During Apple’s earnings call today, the company’s CEO Tim Cook called Microsoft’s Surface a “fairly compromised and confusing product,” though he also admitted that he hasn’t “played with one yet.” According to Cook, “you could design a car that flies and floats, but I don’t think it would do all of those things very well.” According to Cook, people will conclude they will want an iPad, “and I think they will continue to do that.”
Windows 8, of course, features both the standard desktop interface and the new Windows 8 UI (formerly known as “Metro”). The surface, runs Windows RT, doesn’t offer the full desktop experience, but it does run Microsoft’s Office suite in the old-school desktop mode.
Cook was clearly taken back a bit by this question and he clearly had to think about his answer. He still didn’t hold back and, to be fair, his opinion is fairly similar to that of many reviewers.
Microsoft’s own CEO Steve Ballmer, of course, channeled some of Apple’s language today and called the Surface “truly magical” during today’s official launch.