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Announcing the Microsoft Newton

by John Paczkowski
Posted on September 22, 2009 at 5:49 PM PT

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courierWell, what do you know? Like Apple, Microsoft is also developing a tablet computer. It’s called “Courier” and it’s remarkably different from what Apple (AAPL) is imagined to be cooking up.

For one thing, the Microsoft (MSFT) device is a booklet, not a tablet; in other words, it’s designed to fold. For another, it supports input via multitouch and, in an ironic nod to Apple’s Newton, stylus.

From Gizmodo, which somehow managed to uncover a bevy of information about the device:

“The Courier user experience presented here is almost the exact opposite of what everyone expects the Apple tablet to be, a kung fu eagle claw to Apple’s tiger style. It’s complex: Two screens, a mashup of a pen-dominated interface with several types of multitouch finger gestures, and multiple graphically complex themes, modes and applications. (Our favorite UI bit? The hinge doubles as a ‘pocket’ to hold items you want move from one page to another.) Microsoft’s tablet heritage is digital ink-oriented, and this interface, while unlike anything we’ve seen before, clearly draws from that, its work with the Surface touch computer and even the Zune HD.”

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  • Brian Green
    Just saw the video at Gizmodo. This is very similar to a device proposed, but never developed, by a publishing company in France. I would definitely give this serious consideration if it was for sale. A computer with a touch screen but no stylus is seriously limited.
  • First off, this is a really cool looking prototype. Second, the obvious question is when will the real product ship and what's the OS and tools side of the equation, as Apple has pretty much shown this to be the bar for success.

    Clearly, Apple learned this lesson from Microsoft (in PC 1.0) but MS feels long removed from those days (i.e., cultivating and growing a software centered ecosystem), especially in light of all of the legacy that they have to support.

    Btw, here are some thought on where e-Book is headed:

    Rebooting the Book (One Apple iPad Tablet at a Time):
    http://bit.ly/zOoEu

    Check it out if interested.

    Mark
  • Fred Hamranhansenhansen
    They should change their name to Mockupsoft. Is this thing running Mojave or Cairo? How many malwares will it have at launch?

    I love that it is a drawing but the device is thicker than the two computers I have with me right now. (MacBook Air and iPhone 3GS.)

    I love that it's a tablet but it has to sit on a desk to work. A desktop tablet. Who ever saw that coming? It's called Courier but it should be called Draftsman.

    I love that it has both multitouch, and a pen. All they need to do is add special glasses you have to wear to use it and they'll have something really special.

    The layout of the page on the right would be the single best layout Microsoft ever shipped. If it actually shipped.

    If the displays butted up against each other, you could watch a full-width movie. Luckily that kind of thing is not popular with users.

    Weird how Apple mockups come from the community, and Microsoft mockups come from Microsoft. People in the Apple community can't make hardware, but they still get to express their enthusiasm in a mockup. Same with Microsoft of course.
  • People need to stop referring to these rumoured and conceptual tablet computers as “Newton” or “Newton-like” devices — with a wink and nod or otherwise. If people (such as yourself, Mr Paczkowski) had actually used a Newton for a reasonable amount of time, they wouldn’t continually spew this type of unfounded, comparative nonsense. Just because a device purports to have a tabletesque form factor, a touchscreen, and (optionally) a stylus, it does not automatically imply “Newton” — no matter how you define the underlying design or technology.
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About John

John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »

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