AppleInsider StaffA recently aired Microsoft ad pits a tablet running the company's Windows 8 against the iPad, with the spot featuring an unlikely narrator: Apple's Siri virtual assistant.
The commercial, first spotted by The Verge, initially appears to mimic an Apple ad, complete with upbeat music and copious amounts of white space around the product. Things soon turn sour, however, as one notices the white iPad is not paired with the usual iPad mini, but instead a black tablet running Windows 8.
In the ad, titled "Less talking, more doing," Siri appears to be struggling with a few functions that are highlight features for Microsoft's Windows 8-running tablet. Live updating tiles, multitasking and powerpoint are mentioned as things Siri, and by proxy the iPad, can't do.
As a callback to Apple's ad from 2012, which first introduced the iPad mini, Siri says, "Should we just play Chopsticks?." The original Apple ad showed an iPad user playing "Heart and Soul" on a virtual piano in Garage Band, accompanied by the smaller iPad mini.
At the end of the commercial, pricing for each device is prominently displayed, in this case a $699 64-gigabyte iPad and a similarly equipped $449 Asus VivoTab Smart.
Andrew Orr
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147 Comments
Wow that's the best Microsoft has?
Don't really care for Live Tiles so you can keep that.
Keynote is just fine and I'm sure they tried to make it as unflattering as possible.
Multitasking in the same space as another app is a so-so feature if your apps save state then it isn't a big deal. There's not many cases where I, personally, would see myself absolutely needing this feature. For productivity tools sure that would be great.
I guess we can scratch Office for iOS off the list. No PowerPoint for you!
Wait, multitasking?
The fancy (hideous) new Windows 8 apps don't even run unless they're in the foreground. And when they're in the foreground, they're fullscreen, making it impossible to multitask.
Never mind that the entire operating system completely locks up when you're copying a file. COPYING A FILE. There is no multitasking in Windows.
Hate to say it, it's a great ad. Kudos to MS for finally hitting one out of the park.