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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Officially Opens CES, Briefly Demos Forthcoming HP Slate

icecapak said:
I wouldn't be surprised at all if Apple locked up iSlate in response to the "Slate PC" so that no PC manufacturer could take the iSlate name and confuse the brand. I hope that the iSlate won't be the name of the Apple tablet.
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I also thought this might be the case. iSlate still doesn't really sound right to me, but then I guess iPod didn't either when it first came out.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Sorry, I can't remember a time when M$ was ever a doll, or anything else anyone or anything would want to play with. It's more like an annoying uncle with a repertoire of bad jokes who keeps retelling them every Thanksgiving thinking they are fresh.
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I stand corrected. ;)
 
Hillarious!

Someone on the MS marketing side should be fired! I can't believe the image of Ballmer holding an oversized iPhone like device with a picture of an Apple being nicely held.

The marketing goof that choose that image should be fired! They really set the stage for Apple to outshine them like crazy later this month! Can't wait!
 
EliteF50 said:
Is it just me, or does everything HP make look like an Apple rip-off?

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That's just one example. Another could be their HP Slate, which looks like a lot like the rumoured Apple Slate from the IKEA video.
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I bought the second monitor you give as evidence of an apple "rip-off." GUESS WHAT? That HP monitor came out BEFORE the apple 24" LED monitor. You should get your facts straight fanboy. Don't even get me started on your claim that HP ripped-off an IKEA take on what a possible apple tablet might look like. Sh*t son, apple has had a rummored tablet device for years now... you're argument is that HP is even ripping off products that apple hasn't made yet nor even confirmed they're making, nor even released a concept of? This is why I hate blind, flat-out-dumb fanboys.

While HP has recently stolen some design cues from apple (see their envy line), even apple stole it's chicklet-style keyboard from sony and HP had the black and silver styling well before apple did. When apple went aluminum and black (previously aluminum and white) many people said it looked too much like an HP.
 
Finally youtube'd the presentation. Interesting :rolleyes:. I will give Steve Jobs this he really know how to deliver a keynote.

Ballmer looked scared to pick up the HP slate and the 17 sec video should have been more. At the very least pumped up by Baller,"and now we have a teaser that we think you'll like, would you like to see it?....WOW amazing"

:apple:slate will be thinner!:p I also still hope for iLife and if we are lucky iWork.

I am so pumped for the 26-27th even if :apple: doesn't release a tablet.
 
ImageWrangler said:
Ugh! Why does Microsoft let him touch a mic? Microsoft could come out with a total game changer, like a computer than can read thoughts and do things before you ask it to, but Ballmer could make it seem so droll and unexciting not even the biggest MS fanboy could muster more than a meh.

He's just not a good presenter, granted comparing him to Jobs who could get on stage, sell you a plate of poop and have you asking for seconds, expensive poop at that, probably isn't fair. But even as a CEO it seems Microsoft could be in much better hands than this guy.

He's almost cringe-worthy to watch there and, not that the world needs to be about beauty and whatnot but he's not pleasant to look at either, one can't help think "man, this guy has got to seriously work on his diet."

The HP Slate thing I thought seemed kinda cool, but not in Ballmer's hands as much.

And yeah, I tend to concur with others, his rehashing of existing MS products which, honestly, are good, but great? I mean, it felt like a pandering sales pitch and one that either everyone has already heard or the way he does it was a really bad infomercial. When I read the reactions of even the very Microsoft-paid-for and/or usually fanboyism petty much all doing what Apple fanboys do after some of Jobs keynotes where, similar, he's got nothing to really say or present, doing the "um, that was it?" It means perhaps Microsoft would be better keeping Monkey Boy in the cage and just manning their booth with more competent spokespeople.
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This is entitlement, all the way - he was a founding partner, and therefore feels compelled to run the show.

What's most bizarre, is that deep down, he feels unskilled in giving this type of presentation - his body language, ticks, and mannerisms affirm this.

It's entertaining to see how scripted the anecdotal spontaneous bits are, and how 'the writing team' tried to entice him a bit with "Developers, Developers, Developers, baby!"

He's decided (and was likely coached) to tone down his testosterone level to counteract his "Monkey Boy" rep, and to use more subtile hand gestures, all of which has distilled his true essence and personality, or lack thereof.

Great speakers are one in a great many, but this one is far, far on the other side of the spectrum.
 
Popeye206 said:
Someone on the MS marketing side should be fired! I can't believe the image of Ballmer holding an oversized iPhone like device with a picture of an Apple being nicely held.

The marketing goof that choose that image should be fired! They really set the stage for Apple to outshine them like crazy later this month! Can't wait!
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They choose that image because it is the cover of Twilight, which is probably the most popular book out there right now and they are trying to show that it can be used as an e-reader. It has nothing to do with Apple.

However, I can see how people would take this the wrong way.
 
its the wifi, stupid

I am amused by all the people who think the "slate" has to be a full fledged computer with gigabyte hard drives that you can write and illustrate the great american novel on, while simultaneously composing, editing and publishing your newest video magnum opus, or it will 'fail' (a terribly overused expression, IMHO). Whatever it looks like or however it's configured, it need not be a complete portable computer, because, by its form factor alone, its primary use is to be used lying down on a couch, connected primarily by its wifi connection. If you want to use your full computer, all you have to do is fire up one of several already existing iphone vnc clients and your entire multigigabyte home computer system is on your tummy, as you slowly fall asleep on the sofa. Same from anywhere, if you set it up correctly. It's the ultimate "thin client", along with whatever native apps you want to use on it.
 
