Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive, has jestingly lifted back up Tim Cook's previous words and turned it against him, musing about the growing success of the Surface.
For those who can't recall, Cook, Apple's chief executive, during an earnings call way back in 2012, offered a bizarre analogy of the abysmal appeal of hybrid computers, noting that users won't be pleased with the convergence of a "refrigerator and a toaster," in his own words.
Tim Cook might have been spitballing four years ago, since it now bills the iPad Pro as a computer instead of a glorified tablet, leaving many people puzzled at the oft-shuffling designations. Additionally, with the iPad Pro now identified as a full computer, Cook's words are pretty much nonsensical, at least, in terms of what Apple seems to believe in.
Nadella's Jabs At Apple
Cook's previous undermining of the idea of hybrid computers and the increasing success of Microsoft's Surface, the direct rival to Apple's iPad Pro, has rendered Nadella in joking spirits.
An interview with the Australian Financial Review sees Nadella pinning the Surface as Microsoft's symbol for risk-taking, in contrast with that of other companies, specifically but indirectly, Apple.
"Three years ago, the two-in-one as a form factor was questioned," Nadella said. "And now guess what, even our competition has decided that it's not a refrigerator and a toaster, but it's actually a two-in-one."
Nadella is of course talking about the Apple iPad Pro, who Apple one day decided to call a computer.
Apple And Microsoft's Hybrid Feud
Upon touting the iPad Pro as a computer, Microsoft wasn't able to hold back on a sinister and mordant but witty bashing in the form of a 30-seconder, depicting the iPad Pro as unable to respond to the Surface's various questions with regard to its performance.
The tug-o-war stretches far back, however. Tim Cook had previously belittled the Surface, calling it a "deluded" and "trying hard" product.
Microsoft has continuously poked fun at Apple's imitation game, running a host of TV commercials, rolling eyes at Apple's iPad Pro and its questionable status of being a computer.
CNET has reached out to Apple for a comment, but the company has so far stayed mum about Nadella's jests. In the same interview, Nadella has expressed confidence, explaining to the Australian Financial Review, that one has to carve wiggle room for potential failures because not everything will work.
Do you agree with Nadella's statements about Apple and the iPad Pro? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
