Courier tablet killed because it is not Windows

Microsoft shows their rather ruthless side by killing off their Courier tablet project simply because it did not adhere to the company’s two main businesses – which is Windows and Office, and in some way, Microsoft probably feared that should the Courier tablet actually take off in a big way, it would cannibalize and threaten the sales of those two businesses. CNet’s in-depth report claimed that it was Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates who then steered Steve Ballmer towards doing away with the project.

Do you think that the Courier would really have ended up as a threat to Microsoft’s two core businesses, or will it complement them even though it did not run on Windows? Even more interesting, would Steve Jobs perceive it to be a threat to his iPad, and if that were the case, we might be looking at injunctions against Microsoft across Europe and Down Under against the sales of the Courier instead of Samsung bearing Apple’s wrath at the moment.

Perhaps with Windows 8 in the reckoning, Microsoft might get back in the game of tablets and devices like the Courier. I guess the world will never know the outcome, as all that we can do is make an educated guess of things to come and what could have been. Image courtesy of Gizmodo.