Yesterday, before today’s Origami launch, I was going to express some views based on the information and rumours that had spread around the internet. I decided to hold back and wait for the official announcement just in case those views were wrong. Now that I’ve seen what the Origami is, I wished I had posted yesterday.
Because the Origami is a smaller-scale Tablet PC.
That’s it. Some of you may wish to leave now.
Microsoft and their collaborators, still don’t get it. As laptops increase their power and features, there’s still an obsession with cramming similar technology into a smaller form factor. With Tablet PCs this usually means – for a consumer anyway – one or two generations previous to current ‘cutting-edge’ technology.
You also need rock-solid reliability, great battery life (not 2-3 hours) and different, more intuitive, ‘intelliguessy’ software. People work differently away from their desk.
Contrarily, if people want to be able to do all their ‘desk’ work whilst on the move, they will buy a laptop PC. My iBook has been with me whenever I’ve gone on long journeys. I use it in my lounge to blog and to surf. Heck, I even redesigned this site over Christmas when I was away from home – on my iBook.
So, in a sense, I’ve had what suits me as an Origami device for the past three years.
What is needed is something that is feature-lite and properly reflects what one needs when on the move.
As I have written before, the Apple Newton was years ahead of its time, and things may have been different if that product line had continued to today.
The Nokia 770 is one valid idea, perhaps a modern equivalent, albeit crippled by its operating system (and people are still trying to convert it into a PDA – hint: it’s not, nor should it be).
C’mon, I’m still waiting. The future is Everything Online. And no, Google’s GDrive won’t cut it. Not even close. Yeah, I’ve seen the future. I’ve got plans. On my iBook. And it’s phenomenal.
