What have you done that's so great, Apple boss Steve Jobs asks email critic

APPLE boss surprises boozy critic of iPad "revolution" with late night email exchange.

Steve Jobs doesn't take criticism of his iPad lightly / AP

AN iPad critic got more than he bargained for after sending Steve Jobs an email while "mildly intoxicated" on Friday night.

Gawker writer Ryan Tate was relaxing with a beer or two when he saw a new ad for Apple's iPad which claimed the device was a "revolution".

Slightly offended, Tate sent an email to Jobs asking what Bob Dylan would think of such wanton use of the "R" word.

Despite its groundbreaking design and versatility, the iPad has also been widely criticised for the limits it puts on what its users can see.

Among the more notable restrictions are the iPad's inability to play Flash videos - the default format used by YouTube - and the strict control Apple wields over which applications can be downloaded from its App Store.

Recently, such banned apps have included anything involving nipples and a cartoon feed from a Pulitzer Prize-winning artist.

"If Dylan was 20 today, how would he feel about your company?" Mr Tate wrote.

"Would he think the iPad had the faintest thing to do with 'revolution'?

"Revolutions are about freedom."

Three hours later - at 2am - Jobs replied with his thoughts on what freedom meant, along with a sting in the tail for Tate.

"Yep, freedom from programs that steal your private data," Jobs wrote in an exchange published online by Gawker.

"Freedom from programs that trash your battery.

"Freedom from porn."

Jobs was adamant that Apple's "motives were pure" and that it was just try to "make (and preserve) the user experience we envision".

It was around that point that Jobs tired of the game and decided to give Tate a grilling in return, after telling him he "might care more" when he had kids of his own.

"By the way, what have you done that's so great?" Jobs demanded.

"Do you create anything, or just criticize others work and belittle their motivations?"