Bill Gates has criticized Apple's iPad saying that it will not be able
to reach critical mass as it does not have features like Pen or
keyboard. He admits that he sees the Apple device as a "nice reader"
but says he's not envious of the design. While the iPhone was clearly
an improvement versus Windows Mobile, the iPad isn't enough like a
conventional portable to break through, Gates says, according to
electronista.

"I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think
that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard -- in other
words a netbook -- will be the mainstream on that," he tells BNET. "So,
it's not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where
I say, Oh my God, Microsoft didn't aim high enough."

Gates has long been a champion of the Tablet PC format since it was
unveiled in 2001 but makes the observations despite seeing relatively
little success. In the nine years since the designs first appeared, no
models have had significant traction among the general public and have
largely relegated the designs to niche markets like doctors and
warehouse work. Netbooks have also come in tablet form but are still
dominated by traditional designs that often cost less and carry a
smaller profile.

When introducing the iPad, Apple's Steve Jobs specifically attacked
netbooks as being too slow and running poor software. He also noted
that the iPad can often weigh half as much as a netbook and should be
much easier to hand-hold. A lighter tablet netbook like ASUS' 9-inch
Eee PC T91MT weighs 2.1 pounds, gets half the battery life, and is
twice as thick as the iPad despite the smaller screen.