Skip Navigation
Derek Thompson

Derek Thompson - Derek Thompson is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where he oversees business coverage for the website.
More

He is a visiting research fellow at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget at the New America Foundation. Derek has also written for Slate, BusinessWeek, and the Daily Beast. He has appeared as a guest on radio and television networks, including NPR, the BBC, CNBC, and MSNBC.

Microsoft Courier Tablet Looks Like a Game Changer

By Derek Thompson
Sep 23 2009, 10:26 AM ET Comment

The electronic reader arms race was already heating up, with Sony introducing its own versions of the Amazon Kindle and Apple fanatics sweating the long-awaited Apple Tablet -- basically a big iPod Touch for video and e-books. But this could change everything:

Microsoft has unveiled its own tablet-type computer, except it's not exactly a single-faced tablet. It's an electronic booklet with two screens, a stylus and an instruction video that makes the product look something like wizardry. Trust me, you'll want this.


microsoftcourier.png

Gizmodo has the first pictures and details. I could run through them, but you should probably just watch the short, amazing video below. The fact that it's animated is a pretty clear indication that even if Microsoft is in late development stages, it's still tinkering with the design and functions enough that they're not ready to preview it with human actors and live loading times.
.


In the video, it looks like the left screen is used primarily for web-browsing and the right for record keeping. This strikes me as an ingenious way to organize your work. You can imagine how well it would work for jobs that require ongoing research and note-taking, such as school work (read on the left, take notes on the right) and graphic design (artists can browse images and cut-and-paste into their scrapbook on the right).

Presented by

More at The Atlantic

The Psychology of Feminism and the Queer Case of Hugo Schwyzer Can Men Be Feminist Leaders?
'Chronicle' Shows Us Teenage Superheroes With Daddy Issues A Tale of Teen Heroes With Dad Issues
'State of the WaPo' Watch: Two Articles Worth Reading The State of the Washington Post
Who Are the Real 'Freeloaders': The Poor or the Old? Who Are America's Real 'Freeloaders'?
Can't We Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Mass Refinancing? Can't We Learn to Stop Worrying and Love Mass Refinancing?

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Special Report
The Civil War National Portrait Gallery The Civil War
A 150th-anniversary commemorative issue, with Atlantic work by Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, and others. Read more ›

Just In

View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Athens in Flames

Feb 13, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)