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General discussion

Origami is revealed by MSFT:

Mar 8, 2006 9:36PM PST

Discussion is locked

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MS just doesn't know to follow up
Mar 8, 2006 10:30PM PST

MS just sucks at this whole viral marketing thing they tried to do with Origama. Honestly, not very impressed with it after taking a look at it on their website. It just gives me the feel of an oversized PDA or an ugly Treo having a bad day. Either case, here's the direct link to MS's site.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/hardware.mspx

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Its also on
Mar 8, 2006 11:01PM PST

The origamiproject.com which is the first thing I checked out this morning when I got up. I want one, they look cool.

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The Newton has been reincarnated as a UMPC! What the heck?!
Mar 9, 2006 11:18PM PST

Hey BOL, first off I appreciated you guys mentioning my post on yesterday's podcast. That was really sweet!

Anyhows, I sometimes read articles written on www.tuaw.com, even though I'm a PC user. Guess the halo effect from my iPod 5G did that to me. Either case, thought this article might be a good follow up to my comment about the UMPC reminding me of the Newton. I'm not the only one!

http://www.tuaw.com/2006/03/10/i-already-have-an-ultra-mobile-pc-its-called-a-newton/

The guy gives a point by point comparison of the features listed between the two devices. MS just doesn't get it, honestly!

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Community Site
Mar 8, 2006 11:05PM PST
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I just think it'll bomb
Mar 8, 2006 11:43PM PST

People are not interested in the Tablet PC period...sorry I think this is a loser.

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Gas
Mar 9, 2006 2:48AM PST

It might not have been the big ear-splitting grin of fake flatulence, but at least the Apple whoopie cushion made a squeak when we sat on it last week.

Only Microsoft could pull something off its shelf, say "On March 9th, sit here! Sit here!" and then put a completely deflated piece of rubber on the chair.

I actually hoped it might be something cool. Ugh.

-Kevin S.

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Gorified PSP

It looks like an ugly, clunky, oversized overhyped PSP. I still dont see the need for a device that bridges the PDA-Laptop gap.

Props to Microsoft for figuring out an apple style of marketing though. they just need to start making stuff that people outside the company would find cool.

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I can see potential, but...
Mar 9, 2006 4:01AM PST

I think that the fisrt thing that needs to be worked on is the design of the hardware. I don't know about anybody else, but for the most part, the designs that I've seen pictures of aren't very eye-catching. So far Asus is winning big time in the design category. Attractive exterior, the controls don't give off a look of complexity, and they have minimized wasted space around the screen. This came out of a discussion I was having with a coworker of mine (er, I guess he's my boss, but whatever).

I was trying to think of good uses for this type of technology, but couldn't think of many. The best I could think of would be for technicians that have to go do on-site work and would like to avoid carrying around a laptop, but want something similar.

These things still seem too big to me. They seem to be about 4 times bigger than my Palm (which I carry in my pocket, btw) and that just seems like too much.

In closing, the idea is there, but the implementation looks like it's sucking.

-Ryan

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Perfect summarization
Mar 9, 2006 3:08PM PST
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(NT) (NT) Hilarious
Mar 9, 2006 4:40PM PST