14 DAY TRIAL // October 6 was all about Microsoft in the technology world, as the Redmond-based software giant introduced its new Windows 10 device portfolio, which includes Lumia 950 and 950 XL, Surface Pro 4, Band 2, and Surface Book.
Panos Panay, the man in charge with devices at Microsoft, said during his keynote that the Surface Book is inventing a new category thanks to the fact that you can remove the keyboard and use the laptop as a clipboard with a Surface Pen, so “expect others to do the same very soon, just like with the Surface tablet.”
Panay's remark was clearly a reference to Apple, which recently announced the iPad Pro, a bigger tablet that comes with a removable keyboard and is supposed to offer on-the-go productivity.
But this wasn't the only hint at Apple's product strategy. On Twitter, Terry Myerson, head of the Windows unit at Microsoft, posted a photo of a refrigerator that doubles as a toaster, hinting that “some new things might pop up.”
Apple and refrigerators
Myerson's post was a reference to a statement made by Apple's CEO Tim Cook in 2012 when Microsoft launched Windows 8 on both PCs and tablets, who said that you can't install the same operating system on different devices because it can cause more confusion.
“Anything can be forced to converge, but the problem is that products are about tradeoffs, and you begin to make tradeoffs to the point where what you have left doesn't please anyone. You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not gonna be pleasing to the user,” Cook said at that time.
And yet, let's not forget that Apple and Microsoft are best buddies right now, so little jokes hurt no one. In fact, Microsoft isn't upset that Apple redesigned the Windows logo, is it?