Origami

I wrote this a while ago, but never posted it. Turns out, Mossberg and Pogue completely agree with me. Told you, Origami was going to be stupid.
I saw some of the units a few weeks back and my initial remarks weren't terribly positive. I've been watching the blogosphere bruhaha lately, biting my tonuge because I respect my NDAs deeply. The Origami project is happening either (a) too late or (b) too early, depending on how you look at it. We have Windows Vista shipping in less than a year, and yet these ~$500 devices aren't being bulit to support the new OS!
They're going after the consumer crowd, not the prosumer - so many geeks are going to be disappointed with what they see. It's Microsoft's chance to prove to themselves (and to the OEMs) that Lifestyle PCs can be bulit for around $500 apiece. Of course, you don't get much for $500 in a portable machine of that size - but Microsoft is hoping that soccer mom's won't mind at all.
The items in project Origami are largely going to be lackluster, the hardware will be mediocre (at best), and the general idea for Origami is nowhere near the PSP or an iPod - not even in the same ballpark. They did well in building the buzz, but the products are probably going to generate more jeers than cheers. This feeling will be magnified, as the buzz will not equal the bang of Origami.

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