One of the things that came out of Apple’s press event on Tuesday is that iWork which is Apple’s answer to Microsoft Office would be free for Mac and iOS users. Microsoft responded via a blog post titled “Apples And Oranges“. Here’s a snippet:
Seems like the RDF (Reality Distortion Field) typically generated by an Apple event has extended beyond Cupertino.
So let me try to clear some things up.
Note: If you are the TL;DR type, let me cut to the chase. 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.
And:
Now, since iWork has never gotten much traction, and was already priced like an afterthought, it’s hardly that surprising or significant a move. And it doesn’t change the fact that it’s much harder to get work done on a device that lacks precision input and a desktop for true side-by-side multitasking.
You can read the rest of this post, but you get the idea.
The only reason why Microsoft would ever post something like this is that they feel threatened by what Apple has done. The folks at 1 Infinite Loop have drawn a clear distinction between themselves and the folks in Redmond. Apple has said that the OS (OS X Mavericks) is free. Microsoft says you have to pay for Windows 8. Apple has said that iWork is free. Microsoft says you have to pay for Office. Microsoft relies on software sales to stay afloat. So if Apple conditions the world that free is better, Microsoft has a problem. Thus this shot across Apple’s bow.
It will be interesting to see if there are further reactions from Redmond.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
This entry was posted on October 24, 2013 at 9:52 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Apple, Microsoft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Microsoft Calls Apple’s Free iWork Suite “Not a Very Big Deal”
One of the things that came out of Apple’s press event on Tuesday is that iWork which is Apple’s answer to Microsoft Office would be free for Mac and iOS users. Microsoft responded via a blog post titled “Apples And Oranges“. Here’s a snippet:
Seems like the RDF (Reality Distortion Field) typically generated by an Apple event has extended beyond Cupertino.
So let me try to clear some things up.
Note: If you are the TL;DR type, let me cut to the chase. 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.
And:
Now, since iWork has never gotten much traction, and was already priced like an afterthought, it’s hardly that surprising or significant a move. And it doesn’t change the fact that it’s much harder to get work done on a device that lacks precision input and a desktop for true side-by-side multitasking.
You can read the rest of this post, but you get the idea.
The only reason why Microsoft would ever post something like this is that they feel threatened by what Apple has done. The folks at 1 Infinite Loop have drawn a clear distinction between themselves and the folks in Redmond. Apple has said that the OS (OS X Mavericks) is free. Microsoft says you have to pay for Windows 8. Apple has said that iWork is free. Microsoft says you have to pay for Office. Microsoft relies on software sales to stay afloat. So if Apple conditions the world that free is better, Microsoft has a problem. Thus this shot across Apple’s bow.
It will be interesting to see if there are further reactions from Redmond.
Share this:
Like this:
Related
This entry was posted on October 24, 2013 at 9:52 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Apple, Microsoft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.