Ballmer: Our E-reader is the Windows PC
Microsoft e-reader? Nonsense! We have Windows!
E-book readers are slowly filling the market, but they've yet to hit critical mass. Amazon appears to be leading the way with the Kindle, but there is still plenty room for competition. Could it be Apple, someday, with its tablet that'll do for books what it did to music with the iPod? Whoever it'll be, it won't be Microsoft.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said last week that the world's largest software maker has no plans to compete in the e-reader market. The reasoning behind this is that Microsoft already has software for what Ballmer says is the most popular e-reader in the world.
"We have a device for reading. It's the most popular device in the world. It's the PC," Ballmer said on Thursday on the sidelines of television show, reported Reuters.
Ballmer added that Microsoft would be open to working with other companies to expand e-reading options to the PC.
"I would love to see companies like Amazon and others bring their books to the PC," Ballmer said. "Hopefully we can get that to happen with Barnes & Noble or Amazon or somebody."
"But no, we are not interested in e-readers ourselves."
Of course, if the market gets big enough, Microsoft might choose to reconsider. After all, just look at the video games and portable music player market.
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He really is a clueless idiot...you can't exactly hulk around your desktop PC to read an e-book on the train can you and that's what e-readers are for - portable e-book reading.
agree... what a jerk... Then again... somehow I don't believe this market will ever get big enough to interest MS... Unless they would do something funky with it... something like oversized DS for games, notepad, etc... It's sort of annoying that MS lacks the innovation factor... It's not just e-reader... it's a slim, portable computer - think that way Mr. Balmer.
Grade A Buffoon
orly. read up folks
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/ [...] 9pctablet/
etern4l:
yeah but that kinda proves the point - that Archos unit could easily be what Microsoft put out instead of "just" an e-reader.
Must say I'm kinda interested though - I was keeping an eye out for confirmation of Apple tablet pricing and even though I'd never buy a full Mac computer at their current prices, the tablet could have everything I want in a geek toy, but seriously I reckon Archos may well get my money instead now.