Apple should be shaking in its boots if the Courier is real, because it makes the iPad look completely pedestrian. It also uses the same OS as Windows 7 Series.
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Get to Denver tonight to pay your last respects. A couple of jokesters have decided to make a point about how much IE6 sucks by holding a funeral for it. The browser, which will soon no longer be supported by the likes of YouTube, is still popular despite having a bad reputation. Blame corporate environments that NEVER upgrade their machines. source
Former Nike designers gave Windows Phone 7 Series (that’s a mouthful) a visual reboot that focuses on simplicity over noise (as well as a consistent experience), and the result looks a lot like the Zune HD. Early reviews are super-positive; Engadget says that the OS “looks nothing like anything else on the market, and we think that’s to its advantage.” source
It’s not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, ‘Oh my God, Microsoft didn’t aim high enough.’ It’s a nice reader, but there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.’
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates • Regarding his take on the iPad versus the iPhone. In his opinion, Apple didn’t knock it out of the park. Keep in mind, though, that Gates has been wrong before – he said something similar (in fact, about the same) about the iPod before MS came out with the Zune a few years later. source
What happened? Unlike other companies, Microsoft never developed a true system for innovation. Some of my former colleagues argue that it actually developed a system to thwart innovation.
Former Microsoft Vice President Dick Brass • On why Microsoft’s internal structure is hurting its abilities to create future innovations, forcing them to coast on prior victories such as Windows and Office. Basically, he claims that there is a strong system of corporate competition in the culture, one that has the effect of stifling innovative ideas. Their successes led to them limiting risk. He knows, because he was pushing e-Books and tablet PCs years ago, long before Apple made a big deal about it. One of his team’s most innovative ideas, ClearType, was prevented from being fully implemented in Windows for years because other teams held it back. These sorts of image issues don’t help Microsoft’s long-term cause. source