Microsoft needs to get on the ball and make Office for iPad

I said quite awhile ago that Microsoft really needs to make OneNote for iPad and that seems even more relevant these days. Since the iPad is now 3 million+ users, Microsoft needs to stop sulking and put Office on this new platform. iPad already has the pages application, but it seems to me users would welcome the familiar look of Word on the iPad. Clearly there is an Office for the Mac so a "port" doesn’t really seem out of the realm of possibility. Considering a third party has put together Mobilenoter, imagine what the company who actually wrote OneNote could do.

But Microsoft would have to swallow some pride and the bitter pill of making mobile software for something other than their precious Windows 7 Series (which isn’t even out yet). This is a prime example of a market that is available, but Microsoft isn’t stepping in to take advantage. I personally feel there are enough users (myself included) who would pay for a version of OneNote and Word for the iPad. In fact, OneNote for the PC has a slew of features ready for the iPad. Wasn’t OneNote developed specifically for tablet computing?

Of course, MS would have to be smart and offer their apps for a reasonable price. $4.99 for OneNote would sell like crazy. Even at $9.99 I would download a copy no problem. Pages is $9.99 so MS has to come in lower than that.

It would be great for Microsoft to embrace the iPad and write as much software for it as they possibly can. I’m sure they’ll see this as defeat, but as I said, there is an Office for Mac so how is this any different? It’s a Mac platform, they need to jump on board.

And just as I was writing this post I came across this article which shares my same feelings.

Office for the iPad? Or are Office Web Apps good enough?

The web apps would actually be a great idea, if they actually worked for the iPad. Seems like Microsoft is going back to the days of deliberately making their software malfunction with competitor products.

Come on Steve, you have a huge market waiting. All you have to do is open your eyes.