Well, it looks like the
Courier's demise could be having some far bigger implications for Microsoft than anyone had suspected. According to
ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft's Chief Experience Officer and CTO for its Entertainment and Devices division,
J Allard, has been on sabbatical from the company for the past short while and is "unlikely to return" -- all due to the fate of the Courier. According to Foley's sources, Allard was "the champion" of the Courier, and had reportedly made his feelings about the device and its ultimate demise clear on numerous occasions -- including, of course, directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. According to another of Foley's sources, things eventually got so heated that Ballmer "showed Allard the door" because of their disagreements about the Courier's potential. So, did he jump or was he pushed? Microsoft isn't saying, and Allard is seemingly nowhere to be found.
posted May 21st 2010 12:10PM
@sinkingshriek I have created a petition for the Courier
http://courier.epetitions.net/
And I thought Mr. Ballmer was a nice guy. What a loser he is.
Go to Google, J!
When seeing the photo of the guy did anyone else think:
"Wow, Michael Stipe is looking well, has he put on a bit of weight?"
(hopefully nobody else said this; I couldn't face reading all 180 comments to check)
if he indeed ends up on the apple payroll.. i hope someone there listens carefully to what he was trying to do at the MS. can we all just imagine for a second an ipad that folds in half and runs a proprietary "clever interface" for those of us that actually come up with ideas.
Perhaps now that even hardcore Microsoft thought-leaders are jumping ship, (or worse, shown the door) can we all agree that MS has lost/losing/ignoring any innovative edge they once had against their primary competitors?
How could anyone at MS ignore/cancel Courier when the father of the Xbox wagers his future on it?
Does anyone else find Ballmer almost comically incompetent in running Microsoft?
wow... im not a big ballmer hater at all... i dont think he is great BUT i dont think he is sinking MS that is unless ballmer lets j allard go CAUSE as far as i can tell he is the only person at MS that REALLY gets the consumer market... the impact wont be felt now... the impact will be felt a few years from now
IM SAD THAT HES LEFT BECAUSE HE LOOKS LIKE THE SORT OF MAN THAT IS USEFUL TO HAVE AROUND FOR INVENYING THINGS
@HighestRanked2 Lol right and your beloved apple is giving up on computers and turning into a mobile electronics company having lost the pc war
Hopefully he joins up with some other company like Google or HP to bring his idea to fruition. If Ballmer wasn't bright enough maybe others are willing to buy his idea like Chevy bought into the minivan when Ford rejected it.
Wasn't Bill Gates supportive of Courier?
Once upon a time, the Nintendo was pitched to Atari. Atari said no. The Nintendo went solo, and then some other things happened that tell the rest of the story.
He needs to Nintendo the Courier.
/and then, some years later, screw Sony out of a partnership and lose two generations of market share!
The Courier was a fantasy, there is no way that the actual product could have lived up to the concept video. This was the best decision for MS.
Reminds me of the Engadget Show
Ballmer: "I know I know... I really have to check out this video!! Hahahahahaha"
... the next week...
J Allard meets Ballmer Chair attack
I have created a petition for the Courier
http://courier.epetitions.net/
"...Allard is seemingly nowhere to be found."
OMG, they offed him!
Probably a good thing. The Courier concept had some flaws and Microsoft probably knew they weren't dedicated enough to work around them to a satisfactory level.
Is it just me or does this guy look like Hitman from the games/movies?
Haha!
I just knew that the idiots at Microsoft were going to axe the Courier. It was just too good an idea for them to actually follow through with it. Instead theyll keep pumping money into the TERRIBLE Live mail services.
I hope Allard gets hired by a company which has some vision and makes a mint on a Courier like idea. Of course MS probably has the rights to the concept and will most definetly bury it into the ground and just add another ribbon to the next office. Steve Ballmer is a dumbass.
Ehhhhh its 50-50. J Allard is responsible for getting Microsoft into the console business as it is. He was the main driving force in the original XBox which put Microsoft on the map (not in the greatest position but a start). J stated loosing some steam and reliability when the xbox 360 was not taking off as fast as it should (the 360 got off to a "rocky" start especially for a system that came out before the Wii and PS3). He was given a new title and position with Zune Development, his job / task was simple " Beat Apple's Ipod"............easier said than done. Zune never really became a household name (I think Microsoft was a little too ambitious on this one). On another note, Peter Moore eventually became the new face of the Xbox 360 along with its driving force and the hype behind it (tatoos at E3 shows,etc)
I have always been a big fan J Allard especially when he had the balls to write a memo to Bill Gates explaining why he should enter the console war. He's been quiet for awhile except till now. His success has been "iffy" and I say 50-50 because out of 4 released projects only a couple (xbox and xbox 360) were truly successful.
When I first started writing this email I didn't really consider it a major loss or blow to Microsoft if they lost J Allard. However, I can't think of anyone that is more ambitious, courageous, passionate and creative than J Allard. With that said it is a HUGE loss, this was one of the guys that was mentioned as a possible candidate for replacing Bill Gates as Chief Architect.
The only person that could come close to matching J's talent would be Kudo Tsunoda who is currently driving the Natal Project.
The Courier seemed promising and the industry was hungry for more info. Geez, its really hard to say why Microsoft axed the Courier. My guess is because of financial reasons. Microsoft had laid off thousands of employees, took gambles and risks on projects like the Zune only to see it sorta fail, the xbox 360 extended warranty had cost them a billion dollars. Maybe Steve wanted to see the Zune succeed before investing in another J Allard project.
I think J took it very personal which is understandable especially if that's your baby. It is also true and I agree, J was Microsoft's "Champion".
In that regard, Steve Ballmer needs to "man up" and apologize and win back J. Steve probably said some things in the heat of the moment that could come back to bite him in the end. You do not show somebody the door that has been dedicated and passionate about the direction of Microsoft.
If Apple or Google gets J Allard he will be a force to be reckoned with. His imagination and creativity would fit perfectly with Apple or Google.
Also, something to think about, J oversaw the development for both Xboxes, so I ask you, "Microsoft, who in the hell is going to create your next game console"?
Yeah, right. Do they listen to themselves? Microsoft axed nothing. This isn't one of their one offs that didn't go into production or a limited product line that was axed. It's a concept video that never became in anyway a real product. Might as well beat up NASA because they haven't built the Starship Enterprise.
@His Shadow LOL at being someone who doesn't know what he's talking about.
/there was a series of prototypes leading up to the Courier project. the concept videos were made AFTER a significant amount of design work that--and if you knew anything about how these types of people work you'd know this already--necessarily involved further prototyping.
I want my courier too... Somebody can hear us?!????