The fact that both devices are similar is undeniable. The original hardware was designed by the same company. The Book Courier does have some features that I wish the Bookport had. One being the ability to press a key and follow that key press with the press of another key and hear a message about that key's functionality. An example would be: press the key help key then press the 2 key and you would hear a message like Starts and stops the playing of a file. When held for one beep, announces the date and time if they have been set. This is a good idea for new users. However, the Bookport supports html files (sort of) as well as Microsoft Word and RTF files and has superior MP3 navigation. However, the Book Courier does not appear to suffer from the audio file size limit that currently holds true on the Bookport. I don't know if both devices will survive, it's my hope that one of them does, because I am thrilled every day to be able to load my pocket as it were full of books!