I can run windows!

Agree in general that iPad has limited work uses for many people. I for one can't do real work on iPad or any other tablet out there at the moment, including MS Surface. I'm waiting for the pro version, which I hope will free me from a laptop more often. Even with a pro version, I will still need my two PCs at work.

That said, it over generalizes to say that no one can work on iPad. It just depends on what work you do. For some, iPad has already offered flexibility and portability that didn't previously exist. Some companies have had to produce their own apps to accomplish what they need, of course. But yes, I sometimes see posts on which individual users struggle to jury rig solutions to do things that a laptop would easily do and which seem needlessly painful on iPad. In such cases, MS Surface or MS Surface pro might fill the gap.

No one gadget will fulfill everyone's needs, which is why I wholeheartedly support more choices in the market.

I also don't support monopolies, oligopolies or 800-pound gorillas in industry, because that's never in consumers' best interests.

Originally Posted by Kaykaykay

Agree in general that iPad has limited work uses for many people. I for one can't do real work on iPad or any other tablet out there at the moment, including MS Surface. I'm waiting for the pro version, which I hope will free me from a laptop more often. Even with a pro version, I will still need my two PCs at work.

That said, it over generalizes to say that no one can work on iPad. It just depends on what work you do. For some, iPad has already offered flexibility and portability that didn't previously exist. Some companies have had to produce their own apps to accomplish what they need, of course. But yes, I sometimes see posts on which individual users struggle to jury rig solutions to do things that a laptop would easily do and which seem needlessly painful on iPad. In such cases, MS Surface or MS Surface pro might fill the gap.

No one gadget will fulfill everyone's needs, which is why I wholeheartedly support more choices in the market.

I also don't support monopolies, oligopolies or 800-pound gorillas in industry, because that's never in consumers' best interests.

It definitely does matter what work are doing. I'd say something like software development is probably out but I've had pretty good luck manipulating data via QuickOffice pro. Sure, it's missing some features and can be quirky at times but I've been able to do quite a bit with it. And, traveling with the iPad is 100x better than lugging around a chunky laptop with crappy battery life. Like the person said that you replied too: sharing data is tough since connecting iPads isn't easy right now. It's cloud or iTunes and that's kind of lame.

More choices are always better. I can see our household having 2-3 tablets around and one might be a windows based tablet.

Sent from my iPad using iPF

Originally Posted by IFood

I love the IPAD, it sits by the sofa, for surfing the internet and watching movies on it with air play, but that is all it is good for. It is **** for data manipulation and entry, it is ponderous to type on, and I cannot live without my laptop as I cannot use the IPAD to function professionally, and that is where apple has lost the plot! There is a huge gap between the IPAD which is a consumer device and the mac which is both a consumer and business capable machine.

Too many people are trying to run in IOS on IPAD with business needs, and the attempts to pass basic data between colleagues relies on cloud content or syncing with iTunes (Roll on the lightning connector - 5 years too late). All Microsoft are doing is breaking the gap between with Windows 8 pro, and going more head to head with the IPAD on RT.

Apple showed a new way to interface that people liked, but never closed the door in giving a device that could be a consumer and productivity tool scalable to a full MAC solution. (This despite customers screaming for it with very clunky and poor third party products to fill the gap and complaints that interface is via Itunes or cloud and email). What Windows RT and PRO do is give the ability to have a device that is your pen and paper, tablet media device and productivity tool and that is why I have just spent $900 on a slate with stylus and widi and USB and "Windows 8". I will miss the IPAD, but I think it now belongs in the hands of my two year old to play funny little Apps, Daddy is going to work!

PS.. I love VMWARE on the MAC so I can run windows!

You have mentioned the negatives of the iPad and the praises of windows in the majority if not all of your posts since joining this forum. Please respect those that still utilize their iPad in many of their work and daily functions.

Thank you.
Ski...
iPadforums Moderator | iPhoneForums Moderator

I was intrigued by the Surface initially but $119 for the keyboard. No thanks.