Poll: Are Windows 8 Tablet-Laptop Hybrids a Bad Idea?

April 25th, 2012 by Dan Howley, LAPTOP Staff Writer

Yesterday during Apple’s quarterly earnings report, Tim Cook threw a verbal jab at Microsoft, saying its decision to combine a desktop and tablet operating system is analogous to combining a toaster and a refrigerator.

Cook’s statement was in response to a question from an analyst on the call, who asked whether Apple would one day create an iPad-Mac hybrid similar to the laptop-tablet hybrids being developed by the likes of Intel and Lenovo.

[Lenovo VP: Tablet-Laptop Hybrids Could Flatten iPad]

Cook replied saying that combining the two products would result in tradeoffs that would have a negative impact on consumers. “You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but you know those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user,” he said, adding, “To make the compromises of convergence, we’re not going to that party. Others might. Others might from a defensive point of view, particularly.” Cook isn’t the first person to criticize the laptop-tablet hybrid movement, and certainly won’t be that last. Which is why we want to hear from you, our dear reader. We want to know if you think laptops and tablets should be merged into a single device or if they should remain separate?

Is it truly akin to slapping a refrigerator and toaster together, as Cook put it? Or are Microsoft and Intel simply ahead of the curve? Let us know in the poll below and we’ll post our results on Facebook this week.

View Poll

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