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Microsoft "Courier" Pictures
tekgoblin writes to let us know that Gizmodo has some early shots of the new prototype "Courier" booklet (foldable tablet) on the way from Microsoft. "Courier is a real device, and we've heard that it's in the 'late prototype' stage of development. It's not a tablet, it's a booklet. The dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They're connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre."
The article linked in the summary goes to wrong link (the same we discussed about in September)
Correct article with info. Picture gallery is here.
I must admit it does look awesome though. It's just perfect for use on sofa, as booklet is held like, well, a book. Laptop nor tablet aren't as nice and comfortable. There's no way I'll be buying the locked down tablet-like iPad when this is coming up.
It's all just so much "me too" vapourware from Microsoft
What if I want a Comic Sans?
MS's ability to name things has always be bad.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The benefit is obviously that you get twice the screen real-estate when it's "open" and it's more portable when it's "closed". Not exactly rocket surgery, dude.
an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.
It's a bad sign that the Palm Pre comparisons have already started. If this thing winds up being to the iPad what the Pre is to the iPhone, it's already dead. It will have great promise and hope that will be dashed as soon as you try to use the thing. Sort of like a Democratic majority in Congress....
And I would also imagine it being a lot better to hold. Notebook or laptop aren't exactly comfortable on bed/sofa/other place than on a table, but books surely are.
but does it run Linux?
And I would also imagine it being a lot better to hold. Notebook or laptop aren't exactly comfortable on bed/sofa/other place than on a table, but books surely are.
Speak for yourself - it's all dependent upon belly size.
There's a gorilla from Manilla whose a fella that stinks of vanilla and has salmonella.
Maybe Microsoft will learn from those mistakes and put a fake horse's ass on this device.
Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
Watching the demo, I just can't understand why Microsoft seems so obsessed with the idea that everybody's going to want to interact with a computer using a pen.
Think about it. Let's say you're collaborating on a project with somebody, and he's done a lot of brainstorming about it. He comes to a meeting with a stack of notebooks where he's written down all his ideas. What's the first thing he says? "Sorry about my handwriting."
Even I apologize for my handwriting, and I have the handwriting of a comic-book letterer -- when I want to. The thing is, writing neatly takes a lot of time. It's much faster to use upper and lower case than block capitals, for starters, and it's faster to use cursive than printing. And even faster than that to just scrawl it out any way you can.
But you know what's even faster than that? Typing on a computer keyboard.
Microsoft first got on this kick with OneNote, its note-taking application, which it seemed to want to market as the killer app for tablet PCs. And by that I mean the first generation of tablet PCs. You know the ones. You didn't buy one. For some reason, Microsoft was pushing really hard for this idea that everybody would be walking around with tablet PCs, scribbling notes into OneNote with pens.
Now, I use OneNote every day. But while I have a nice-sized Wacom tablet sitting right here on my desk, which comes with a very nice, contoured stylus that fits very nicely in my hand, never once have I been inspired to plug the thing in to scrawl off some notes in OneNote. Not when there's a keyboard sitting right in front of me. Not when I know that if I simply type in my thoughts, OneNote won't have to try to OCR my scrawls in order to make the text searchable. Not when I know that storing a bitmap to save a six-word thought is a waste of space.
So in this Courier demo we not only have someone scribbling notes on a notepad -- which conveniently resembles an onscreen Moleskine notebook, because everybody knows people like their computers to model real-life things that are less efficient than computers, even when the computer doesn't much resemble that real-life thing -- but at one point the person draws a box around those notes, taps on it and the box turns into ... a highlighted yellow version of that wobbly, hand-drawn box.
That might be all well and good if I was a bright-eyed fresh college grad like the eager woman in the demo, and my life was accompanied by a wistful accoustic indie-rock soundtrack. But in real life, if I was being jostled back and forth on the noisy subway on my way home and I drew that box and it popped up on my screen looking all fucked-up like I just drew it, the first thing that would cross my mind would be, "God dammit, why is this computer so stupid that it can't tell I was trying to draw a box just now? Why won't it just make a rectangle? Drawing boxes was so much fucking easier when all I had to do is click my mouse button, hold it and drag."
