Not that there wasn’t any drama. Courier, a two-screen tablet that captured the imagination of the tech press in 2009, was far more than a bunch of stylish concept renderings. It was a real product—or more precisely, a bunch of prototypes which featured many of the signature elements that would become part of the final, shipping Courier product.
According to the two-part report, the Windows-code-driven Courier slammed right up against a developing strategy for Windows 8, which, as we know now, will also run on ARM-CPU-based tablets. Courier was a project born from the mind of Microsoft’s consumer electronics maverick J. Allard. His big success: The Xbox 360. His biggest flop: The Zune. On the Windows side, Steven Sinofsky, the sometimes prickly leader of Windows 7 and Windows 8. Both men had been with Microsoft for well over a decade. Allard has since left the company, but Sinofsky continues to drive Microsoft’s core product.
It’s fascinating to learn that the Courier was still, in fact, a Windows product. The CNet report notes that the Courier had Windows code, but none of the Windows Shell—that had been replaced with a completely new touch- and pen-friendly interface. The hardware for Courier wasn’t even going to come from one of Microsoft’s go-to OEMs, like HP or Dell. Instead, Allard turned to Samsung.
The Courier tablet could have shipped shortly after Apple launched the now-market leading Apple iPad, but it was not meant to be. Microsoft was, the report notes, unsure about a not-quite Windows tablet and company CEO Steve Ballmer could not decide whose vision: Allard’s or Sinofsky’s to back. Ultimately, they took the Courier idea to Microsoft founder, chairman and former CEO Bill Gates.
What Gates saw was a product that did not fit neatly into the Microsoft Windows- and Office Suite-centric- world. It didn’t even have email. The report notes that this wasn’t a flaw, but a design choice. The Courier was designed to complement the PC, not replace it. Gates didn’t get it and soon after Courier was shuttered.