Bill Gates: Frustrated

Bill Gates on the iPad:

Bill Gates took to CNBC today to pitch Microsoft’s line of Surface tablets, and he had some choice words for Apple’s iPad and similar tablets. “A lot of those users are frustrated,” said Gates. “They can’t type, they can’t create documents, they don’t have Office there.”

Uh-huh. Apple has sold more iPads since their introduction in 2010, than Microsoft has sold Tablet PC licenses since 2002. By a factor of ten. Or maybe 100. Could be 1,000. Nobody can really say, because nobody has ever really bought very many.

So Microsoft re-thunked up its tablet strategy, and introduced the Surface RT and the Surface Pro with Windows 8 for Finger, Stylus, Keyboard, Trackpad, and Mouse. But nobody bought those, either. Microsoft has shipped a few million to retailers since last fall, and perhaps sold a million to actual users — or about what Apple sells on the first day or three after they bring out a new iPad.

Tell me again now: Who is frustrated?