14 DAY TRIAL // Back in October 2012, Microsoft came up with the idea of launching a tablet that converts into a 2-in-1 device with the help of a removable keyboard, which basically allowed it to double as a laptop whenever productivity on the go was needed.
It was the Surface RT, Microsoft’s first attempt at the tablet market, and although it proved to be a big flop, Microsoft decided to continue investing money in the Surface lineup, so now we have much more advanced models with powerful hardware, digital pens, and Windows 10.
But back in 2012, when Microsoft launched the first Surface, Steve Ballmer, the former CEO who was often criticized for putting a keyboard on a tablet, predicted that more manufacturers would launch tablets with such capabilities in a few years.
Apple’s iPad Pro
Fast forward three years later, and here is Apple unveiling its very own iPad Pro with a keyboard and a pen, which makes many claim that Microsoft and its Surface Pro 3 finally have serious competition in the 2-in-1 market.
While we’re not going to compare the two (a head-to-head comparison of the Surface Pro 3 and the iPad Pro is available here), this comic says pretty much everything about Microsoft’s expectations when it launched the first model.
As you can see, the comic was created in 2012, and at that moment, Microsoft wasn’t the only one who expected to see Apple borrowing some of its ideas for its own device. A device that would be then called innovative, that is.
But in the end, it doesn’t really matter if Apple copied Microsoft or not because things like this happen every day, so it’s actually good to see the iPad joining the productivity party and offering ways to work on the go. If only Apple offered a way to connect a mouse…
Warning: the comic contains some NSFW language.