The richest software man in the world has nothing but the bad type of contempt for the iPad. 'Join the crowd' says I in my best dramatic TV policeman impersonation. But donning the trench coat ain't that easy. Gates was envious of the iPhone - and since Microsoft have never debuted a successful hardware line other than the XBox - but doesn't get the iPad.

Microsoft debuted their vision of tablet computing early in the decade to similarly uninterested folksies. The fact is that the format may not work. Apple have done the best thing: by introducing the iPhone OS to simply operation and streamline its uses, but will it work? Personally, I am impressed and await the actual debut. Maybe it will be a niche market, but I think Apple will make a success with the iPad.

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