Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed off the company’s touch-screen based “Surface” computer in May 2007, just a month before the launch of the iPhone. But since then, Apple has dominated the touch revolution so thoroughly that it might as well have copyrighted it (or patented it—but that’s another story).
That’s certainly the case when it comes to the critical question of application support. So far, there are well over 10,000 applications for the iPhone and iPod touch that use Apple’s multi-touch technology. According to CNET’s Dawn Kawamoto, just 120 companies have created apps for the Surface.
No doubt, this isn’t a totally fair comparison, given that the iPhone is a mass market mobile device, while the Surface is a $12,500, 30-inch table-top style device that’s available only for commercial purposes. According to Microsoft, it’s available only “in the areas of financial services, retail, hospitality, health care and automotive.”
That’s certainly the case when it comes to the critical question of application support. So far, there are well over 10,000 applications for the iPhone and iPod touch that use Apple’s multi-touch technology. According to CNET’s Dawn Kawamoto, just 120 companies have created apps for the Surface.
No doubt, this isn’t a totally fair comparison, given that the iPhone is a mass market mobile device, while the Surface is a $12,500, 30-inch table-top style device that’s available only for commercial purposes. According to Microsoft, it’s available only “in the areas of financial services, retail, hospitality, health care and automotive.”
