No joke, I did, years ago. Microsoft had an idea contest for ways to make better use of MSN Direct, and yeah, I sent in the “most compelling case” for MSN Direct on Windows Mobile, and Microsoft thanked me by giving me the win for the contest.

The pitch was basically what Apple did with iPhone, years later. Take small amounts of data, and gloss them up using Microsoft technology. I even pitched the implementation, using Avalon (which later became the Windows Presentation Format, WPF… you probably know it better as WPF/E, aka Silverlight).

So, now you know where the idea came from… I just wish it didn’t take something like iPhone to get Microsoft in gear to deliver it.