First, Microsoft didn’t give Brass as many engineers as he wanted – just six, instead of the 20 he wanted. (He did manage to snag two guys worked at Xerox’s nigh-mythical PARC, the birthplace of the GUI that inspired the Macintosh.) Consequently, the team ran into issues like handwriting recognition that only worked half the time, and a confusing interface, according to user tests.
BusinessWeek also reported back then that Office group wanted to focus on their own applications, even though the tablet group knew having software ready to go was key. Bill Gates went for the weak compromise, an add-on pack with tablet-specific features. This seems to support Brass’s allegations in the NYT op/ed that the VP of Office at the time “refused to modify the popular Office applications to work properly with the tablet”. Ironically, the person who shut down Brass appears to be Steven Sinofsky, current president of Windows – the guy who turned the division around and gave us Windows 7.
But the problem now isn’t that Microsoft doomed their tablet PCs to failure 7 years ago, it’s that they still haven’t solved their tablet problems today. [BusinessWeek]
Rob
Friday, February 5, 2010 at 8:08 PM“still haven’t solved their tablet problems today.”
They don’t have tablet problems, they’ve toyed with them and realised it’s not worth it. Apple will eventually learn this the hard way but for now they’ve got rabid fanboyism on their side.
gargravarr
Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 7:37 PMRob, you (and many others) are surprisingly confident about the prospects of a device I bet you haven’t seen in the metal, let alone used.
If it does succeed, will you learn this the hard way, because for now you’ve got rabid lack of knowledge on your side.
Nato
Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 4:23 PMcough *Newton* cough
gargravarr
Monday, February 8, 2010 at 5:30 AMNato – you’ve got a point, but you missed mine. The reason I think you should wait and see is that people’s attitudes to technology are different now.
I sold computers in the late 1980′s, when people had no idea why they needed a computer, let alone wanted one. It was a tough sell. Now, most customers are willing to buy, the salesperson just has to determine which model will meet their needs.
Newton’s technology wasn’t the problem. It was too expensive and domestic consumers weren’t likely to buy something marketed as a business device. The iPad is coming into a market where pervasive computing is a concept with which the average person is more comfortable.
My reason for not buying one at this point is just that I can’t, as a single person with no kids and a laptop, see a use for it. However, if someone makes a killer home theatre remote app…