Microsoft confirms Courier tablet, quashes hopes of shipping it

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  • Reply 81 of 100
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by akhomerun View Post


    what a stupid article, it's a shameless microsoft bash on no grounds. this was obviously a product that didn't make it out of r&d, not some piece of vaporware. microsoft never said they would sell it. apple probably has hundreds of products like this that have never seen the light of day.



    just an unprofessional, stupid article.



    No, it was an apt response to the stupidity of people who kept bashing the iPad based on the fact that the Courier would be so much better. How much better is a product that never ships?
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  • Reply 82 of 100
    zindakozindako Posts: 468member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by akhomerun View Post


    what a stupid article, it's a shameless microsoft bash on no grounds. this was obviously a product that didn't make it out of r&d, not some piece of vaporware. microsoft never said they would sell it. apple probably has hundreds of products like this that have never seen the light of day.



    just an unprofessional, stupid article.



    Maybe you should be posting over at Gizmodo.com.
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  • Reply 83 of 100
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    I heard that they had a customer last week.



    ... and then Ballmer announced that they had more customers that week than any week previous.
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  • Reply 84 of 100
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by akhomerun View Post


    what a stupid article, it's a shameless microsoft bash on no grounds. this was obviously a product that didn't make it out of r&d, not some piece of vaporware. microsoft never said they would sell it. apple probably has hundreds of products like this that have never seen the light of day.



    just an unprofessional, stupid article.



    Uh, the only thing "unprofessional and stupid", was Microsoft and HP flaunting FAKE products, to try and convince consumers that iPad alternatives were in the pipeline. They lied.



    Calling them on their B.S. is exactly what should be done.
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  • Reply 85 of 100
    should change their name to VaporWare®
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  • Reply 86 of 100
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by akhomerun View Post


    what a stupid article, it's a shameless microsoft bash on no grounds. this was obviously a product that didn't make it out of r&d, not some piece of vaporware. microsoft never said they would sell it. apple probably has hundreds of products like this that have never seen the light of day.



    just an unprofessional, stupid article.



    Trouble being, Courier did "see the light of day" in the form of fairly elaborate videos, something Apple never does.



    MS, on the other hand, does it all the time, vaguely intimating an amazing MS future full of forward looking, ground breaking technology. Of course, it's a lot easier to mock up some cool ideas than it is to actually figure out how to build a real device that uses real components with actual real world constraints like battery life and thermal envelope and price points and the fussy little mechanical bits and all that.



    But MS fans get all fired up anyway, again, apparently unable to distinguish between pretty pictures and legitimate products. So, yeah, the whole phenomena deserves mocking and contempt, and MS's tiresomely predictable efforts to shift attention to itself with vapor and handwaving deserves to be called out.
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  • Reply 87 of 100
    cmf2cmf2 Posts: 1,427member
    HP has also killed the Slate, at least the HP Slate running Windows 7.
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  • Reply 88 of 100
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ClemyNX View Post


    Well that's possible. Still, I'm sad, I had promised to my girlfriend that I'd buy her one. She's an interior architect and this would have been so cool for her!



    Well, at least you've learned not to trust the Microsoft vaporware machine. So there is a little silver lining...



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by akhomerun View Post


    what a stupid article, it's a shameless microsoft bash on no grounds. this was obviously a product that didn't make it out of r&d, not some piece of vaporware. microsoft never said they would sell it. apple probably has hundreds of products like this that have never seen the light of day.



    just an unprofessional, stupid article.



    Brought to you by Prince McLean (aka: Daniel Eran Dilger). Always check who writes the articles on AI, it'll save you from having to make incredulous posts like the one above.
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  • Reply 89 of 100
    icyfogicyfog Posts: 338member
    It would've been more surprising had Microsoft shipped this device.
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  • Reply 90 of 100
    icyfogicyfog Posts: 338member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by John.B View Post


    Well, at least you've learned not to trust the Microsoft vaporware machine. So there is a little silver lining...





    Brought to you by Prince McLean (aka: Daniel Eran Dilger). Always check who writes the articles on AI, it'll save you from having to make incredulous posts like the one above.



    The Microsoft fanboi pundits - Thurott, et.al. - were sure the Courier was going to ship. McLean's aka Dilger article takes issue with that. I have no problem with this article.
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  • Reply 91 of 100
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by icyfog View Post


    The Microsoft fanboi pundits - Thurott, et.al. - were sure the Courier was going to ship. McLean's aka Dilger article takes issue with that. I have no problem with this article.



    Prince Daniel (as I've started calling "them" !LOL!) are just about as fanboy as you can get on the Apple side of the equation. I don't have a problem with the positions "they" take or "their" viewpoint(s), I just know that whatever "they" publish is going to be the most slanted view possible.
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  • Reply 92 of 100
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by John.B View Post


    Prince Daniel (as I've started calling "them" !LOL!) are just about as fanboy as you can get on the Apple side of the equation. I don't have a problem with the positions "they" take or "their" viewpoint(s), I just know that whatever "they" publish is going to be the most slanted view possible.



    All of which is trumped by reality, in this instance. Doesn't matter who the bigger "fanboy" is, the fact remains that MS floated a concept video, pretty obviously to take some of the air out of the inevitable Apple slate, MS enthusiasts ran with it, and now they have egg on their face.
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  • Reply 93 of 100
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    All of which is trumped by reality, in this instance.



    Oh, absolutely true.