This UI goes beyond a solution looking for a problem. It's a way of actively making it harder for me to get work done with a computer.
It reminds me of all the VRML hype from years back. People were predicting that in the future, we wouldn't type URLs into a Web browser. We'd fire up our Avatars and fly to places on the Web in 3-D graphics. We would walk through virtual libraries, pulling electronic books off 3-D shelves. We'd ride dragons to meeting rooms where we'd chat with other avatars in real time. And all I could think was, "WTF? So we've just invented the Internet, this miraculous thing that puts the world of information right at your fingertips, no matter where you are, so that all you have to do is type a couple things and the information instantly appears on your screen... and you want to impose a 3-D spatial paradigm on it? Instead of calling up information out of thin air, you want to have to hike down the virtual block to get it? You call that progress?"
Same thing with this tablet idea. People are too stu
Breakfast served all day!
Theres better change for that be possibility than on iPad or other devices - Android can already be run in Windows Mobiles and generally Windows doesn't restrict you from installing another OS. Though driver and such support has to be done for it, obviously.
I think this device looks very cool, and it solves the iPad/iPod Touch conundrum. The iPad has a nice screen for reading, but you actually read the ipod touch because it fits in your pocket. If I could have the screen of an iPad and put it in my pocket you've got a killer app there.
And before your criticize the "put in your pocket" thing, I get that as the killer feature the ipod touch has from two moms who both use their ipods constantly. The ipad is not so convenient for taking a load of laundry out to the laundry room and checking facebook status updates.
When Microsoft says "late prototype" I read it as "we've got nothing, really, but if we say we're about to release something, a non-zero percentage of the market will sit on their thumbs until we do, instead of buying actual products that are actually available from other sources, because by golly, we're Microsoft."
(Yes, I know, it actually works. And no, I don't think that's a very nice tactic.)
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
The only content you added beyond that provided by Engadget and Gizmodo was your ads.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
because I could walk around holding the courier with one hand and writing stuff/accessing it with another even if I'm wearing gloves?
virtual keyboards like the iphone/ipad are not very good for using them on the go in my opinion, and a pen-based interface can work a lot better.
-- the cake is a lie
I don't think you could. Try it out now. Walking and writing on a paper pad at the same time is going to result in a slow walk and messy writing. An app that has been well designed for the iPad (and other keyboard interfaces) would work with the idea that there is no pen and make it as easy as possible for the user to use them.
As a far-out example, using FCP is a lot easier once you memorise the (thousand or so...) keyboard shortcuts whereas an equivalent app on the iPad wouldn't have you using a virtual keyboard but would make use of the touch and multi-touch features to the best advantage of the user. These are completely different devices to a PC on a desk and so require a developer to, well, Think Different.
When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
Wow, where to begin... This looks good:
It reminds me of all the VRML hype from years back. People were predicting that in the future, we wouldn't type URLs into a Web browser. We'd fire up our Avatars and fly to places on the Web in 3-D graphics. We would walk through virtual libraries, pulling electronic books off 3-D shelves. We'd ride dragons to meeting rooms where we'd chat with other avatars in real time. And all I could think was, "WTF? So we've just invented the Internet, this miraculous thing that puts the world of information right at your fingertips, no matter where you are, so that all you have to do is type a couple things and the information instantly appears on your screen... and you want to impose a 3-D spatial paradigm on it? Instead of calling up information out of thin air, you want to have to hike down the virtual block to get it? You call that progress?"
I wonder if you're familiar with Second Life?
And yes, for many, it is considered progress. Or at least it was. I'm not sure how many big corps are still onboard, but there were buzzings of private servers for employee training and the like. Anyway it turns out that while it hasn't applied to the web as a whole, people really did cotton to that idea. Lots of people. Even some important ones.
