Microsoft UK Director Says No Tablets While Showing Off Tablets (Maybe)

At a UK event showcasing a selection of Windows PCs called The Collection, Pocket-Lint spoke to Microsoft?s UK managing director Ashley Highfield who put the skids on talk that Microsoft was jumping into the tablet market? not counting the tablets at The Collection? maybe.

?We won?t do anything in the tablet market unless we can be distinctive,? he told us.

That?s the statement Highfield made to Pocket-Lint, which Pocket-Lint and others are translating to ?we won?t do tablets?. That would make sense, except they are actually showcasing three tablets at The Collection: the Dell Inspiron duo, Acer ICONIA tab W500, and Asus Eee Slate EP121. The site includes taglines and descriptions such as ?With touch screens and tablets that let you get even closer to your content,? and ?Lightweight mobile PCs, netbooks and tablets, built to travel anywhere you go without weighing you down.? (emphasis mine)

Out of context, it certainly sounds like Highfield is saying Microsoft is holding off on tablets pending a level of distinction. But in context, it seems more like he?s emphasizing how their tablet offerings are distinctive. The Duo certainly stands out with its unique swivel design, as does the ICONIA with its keyboard dock. The Eee Slate may look like an ordinary slate, but active pen input and Intel Core i5 processor put it on a different level than the iPad.

Against that backdrop, I think Highfield is saying ?our tablets are distinct? rather than ?we?re not making tablets until they?re distinct.? Of course, that does not take into consideration tone and delivery of the statement, so I admit it could go either way, but I think the former makes more sense amid a showcase of distinct tablet form factors. (Not that I normally accuse executives at Microsoft of making more sense.)

Tags: Acer Iconia Tab, ASUS Eee Slate EP121, Dell Inspiron Duo, Microsoft, Tablet PC, Tablets, Windows 7

Category: Mobile

About the Author (Author Profile)

Addicted to the sweet nectar of sarcasm, Mark ?Sumocat? Sumimoto stomps through the blogosphere in search of injustices against the Tablet PC and mobile computing, righting these wrongs with a sharp jab of the pen. He also walks the walk with his own handwritten blog, pioneering the field of ink blogging and earning a Microsoft MVP award for Tablet PCs in 2008, re-awarded for Touch and Tablet PCs in 2009 and 2010. Email me: sumocat [at] notebooks.com

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