Welcome back Microsoft

Now I’ve always been a critic of Microsoft.

But not critical of the nature of their business and market domination (that doesn’t bother me), but critical of their lack of innovation and, until Windows 7, their sub-par operating systems.

With all the innovation, elegance and success of Apple it’s easy to dismiss the folks at Redmond as a dinosaur, a relic of the past. A software company surviving on former glories. To compound these views further, with the rise of Google and other increasingly important web companies – I was beginning to think Microsoft no longer matters in a world of cloud services and internet devices.

But I was wrong. Reading the tech news blogs last week I stumbled across a story, which, if true – has the potential to bring the cool back into Microsoft.

The leaked images and video of ‘The Courier’ tablet/journal, have quite honestly stunned me. If true, this product is everything the iPhone and now the iPad will never be. Aside from the book-like form factor, the video would suggest this device is the closest to experiencing an electronic ‘paper’ notebook ever seen. The combination of being able to write and draw on the device along with web integration offers genuine human interaction never seen before.

Okay it’s not an official product yet. But I can’t help but think that even if the final product is half as good as the leaked reports then the Courier promises to be special. Very special. So many pretenders out there churn out endless poor Apple imitations. Not Microsoft . They have taken their time to really think about what human interaction means with an electronic device.

No doubt we will hear more about the Courier in the coming weeks. But for now I’m betting something ground breaking is being cooked up by Microsoft.