Same thing with this tablet idea. People are too stupid to use computers, apparently, so you want to use all the power of a computer to enable them to do things like they would if all they had was a stack of paper and a Bic -- because that's what they're supposedly comfortable with.
Taking your finger and pointing it is about as basic as it gets. Using a pen is just an extension of that. Paper made it more portable than cave walls. People aren't all that keen on using keyboards everywhere they go because they're simply not natural. How many of those full-size, fold-able keyboards sold as accessories to cell phones really see any daily use?
I think the device looks like an innovative approach to 'infinite paper', which is basically what the videos bill it out to be. It looks like a huge step beyond what tablets presently mean, and seems to offer it in a better form factor.
Meanwhile your desktop will be right where you last left it, with the keyboard still attached.
I guess I'm not quite sure what you're rambling about, but I'm pretty certain the words you are searching for involve 'kids' and 'off' and 'lawn'.
If Windows Mobile runs on Windows CE ... Windows Mobile IS Windows CE.
I really find amusement at how stupid people can become when they are fans of X product/company.
Child, please...
An OEM (or MS) can take CE, strip it of everything they don't need (for example for their particular device they might not even need a filesystem and related modules), add their own stuff to it, and the result would be something you'd never recognize as Windows CE. There are countless gadgets and gizmos out there running CE that you don't know about (you probably even own a few w/o knowing it).
Windows Mobile (all versions) are built over Windows CE. The Zune HD is built over Windows CE. Is there any fucking similarity between Windows Mobile 6.5 and the Zune HD? No -- because just having the same kernel means nothing. Or if I were to follow your logic, I would come to the conclusion that the Zune HD IS Windows CE.. which is ridiculous..
Breaking a screen into two smaller ones and sticking a giant hinge/bezel in the middle isn't an advantage.
Think about watching video on this. You have half the screen and turned sideways.
Even reading a regular text ebook. Two screens aren't an advantage, they are a hindrance.
Now it might be good for a few things where you can flick it between the two small screens, BUT you could easily do the same thing on one bigger screen by creating a software split between the halves.
Now MS may have some good SW ideas, I'll wait until they exist outside of a cartoon to comment on those, but I think they would be better delivered on a one screen device.
I can re-purpose my Hammer Pants for something!
Wow, with the Windows-experience wizard and the designers of Xbox and Zune on board, what could possibly go wrong?
You speak like someone who has heard of 2nd Life but hasn't used it much. The original poster's point is valid: Try to find some information regarding IBM on the Web - type www.ibm.com Now do the same with SL - go, i'll wait until you come back.
OK?
The truth about 2nd life as information medium is encapsulated in your comment "Or at least it was"
Just because someone can see a gimmick is a gimmick doesn't mean that they are involved in protecting their patch of turf.
Sounds like what you want is a laptop. You should buy one of those instead.
I'd represent a small vertical market, but as a teacher, the idea of having something like this that is portable and with the capacity to wirelessly connect to a projector makes me salivate...
I already use a wireless slate connected to a desktop, but my sometimes less-than-legible handwriting and drawings always are more entertaining than the lesson itself. Still, I'm able to sit next to little Billy at the back of the room while taking notes on the "board." That kind of freedom is wonderful.
Connect the ability to take notes like that to the board with the more interactive activities like surfing the web and moving those images and things around...I'd be in heaven.
Now if only they would actually make it...
An important change for education.
But in real life, if I was being jostled back and forth on the noisy subway on my way home and I drew that box and it popped up on my screen looking all fucked-up like I just drew it, the first thing that would cross my mind would be, "God dammit, why is this computer so stupid that it can't tell I was trying to draw a box just now? Why won't it just make a rectangle? Drawing boxes was so much fucking easier when all I had to do is click my mouse button, hold it and drag."
This UI goes beyond a solution looking for a problem. It's a way of actively making it harder for me to get work done with a computer.
