by Jason Snell
Convergence
Here’s a nice piece by David Sparks about the convergence of mobile and traditional PC operating systems.
Microsoft and Apple are taking opposite approaches, with Microsoft pushing pretty much everything together—there’s a phone you can get that runs desktop Windows—while Apple keeps saying that the Mac and the iPad never shall meet.
But of course they are. It’s in Microsoft’s best interests to use its strength in Windows to help it where it’s incredibly weak—in mobile devices. Apple, meanwhile, has a level of success with iOS that it never had with the Mac, and with Mac and iPhone sales at record levels it doesn’t seem to feel much of a need to jam them together.
I’m not saying that the companies don’t believe in their philosophies, but each argument meshes perfectly with the assets and liabilities of the company espousing it.