Steve Ballmer and Stephen Elop in 2012. Sarah Tew/CNET When Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s devices …

The iPad Air (left) and the Surface Pro 2 Brooke Crothers/CNET Microsoft and Apple have very different ideas about what a high-end tablet is. After extensive use of both, I have some thoughts about the their strengths and weaknesses. But first, some context. Though the year-over-year growth rate for tablets in 2013 was 51.6 percent, this year may be a …

Singer CC Coletti, listening Nicholas Prout A couple of weeks ago Geoffrey Morrison and I wrote about listening to music from totally opposite perspectives. He started with ” Music multitasking: How ‘background’ listening enhances life,” and I countered with ” To listen to music or not: That is the question.” Apparently, we’re not done; on Wednesday Morrison posted ” Music …