Courier new? Gizmodo posts alleged pics and video of MS Tablet

Looking at this video from the standpoint of a designer (web + print) I would absolutely love something like this to keep as a sort of digital Moleskine.

I already have a planner, netbook, and several journals that I carry around, but the idea of being able to digitally organize all of those stray bits of doodles, ideas and sketches in one device, plus web browsing, calendar reminders, contacts, email, and all of the other fun stuff you'd basically use a smart phone for... it's a very cool idea in this form factor and size.

Meh... oh well. If anything like this does see the light of day in the consumer market, it probably won't be as fast and smooth as the UI in the rendered video. And it probably won't be cheap, either.

I think the Courier is a great idea, especially for students and teachers. I hope they treat the journal like a piece of paper rather than a text document where you enter letters with a stylus - let us write on it! If it could be bent back over itself (and the second screen were protected by a film or something), it would be wonderful for taking notes in those tiny desks at universities. The camera on the back seems tacked-on and cumbersome.

People seem to be used to working with notebooks (I'm talking about paper ones), and applying a computer to that sort of design is pretty neat. They should offer two sizes, though: 7-inch, like on Gizmodo, and an 8.5x11-inch like a standard notebook. It doesn't have to be able to play games even (but imagine being able to play pen-and-paper games against the computer - that'd be kind of neat).

It'd also be neat if the screen could lock in a more vertical position so that the horizontal screen could become a keyboard and the device could be used more like a laptop. My point is that the dual-screen touch-oriented device is much more useful than a large-screened iPod Touch.

Go most certainly did NOT pioneer the idea of tablet style machines. 'Active Book Company' beat them to it - only to be bought up by ATT and shut down so as to kill the competition. But even then it wasn't an original idea; the first publication *I* know of that mentioned a tablet-style machine was
Alan Kay's PhD thesis of 1976.

Maybe it is not vaporware:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/23/codex-and-inkseine-the-roots-of-microsofts-courier/

At least this concept looks as if it could work. The rumored 10 inch Apple tablet is such an incredibly stupid idea.

It would need a very solid case to prevent it from braking at the slightest knock. Already the small iPhone's is a very accident prone device. People drop it and the screen cracks.

Besides, a ten inch behemoth will fit very few pockets.

Ignore who did it for a few moments - I think there are some real advantages to the split screens, particularly in terms of keeping the package small to fit in a bag/backpack/briefcase. On the other hand, when I need to do a large spreadsheet or graphics, the gap in the middle of the window (both screens slaved together) would be a huge drag. I like the idea of being able to use a stylus (and hopefully Newton+ handwriting recognition, which isn't shown in the video), but it needs to also respond to finger touches and multitouch. I'd buy this in a second from Apple and seriously consider it from Microsoft or Dell or (name your PC maker). Maybe it will encourage Apple to get off the dime and announce their tablet!

And, while I have the floor, let me say that the reason I really want a tablet is that I really want something light and convenient for showing Keynote presentations - so I really hope Apple is going to make their tablets OSX machines rather than big iPhones, and they better have display ports for driving projectors...

The thing that people don't seem to be paying attention to is that J. Allard is the one behind this - the guy behind the xbox 360. These guys are good at making consumer electronics. Despite the manufacturing defects that plagued the 360, the device itself is really nice and the software on it has been very good from the beginning.

I welcome this competition. As someone who would like to replace my moleskine with something a bit more digital, I'm excited by both Microsoft and Apple racing to make something work.

Pardon my inexperience, but who is in a tablet's demographic? I've never seen or used one, so to me it looks like half a laptop.

"Chief Experience Officer"

That just sounds wrong on so many different levels.

i think this is somethink i could used work with ...