Microsoft Sells Us A Polar Bear TV

UGH! I’m so disappointed with that HP slate announcement instead of the MS Courier. I dunno, maybe it will work … BevQB

I am SO with Bev QB on this one. Last night sitting around downstairs here in the kitchen freezing my ass off I noticed that Ballmer boy was doing everything but showing the Microsoft Courier. Which was their BIG DEAL for this year. The huge secret we have been hearing about since September 2009 around the time when all the Apple Tablet rumors started pouring in. It’s the whole reason for me to be watching Steve Ballmer the big voiced oaf.

So what did Steve-o give us? The HP Slate which there is no information of course because HP is waiting for Apple to announce what they will be offering and then HP will hurry to keep up in their current “me too” approach to the computer industry. Just another “me too” moment in a sea of “me too” moments. Like what is so different between a Kindle 2 and a Sony Daily Edition?

I think my gut instinct was right to ignore anything from CES this year that uses the terms “3D” or “Microsoft”. I mean who cares about Office 2010? I finally got Office 2007 update through a special offer from my company and really Office 2000 was fine for home use.

So what was the big thing to note about that HP Slate up there on the stage with Steve Ballmer since there is nothing to really talk about since HP does not really have a final configuration down for that product yet?

It was running Kindle for PC and the other demo they did was running BLIO which I have already talked about. That’s right folks that HP Slate was not running Microsoft Reader it was running Kindle for PC. I think that says a lot right there. Bye bye Microsoft Reader!

I have nothing really against HP but they already have had a Tablet-like laptop out there for the last year running Windows 7. Anyone can go down to Best Buy and see it. The screen is the worst part. It rotates around so you can close it up like it is a Tablet but it feels floppy like it will break and then you look closely at the screen and there is this fine wire mesh thing going on beneath the surface which reminded me of the Sony PRS-600 and the new 900, you know, with that cloudy touch screen plastered over the eInk obscuring everything. Just half-assed and who would buy such a thing?

Have you noticed that the only Windows 7 tablets out there on the market so far all need a keyboard? Yeah, I think that is why we did not see the Courier not to mention did not see Steve Monster working with that HP Slate to show us more. Windows 7 will need a bit of work at the OS level to come anywhere close to the iPhone OS on-screen touch typing experience. The iPhone is not perfect but it is functional and my money remains on Android and Apple being the Tablet OS of choice at this point.

That currently available HP Laptop/Tablet just is not even close to the level of quality I would want from a touch screen product. Look at the Apple iPhone! The screen is sharp and the interface usable even for being “old technology” and you do not see anything but the images and backgrounds and fonts flowing across the screen like there is nothing in the way except the glass.

If you can not even keep up with that then why bother Microsoft/HP? Why not just sell these?

This Katiebabs WTF? moment brought to you by CES 2010.

Tags: Common Sense, eBook Readers