Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Is the Dream of Courier about to be fulfilled?

A couple weeks ago, a new project appeared on Kickstarter that got a bit of attention. Kickstarter is a site that allows anyone to fund projects that they like in hopes that the project will become a reality. In many cases, those who donate to a project will receive things in return, such as a copy of the application (if its software).

This project, which is named Taposé, provides a few interesting videos on the planned design of the application. Watching these videos is a bit of deja vu, with a journal like application on half of the screen and various other applications in the other side. In fact, the title of the project says it all: Bringing the Courier to the iPad.

Despite the fact that the Microsoft announced the Courier's demise over a year ago, the device's possibility always stuck with me. And obviously, I was not the only one taken in by the device's promise. The Kickstarter project had a goal of $10,000, but surpassed it with $26,561.

My initial reaction to this was obvious excitement, with a bit of scorn, since I'd rather not pony up the money for an iPad. I'm no fan of Apple products (I don't own a single one), but if the only way to get Courier like functionality is to buy an iPad, well, I might have to give in to the dark side.

(Its funny. Back in the mid 90's, when my parents bought a Pentium 1 PC with Windows 95, my 5th grade teacher claimed I was going to the dark side (he was a big Mac guy). But I stand by my statement. Apple seems as dark today as Microsoft did back then. Oh the irony of Apple's '1984' commercial when viewed today).

But, given the amount of money the Tapose team raised, they areconsidering a Droid application. Being a happy Droid phone owner, a Droid tablet is one device I can see myself owning without switching allegiances. I hope these guys the best of luck. Perhaps there will be a Droid tablet on store shelves in a few months promising Courier like functionality right out of the box.

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