This new device, the Courier from Microsoft seems like a real awesome idea. Hands down this would crush the iPad which is completely worthless in my opinion and a lot of other peoples.
Here is my response after I watched their product movie and then saw a video on the Courier:
Once again MS makes something that appears to be something I can actually use. I could imagine a lot of productive uses for this (thing school). I am sure that the iPad does some of this, but it’s not featured. Apple features looking at pictures, checking email, and browsing the web. This thing has a pen, so it matches what I do now. I go in to discovery meetings with a book (just happens to be my Journal), and I pull out a pen and I start taking notes. That’s how I do it. Do you know how awkward it is to use a keyboard for that? I don’t care how small and light it is. Plus since the iPad does not have a full sized keyboard, you have to hunt-n-peck to type (in the video they show hands typing ion an advanced form of hunt-n-peck where multiple fingers are used, but he’s not typing typing.
I’m not trying to hate on Apple… but I guess I am, because I hate they way the talk.
Apple is worthless to me. In their video they talk about it being the best way to check email (?!), the best way to surf the web (!?!!?), the best way to watch movies (!!????!?). The best way to look at your photos (maybe). Let me decide the best way for me to browse the web (I like opera), and watch movies (Cinemark is cool), and look at photo’s (I like to sit in a circle with family and pass actually smelly photographs around – old school I know but that’s what I like). If your product is real, you don’t have to tell me what’s best, just tell me how it works. I can decide if it’s best for me. And dude said the reason it’s the best way to browse the web is because, “it just feels right… to hold the internet in your hands” What did they drug him up with?! I can’t imagine the small fraction of humans who have openly expressed “I wish I could just hold the internet in my hands.”
They say because you can hold the device at any orientation, that you don’t have to change to adapt to the device, it adapts to you… so instead of me having to stand on my head, the device flips the screen. Thanks apple! Truth is adapting to a person means more than screen orientation. For instance how does the hunt-n-peck keyboard adapt to me? Where’s my stylus? I don’t look at pictures all day? So then, who’s going to have to do the adapting?
Finally, this opening quote (an attempt to be deep) is just plain stupid:
“when something exceeds your ability to understand how it works, it sort of becomes magical…”
That crap is historically a lie. When humans don’t understand things, they figure it out. Now, when mindless dotes don’t understand, they call it magic. And are then ridiculed by more advanced civilizations. I imagine that Apple will let out a nice belly laugh every time one of these are sold, “HA! They think it’s magical!!”
Is it me, or does he look crazy – like he’s holding a huge cell phone and saying, look at my huge cell phone! It’s awesome!