I think you're scraping a much bigger problem here that Microsoft totally missed while rushing on creating a competitor to the iPad, even though Apple specifically explained it in their promotional video: The whole user interface isn't intuitive! You actually have to learn where to tap to do what, etc. For example, I would never have expected that dragging a contact to a page shares that page with this person.
The result of this is that the user actually has to get to know the UI. This could be done by a manual (as if anybody ever reads a manual), a tutorial application (bad first experience with the device), or some kind of course like they have for using MS Word (most folks don't put up with this, unless they absolutely need this for their job). This completely removes the whole non-techy population from the target user group.
You just do from the Apple spot isn't an empty marketing line, it's the concept behind good user interaction design: You don't have to learn the user interface, because the user interface behaves like a regular person would expect it to, intuitively. For example, dragging an object from one place to another should put that object there. If you take a photo of your mother and place it on your notepad, you expect the photo to be there, not your mother to know everything that's written in the notepad.
And that's only scraping the surface of that video. The cut-operation is another problem, as is switching applications.
As a contrast, the only thing I ever had to explain to folks trying out my iPhone is the function of the home button ("press the button to get out of an app"), that's it. As soon as they know that, they have full control over the device.
Same thing with this tablet idea. People are too stupid to use computers, apparently, so you want to use all the power of a computer to enable them to do things like they would if all they had was a stack of paper and a Bic -- because that's what they're supposedly comfortable with
Well, the idea behind those real-life UIs is that people have an easier time getting started using the application, if it looks like the thing it's supposed to replace. The important part here is that the UI must not be limited by that metaphor, otherwise you could just use the original thing instead. However, the application should expand on that concept, meaning that everything should work as in the original thing, plus some more behaviors.
And actually, people really do like those interfaces. I wrote one of them, and it's pretty well-received.
If you look, there is no "there" there. As in, nothing physical is being shown at any time. These are not prototypes - they are concepts! They aren't even as real at this stage as the fantasy cars you see at car shows.
So let's see what comes out and WHEN it comes out. Remember that not even Windows Mobile 7 Edition comes out until the end of the year, and it's a lot less ambitious!
Some of the ideas are really interesting, but how much will we see in real life and how practical will it be to use.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
This is a special-purpose device. It's competing with paper notebooks and binders, or at best, with a laptop + pen input for specific applications.
This isn't for watching movies, playing games, or *really* browsing the web. It's for taking notes, gathering reference materials, and collaborating.
The question isn't whether it can be a better tablet than the iPad and other coming products, but whether Microsoft can convince people in the design business that this will be quicker/more convenient enough for them than their current way of doing things to justify investing in the device.
For the typical consumer, this will be too expensive and not convergent enough to be worth buying, the question is whether it is useful and divergent enough for the target market.
All kings is mostly rapscallions. -Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Did we just sink to the level of Apple antipathy/analysis where someone actually states that a Microsoft vaporware project is way ahead of an Apple product that's going to hit the streets in three weeks?
Tweet, tweet.
One thing that Courier nails is the concept of using both fingers and pen. Go ahead, try it. There are two basic pen positions: a "writing" position that uses all five fingers, and a "resting" position where the pen is rotated 90 degrees, and held in place by a single finger, leaving the other fingers free. The writing position is vertical, resting on the edge of the hand. The resting position is horizontal, palm down.
The Courier UI mockup uses both of these hand configurations and orientations. Flat, horizontal motions such as flipping a page or image dragging are done in the resting position. Vertical motions such as drawing and writing are done in writing position. Switching between the two is very fast and natural-feeling.
Having a pen dispenses with the need for a QUERTY keyboard, but block-printing is not the solution either. For one thing, it's too slow: the average printing speed is about 15wpm. A better solution might be a stylus-based keyboard. Several years ago, IBM invented a shorthand named Shark (commercialized as ShapeWriter, I believe) that was extremely effective. After just a few minutes of practice with it, I was able to achieve 40wpm.
"We receive as friendly that which agrees with, we resist with dislike that which opposes us" - Faraday
A real device is a physical entity. CGI movies are not real devices.
Fiat Homos et Pereat Theos