Courier Lives!

...on an iPad:

http://microsoft-news.com/microsoft-courier-concept-lives-on-as-apple-ipad-app-paper/

I hope OneNote incorporates a lot of this stuff.  It would be a shame if Microsoft was bested by some of its own ideas.

I'd say Courier works hella better as a piece of software than hardware.

I'm sure that's no secrets, and why Courier got killed as a hardware project. Can you imagine MS sinking millions into a uni-tasker like the Courier, when a small software company can copy the concept and put it on a tablet?

People got so POd cuz it got killed, but that's absolutely the right call 100%

I hope Toshiba improves on their dual screen tablet by introducing some Ultrabook components to get the weight down. I think we're about 90% there in terms of available hardware technologies to make Courier a reality.

51 minutes ago, Minh wrote

I'd say Courier works hella better as a piece of software than hardware.

I'm sure that's no secrets, and why Courier got killed as a hardware project. Can you imagine MS sinking millions into a uni-tasker like the Courier, when a small software company can copy the concept and put it on a tablet?

People got so POd cuz it got killed, but that's absolutely the right call 100%

Microsoft still could have put it out as software but instead they pulled the plug. IMO, it smells like no one else in Microsoft picked it up (OfficeDiv, WinDiv) because of "not invented here" syndrome.

@DeathByVisualStudio: +1, and I would add that Microsoft had better provide suitable styluses.

I'm afraid this battle is lost, though: OneNote may include several of the original ideas of the Courier, but that world of ink, paint and smudges is a lot closer to the iOS way of doing things than to the crisp and abstract Metro style. Let's at least hope in functionality.

It is a pretty cool app. Too bad iOS is the only worthy OS on the market to run this application. MS wants to make Win8 a worthy tablet OS, but, it is not even out for months.

Engadget says: Update: In case you were wondering, this is, in fact, the same Kickstarter project that Courier creator J Allard threw his money at when his pet project was axed by Microsoft.

 http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/28/tapose-resurrects-courier-concept-for-the-ipad/

Wow, the way things are going you're going to be shelling out a couple of hundred a year for the cloud accounts. I guess that's how you make your money these days, now that Apple has driven the price of apps.

18 hours ago, DeathByVisualStudio wrote

I hope OneNote incorporates a lot of this stuff.  It would be a shame if Microsoft was bested by some of its own ideas.

OneNote would not be too bad as it is today if it only ran on half decent hardware with a good stylus (I still don't know how one can take notes with a keyboard or with fingers input).

17 hours ago, Minh wrote

I'd say Courier works hella better as a piece of software than hardware.

I'm sure that's no secrets, and why Courier got killed as a hardware project. Can you imagine MS sinking millions into a uni-tasker like the Courier, when a small software company can copy the concept and put it on a tablet?

People got so POd cuz it got killed, but that's absolutely the right call 100%

I agree with you, I think the courrier project is a good software one and I don't think I would want to have yet another piece of harware with me all day. Nevertheless, I think that good software needs good hardware to run smoothly and I think there is no good hardware for Windows slates at the moment.

I'll take this one step farther.

Here is a thought, they "killed" it so Apple could make a software product out of it because Apple can charge more. Microsoft gets a kick back.

@giovanni: I never thought of the Courier as an application; the sketching app is what got the spotlight of course, but what I was really hoping for was a device that integrated handwriting on top of everything (where it would make sense, at least). That's the minimum to justify the hassle of carrying a stylus around.

I still hope that someone will revive and extend the concept; not necessarily the foldable screen (the iPad proved that you can sell a portable device even if it doesn't fit in a regular pocket), but the overall experience.

I think the journal aspect of it with the two screens on both sides was appealing...sure the software was nice but there's something neat with having your own little journal you can carry around and virtually drop stuff in. But it wouldn't have worked...MS would have had to worry about yet another range of devices "couriers" because they would have to work with several manufacturers to build it (can't choose one and alienate the rest). If they built it themselves, then they'd risk alienating their partners b/c, if it took off, it would eat into tablet/slate sales.

4 days ago, cbae wrote

...on an iPad:

http://microsoft-news.com/microsoft-courier-concept-lives-on-as-apple-ipad-app-paper/

Oh .. and it currently sucks. After listening to the warnings that it isn't that great I gave them my £1.99 and tried it out. They have a *lot* of work to do. I'd start with the note taking and handwriting capture which was awful & unusable. They're next goal has to be to get the note taking working better than Notability.

I'm still a Courier believer though and hope these guys keep at it. At the moment I just see it that I've sponsored their project to the tune of £1.99. I hope they use my investment wisely.