    You just have to run what they say through your own personal reality detector. Kind of a shame, really, because most of the articles are well reasoned and well written. <shrug>
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  • Reply 94 of 100
    Microsoft will focus its efforts on Surface Computing which makes everything that we have today pale by comparison.
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  • Reply 95 of 100
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Right_said_fred View Post


    Even when the basic product is not released to market, MS can still claim it as a tax credit, really?



    It's called "an expense." What he's really saying is, you don't have to pay taxes on money thrown down rat holes. Microsoft seems to have so many active rat holes, wasting money on products that will never ship appears to be an integral part of their business plan.
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  • Reply 96 of 100
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lotus Esprit V8 View Post


    Microsoft will focus its efforts on Surface Computing which makes everything that we have today pale by comparison.



    Oh, yes. I'm sure everyone wants a 4 foot wide touchpad.
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  • Reply 97 of 100
    avidfcpavidfcp Posts: 381member
    Not sure why eveyone is si happy about thus as this device, as is, would have done some cool things and if they wait to long, ipad rev 2,3 may have sine if these cool things.



    For me, while I dig the ipad, this would have been msft's first self released computer. And with all those billions and r&d, they should have been able to deliver. Noi excuse and of corse, just vaporware. Geesh.



    The competition would have been good for the consumer.
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  • Reply 98 of 100
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Avidfcp View Post


    Not sure why eveyone is si happy about thus as this device, as is, would have done some cool things and if they wait to long, ipad rev 2,3 may have sine if these cool things.



    For me, while I dig the ipad, this would have been msft's first self released computer. And with all those billions and r&d, they should have been able to deliver. Noi excuse and of corse, just vaporware. Geesh.



    The competition would have been good for the consumer.



    See the thing is it never existed. Having any opinion at all about how cool it would have been or what kind competition it might have offered or how MS missed an opportunity is akin to thinking those things about a light saber. In other words, completely meaningless.



    That's what's really bugged me about the whole Courier nonsense, both when the credulous were imagining that it was actually going to be released and now that the credulous are mourning its absence: these people might as well have gotten fired up because a sci-fi illustrator showed pictures of an anti-gravity city in the sky, and started making plans to live there and bwa-ha-ha-ing at the pathetic earth bound that would soon be obliged to crane their necks to see the splendor. And now that they've been reminded that it was, after all, never anything more than a pleasant flight of fantasy, they're acting like the only problem was the building permits never got issued, or something, and that somehow MS is still awesomer than Apple could ever aspire to be, because all Apple ever did was build the city of the future and started moving people in, whereas but for a little red tape MS was going to airlift us right off the planet.



    It's just incredibly stupid and clueless and irritating, so I demand everyone stop it. Gizmodo and Engadget commentariat, I'm looking at you. Just, grow up.
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  • Reply 99 of 100
    avidfcpavidfcp Posts: 381member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox View Post


    See the thing is it never existed. Having any opinion at all about how cool it would have been or what kind competition it might have offered or how MS missed an opportunity is akin to thinking those things about a light saber. In other words, completely meaningless.



    That's what's really bugged me about the whole Courier nonsense, both when the credulous were imagining that it was actually going to be released and now that the credulous are mourning its absence: these people might as well have gotten fired up because a sci-fi illustrator showed pictures of an anti-gravity city in the sky, and started making plans to live there and bwa-ha-ha-ing at the pathetic earth bound that would soon be obliged to crane their necks to see the splendor. And now that they've been reminded that it was, after all, never anything more than a pleasant flight of fantasy, they're acting like the only problem was the building permits never got issued, or something, and that somehow MS is still awesomer than Apple could ever aspire to be, because all Apple ever did was build the city of the future and started moving people in, whereas but for a little red tape MS was going to airlift us right off the planet.



    It's just incredibly stupid and clueless and irritating, so I demand everyone stop it. Gizmodo and Engadget commentariat, I'm looking at you. Just, grow up.



    Still though, if they released it, it would have been one heck of a device and again, with those deep pockets and even many MAC businesses I know use MSFT servers, I still don't get why their R&D is so lacking.



    They should just do this and be done with it. It would do a lot of cool things, even thought they iPad Rocks and when I hear people talk about lack of FLASH, I tell them about programs (APPS), like ABC that play all their shows for free with about 4-7 15 second commercials.



    MSFT has to do it!!!!
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  • Reply 100 of 100
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Avidfcp View Post


    Still though, if they released it, it would have been one heck of a device and again, with those deep pockets and even many MAC businesses I know use MSFT servers, I still don't get why their R&D is so lacking.



    They should just do this and be done with it. It would do a lot of cool things, even thought they iPad Rocks and when I hear people talk about lack of FLASH, I tell them about programs (APPS), like ABC that play all their shows for free with about 4-7 15 second commercials.



    MSFT has to do it!!!!



    But, see, they can't "just do it", because the demo video you've seen isn't anything more than a bunch of UI ideas set to animation. That part is easy. The hard part is figuring out how to actually code all that stuff, make it actually work, build the hardware to support it, make sure that that hardware is reasonably light and fast, has reasonable battery life, and doesn't price itself out of the market, make sure all the little fussy parts work, then figure out how to make all that work with existing software and ecosystems, so that files don't end up orphaned.



    Making cool looking demo videos is nothing. Making a shipping product is an endless, interrelated series of compromises and trade-offs, the kind of compromises and trade-offs that people making demo animations don't have to give a second thought to.



    Honestly, you might as well be lamenting that no one has stepped up and just made the stuff from Minority Report, because Courier has about the same relationship to reality.
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