The inside story of how Microsoft killed its Courier tablet

[Jodell88]

One group, led by Xbox godfather J Allard, was pushing for a sleek, two-screen tablet called the Courier that users controlled with their finger or a pen. But it had a problem: It was running a modified version of Windows.

That ran headlong into the vision of tablet computing laid out by Steven Sinofsky, the head of Microsoft's Windows division. Sinofsky was wary of any product--let alone one from inside Microsoft's walls--that threatened the foundation of Microsoft's flagship operating system. But Sinofsky's tablet-friendly version of Windows was more than two years away.

Fascinating read. I really liked the look of it. It was probably the only Microsoft device that is worth drooling over.

The second part is due tomorrow.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-2...y-of-how-microsoft-killed-its-courier-tablet/

Edit:

Part 2 is out.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20128045-75/how-microsoft-decided-to-bet-on-windows-8-for-tablets/

 

[YoungGun21]

Don't have time to read it right now, but I just want to say that I was really excited for this device. I really thought it would have been a hit.

 

[jpeyton]

Don't have time to read it right now, but I just want to say that I was really excited for this device. I really thought it would have been a hit.

Really? I thought it was a niche product which was doomed with high production costs and low sales projections.

 

[YoungGun21]

Really? I thought it was a niche product which was doomed with high production costs and low sales projections.

I think it would have sold better than the majority of Android tabs.

 

[finbarqs]

it wasn't really a "tablet" or more so a "play tablet". I think they call current tablets a "content consumption" device while the courier was aimed towards a "content creation".

Bill Gates asked one question that doomed the Courier: How do we get e-mails on this device?

And we know that E-Mail is important... look at the playbook!

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Really? I thought it was a niche product which was doomed with high production costs and low sales projections.

Wasn't that the initial projection for iPad?

 

[Bateluer]

Wasn't that the initial projection for iPad?

No. iPad launched at the height of Apple-mania, it cost them ~200 to build, they sold it for 500, and tied it to an app store to generate revenue from it.

The Courier would have had none of these. Courier would have been a catastrophe that made the Xoom look like a commercial success.

 

[Munky]

I'm wondering what did they expect the user to do after he created his sketch or document without email access? Use it to impress women? Show off how creative he was at the local Starbucks? If you're looking at this mainly for the "drool factor" then might as well drop any pretense that it's a creative tool and admit you simply want it for the toy that it is.