Seems Microsoft could have had a decent rival to the iPad, but killed it.
Courier was cancelled because the product didn’t clearly align with the company’s Windows and Office franchises
As a result, Microsoft is in third place in the Tablet space (behind Apple and Android).
Apple re-thought the “personal” computing experience and produced a product so revolutionary that it the implications are still rippling through the rest of the IT ecosystem – and has driven Apple to undreamed of success.
Microsoft did the same thing (ish) but couldn’t bear to release it – that’s the Innovator’s Dilemma in a nutshell. Which Apple appear to have solved, which is an incredible thing to have fixed, if they truly have done so in a systematic manner.
Here’s the original article on CNet.