Now this is someone I'm ready to take seriously:
You can’t just put an operating system on a tablet and hope that — on a piece of glass and hope that you’re going to compete against the iPad. The iPad is a wonderful product. And if you’re going to give that wonderful product a run for its money, you better build something absolutely exquisite.
If Android and its hardware partners are to create a real competitor to the iPad, it's way better if they start acknowledging how good the iPad is and what needs to be done to make something better. I wouldn't expect a competitor to be so laudative of my own product if he wasn't at least thinking that he has something better up his sleeve.
Compare this to Steven Ballmer's derogatory comments about the iPhone, and it's much easier to understand why Windows Phone 7 is so underwhelming - Microsoft was never willing to accept how great the iPhone is in the first place and what truly needs to be done in order to build something better.