Microsoft Asks iPad Owners to Come Over for a Chat

Microsoft recently posted (and pulled) an invitation targeting iPad owners, promising a "gratuity item" in exchange for participating in a survey later this month at its Redmond, Washington headquarters. The move is undoubtedly correlated to Steve Ballmer’s recent statements saying that the tablet PC market is now "terribly important" to Microsoft, speaking at the annual World Partner Conference.

TechCrunch was the source of the information on Tuesday, when the site noted that Microsoft was asking for iPad owners to pay them a visit between July 16 and July 21 for the study, via its official Facebook page, AppleInsider points out. The event listing has since been removed, although it is unclear whether Microsoft has pulled the initiative, or its quota was filled.

“Microsoft User Research is looking for iPad owners for an upcoming study to get feedback,” the invitation said. “This study will be two hours long and will take place on the Microsoft Redmond campus with a number of dates and times between Friday, July 16th and Wednesday, July 21st.”

“In appreciation for your time, each participant will be offered a Microsoft gratuity item. If you are interested, please respond to the questions below to uccoord@microsoft.com with the subject line “iPad”.Interested parties were asked to fill out their name and age, phone number, job title/company, specify whether they are full time workers or students, and whether they own an iPad.

As noted above, the news follow statements from Microsoft Chief Executive Officer, Steve Ballmer, who confirmed to the press that tablet devices running Windows 7 are on track to launch in the coming months, directly competing with Apple's iPad.

Microsoft is not at its first attempt to learn from Apple in trying to improve its business model. Last month, Softpedia reported that a number of leaked internal Microsoft documents revealed the company’s plans with Windows 8, including a prototype machine akin to the Apple iMac, and a slide which acted as clear evidence that Microsoft was paying attention to activity in Cupertino. Microsoft is now training staffers, acknowledging that:

- Apple brand is known for high quality, uncomplicated, “It just works”
- Product UX is designed to help people realize value
- Realized value leads to product satisfaction, which in turn feeds brand loyalty
- This is something people will pay for!

See this report for the full story.