Madmic23 said:
They choose that image because it is the cover of Twilight, which is probably the most popular book out there right now and they are trying to show that it can be used as an e-reader. It has nothing to do with Apple.

However, I can see how people would take this the wrong way.
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Subliminal imagery is such, that an Apple. prominently displayed within the frame of a larger than life iPhone, will project the image of Apple, Inc.

Other current popular novels exist, to a great enough extent, that another could easily have been chosen, to avoid such inadvertent publicity.

Instead, they went with the apple, and, you are quite correct in your perception - people will take it the wrong (right) way. (depending on your perspective)
 
No one's getting it yet

So I'm listening to MacBreak Weekly and I find it awesome that no one's getting the possibilities for a Slate. Makes me think I might be the next Steve Jobs... Maybe I'll apply at Apple.

They said that there's no room between the iPhone or a Macbook. I whole-heartedly disagree. It's the great device for wholesale consumption of media and publications. Something light that I wouldn't need to do any heavy lifting on. Would you want to Photoshop or Final Cut Pro on your Slate? Even Word process? You'd better not!

The magazine thing is a great start and I think if Apple builds something into the iStore so that anyone can have their own community newspaper/newsletter/magazine that I can subscribe to like a podcast, that opens up WAY more possibilities. Now there's surfing on this thing, music, movies, reading, and all the iPhone applications. I think this sounds like a winner.

I really hope it's closer to the iPhone interface than the Mac one. People could write apps for this thing to make it the best media center remote ever. People could use it as a digital photo frame when docked, cycling through their picures. We could play even better games than on the iPhone because of the larger screen and better processor, better battery life. HP missed the mark entirely; they simply removed a keyboard from a laptop. Some of you are asking Apple to do the same thing. Let's do away with scroll bars and double click icons on this thing.

I only hope they make the device I described above and enough people see the value of doing a proper touch UI, rather than feeling cheated their entire Snow Leopard (that they'd never want to run full Mac apps on) isn't on there.
 
Madmic23 said:
They choose that image because it is the cover of Twilight, which is probably the most popular book out there right now
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True - maybe the research shows pre-pubescent goths really go for a sales pitch from a man who closely resembles Shrek on a golfing holiday?

and they are trying to show that it can be used as an e-reader. It has nothing to do with Apple.
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But everything to do with "not thinking things through", eg the zune 'marketplac' embarassment, vista etc. :D
 
flopticalcube said:
When he was saying this, the slide read: "Developeors." (my emphasis)
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Hooked On Phonics, apparently. :p

Journojulz said:
True - maybe the research shows pre-pubescent goths really go for a sales pitch from a man who closely resembles Shrek on a golfing holiday?
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Ghastly - I would imagine that the Six Flags Geezer ranked higher on that survey.

Journojulz said:
But everything to do with "not thinking things through", eg the zune 'marketplac' embarassment, vista etc. :D
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Precisely:

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horrible

I saw the demo... Ballmer is a complete buffoon. It's embarrassing to watch him. The tablet looked like a big iPhone... as if they are trying to project what Apple will announce. The interface was totally unresponsive, and windows is not a touch interface... who wants to touch a mini task bar?

I am anticipating the Apple tablet to completely focus around reading (much like everyone is anticipating magazines and newspapers). I agree with a previous poster that apple is protecting ripoffs by locking up iSlate... but that it is not necessarily the name of the apple product. To me, the entire success relies on this thing feeling like a magazine/newspaper. Light weight, thin, can hold in one hand as one would hold a book or magazine. As far as using it for anything else... it really has to fit on someones lap without being like a laptop... although I can't imagine what they would include which would make this a comfortable experience. It's not like u could just lay it on your lap if you need both hands to interact with it... you would need something to prop it up... should be interesting... but microsoft totally stunk up their keynote... nothing like apples
 
strike1555 said:
Why don't you draw a different concept that looks different from a Mac/PC?

Oh that's right...you can't. There's only so many ways to make an all in one computer.
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hmm... the original iMac, the iMac G4, and the current iMacs don't look much like each other... So until HP makes something different FIRST, I would say the original sentiment is correct.
 
kdarling said:
That's because the tablets all had keyboards.

...

No. Read the link posted above. Slate has been the term for almost twenty years.

It's just that most people have never been exposed to anything other than the "tablet" name, because a keyboardless tablet is a rarity in the consumer market.

This whole "slate" thing is as idiotic as if people had never heard of a turbocharger, and overhead someone say that a new car was a "turbo"... and then the car fanboys ran around saying "oh oh oh the new car will be called iTurbo", not realizing it was a old descriptive term.
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Sorry, you're wrong. I mean, you're "right", but wrong in the larger picture. The term "slate" for various reasons has never taken off, and has been absolutely absent from Microsoft's radar.

The contention that people have not used the term "slate" because they've only been exposed to tablets with keyboards is utterly absurd and out of touch with the world. I've never seen a tablet with key input outside of POS, and all the non-keyboard ones have been called "tablet" by everyone including their manufacturers. For example:

http://www.provantage.com/motion-computing-ix6a2722~7MOCU1MU.htm

Slate is not one thing and a tablet another; slate is a not-terribly-common term for a subset of tablets. And the point is that regardless of the form factor it is describing, Microsoft has pushed "Tablet" exclusively since the release of Windows Tablet Edition in 2001. They have used "Slate" only internally for research projects. Apple by no means invented the term, and nobody is saying they did; the assertion is that MS in a panic decided to start using the term publicly before a competitor and given the facts of history it's hard to think of another explanation.
 
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