The idea of a MacBook-iPad hybrid device may seem appealing to some, but not to Apple CEO Tim Cook. On Tuesday, April 24, during Apple's earnings conference call with analysts, Cook dismissed this idea as a "compromise" to the end user.

The idea was brought up by Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner, who asked whether Apple will eventually combine its iPad and MackBook Air devices into a single computing device, thus merging the portability of a tablet with the functionality of a keyboard and full desktop OS.

"There seems to be a lot of work, particularly on PC based platforms, to combine the PC and tablet experience going forward, in part because Windows 8 is a touched based operating system as well," said Gardner. "Can you comment on why you don't believe the PC and the Ultrabook and tablet markets will converge?"

Not a Desirable Convergence

"Anything can be forced to converge," replied Cook. "But the problem is that products are about tradeoffs, and you begin to make tradeoffs to the point where what you have left doesn't please anyone." Apple will continue to manufacture both iPads and MacBooks, but Cook suggested the two should not be merged into one product. "You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user."

Cook's statement follow Microsoft's announcement of the Windows 8 Release Preview for the first week of June. The Windows 8 operating system, Microsoft's follow-up to Windows 7, combines the traditional Windows OS with a touch-screen "Metro" interface. Microsoft has yet to announce a specific date for the release.

Unintuitive and 'Ergonomically Terrible'

Adding touch features to Macs never seemed like a good idea to Apple, and the company has a history of dismissing such suggestions. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal back in February, notes Cnet, Apple CEO Tim Cook said desktop computing is unintuitive. "Take the desktop thing. You're parked further away from your desktop, assuming it has any kind of size at all, and it's, you know, you should draw your own conclusion, but this kind of reach for me isn't a terribly intuitive thing," Cook said at the time.

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was also against the idea, as he believed a desktop PC with touch features was "ergonomically terrible." Jobs discussed the idea back in 2010, when introducing Apple's second-generation MacBook Air. "We've done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn't work," Jobs said. "Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical."

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)