Why Courier Died

I’m getting less and less impressed with Windows chief Steven Sinofsky, and I don’t mind saying this as I happen to know he doesn’t much like me either, but it looks like the reason Microsoft’s Courier tablet project failed was because of a decision he personally took, and not because the technology didn’t work reliably after all.

As a reminder, Courier was a Microsoft prototype tablet that made the whole world sit up and go “Ooh!”  Based around two seven-inch screen that folder together like a book, it offered journaling and editing features far beyond anything offered by the competition, or even Microsoft itself.

Now, CNet have published what is apparently the inside story into why the Courier project was cancelled.  It now seems that the project simply didn’t tie up with the plans Sinofsky had for Windows 8.  The Courier team, led by J Allard, even approached Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates directly to try and gain support but Sinofsky’s arguments won out in the end and Courier was cancelled.

J Allard left Microsoft shortly afterwards and has been very quiet since while Sinofsky has unveiled a Windows 8 tablet interface that couldn’t be more different to Courier.  The Courier team believe that they fought too hard against Sinofsky and the Windows team, and that Courier might have lived if they’d have worked more closely with them instead with one member of the team saying “If you get Sinofsky on board from the start, you’re probably going to market.”

This is a tremendous shame as, once a Microsoft research project gets cancelled, it’s extremely unlikely that it will ever be revived.  Recently though, ZD Net blogger Mary Jo Foley has written that a Courier-type app is on its way for the iPad and a Windows 8 version is a possibility.

It’s still unclear just how useful overall Courier might have been, but it’s more evidence to support the notion that Steven Sinofsky seems to be acting in a more Steve Jobs’esque way and I personally don’t believe, if true, that this is a good thing.  The Courier project was finally shut down in April 2010.

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