At Apple's latest major press event to reveal the newest iPads the company took almost every opportunity to take subtle digs at its tablet competition from Microsoft. As it turns out, Microsoft executives didn't take too kindly to having their products mocked by the competition and have since fired shots back.
"Seems like the RDF (Reality Distortion Field) typically generated by an Apple event has extended beyond Cupertino," wrote Microsoft's vice president of Communications Frank Shaw via DailyTech. "Surface and Surface 2 both include Office, the world's most popular, most powerful productivity software for free and are priced below both the iPad 2 and iPad Air respectively. Making Apple's decision to build the price of their less popular and less powerful iWork into their tablets not a very big (or very good) deal."
Apple revealed that its iWork program would be included on the iPad and Shaw believes that the price of that program is being worked into the overall cost of the device. Meanwhile, both of Microsoft's flagship tablet/PC hybrid devices are cheaper and come loaded with the much more popular Microsoft Office. He then went on to describe that Microsoft Windows devices are the best work and productivity machines on the market, taking very direct slams at Apple and it's tech philosophy.
"It's not surprising that we see other folks now talking about how much "work" you can get done on their devices. Adding watered down productivity apps. Bolting on aftermarket input devices. All in an effort to convince people that their entertainment devices are really work machines."
At it's conference, it could be argued that Apple more than earned these shots that Microsoft is taking at it when it laughed off the concept of netbooks and discussed how the iPad, a bold idea that it presented years ago, has found a way to revolutionize and replace the modern mobile browser while its "competition" from the likes of Windows, keeps trying to push these hybrid devices like the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2.
Tell us what you think. Which brand makes the better tablet device, Microsoft or Apple? Comment and share your thoughts with us below.
