Origami Never Used to be so Exciting

I was recently reading my classmate Bob's blog and was particularly interested in his post entitled 'Origami for Dummies' that discusses an interesting new technological innovation at Microsoft that until recently was called the Origami Project. This project was dedicated to attempting to create and spark widespread use of an all-in-one PC that will replace your laptop, ipod, dvd player, cell phone, palm pilot, etc. Origami was the code-name for this project until March 9th, when Microsoft unveiled the results of this projet, what they call the Ultra-Mobile PC. The motto for this new piece of technology is "Go everywhere. Do everything." and it seems as if this motto will truly come to fruition. Microsoft catches my attention as a customer when they say "With small, lightweight, carry-everywhere designs, you can connect and communicate, accomplish any task anywhere and at any time, and be entertained and informed wherever life takes you."

While I knew that technology would eventually allow for something like this device to be achieved, I didn't realize it would come so soon. There are actually Ultra-Mobile PC's (UMPC) on the market right now. Therefore, The Origami Project is no longer attempting to create this device, but rather try to make Ultra-Mobile PC's accepted by society in a similar way as cell phones, as a device "you won't leave home without".

The website for the Origami Project has awesome videos that show images of what these UMPC's look like and the way this technology will be marketed. I liked Bob's comment about how this device seems like one more of Bill Gates' ideas to monopolize technology. However, it seems as if this technology will not instantly be a huge hit. Critics are finding downfalls, which include the fact that it cannot instantly be turned on and off, that you cannot save a lot of data on it, as well as battery issues like those of a laptop. However, most critics agree that Microsoft has done a good job of planting the seed for this technology and will have to guage the reactions and recommendations of current users to adapt the UMPC and make it a more effective piece of technology.

Thanks to Bob for the chance to learn about this cool new innovation. If Microsoft needs users to test these UMPC's out, they should know I would be more than happy to do so!