ON ORIGAMI, MICROSOFT'S NEXT BIG PLATFORM

JOURNEY JUST BEGUN

(Update:  Chris Pratley has a good piece on Microsoft's upcoming OneNote application upgrade as it applies to the Origami...recommended, especially for Tablet PC geeks).

Yes, I'm going on the record  to say that Origami, the UMPC (ultra-mobile PC) concept Microsoft officially launched today at CEBIT (via PC Magazine), is potentially going to be their next big platform over the next five years.

Note that I said next big PLATFORM, and not next big PRODUCT.

And I said OVER the next five years, and NOT over the next two years.

And yes, I'm saying this despite my post yesterday, which was a mini-rant about how Microsoft was rolling out Origami compared to how Apple would theoretically do it.

I admit that post was a bit of a straw man argument, given that Microsoft, when it comes to the PC side of their business, is a PLATFORM company, whereas Apple, given it's vertical integration, is both a platform AND a product company.

In other words, Origami is NOT a product from Microsoft for consumers, it's a PLATFORM.

As a result, Origami is a PROCESS, not just an EVENT. 

This is different than the XBOX and XBOX 360, which is both a product from Microsoft for consumers, and a platform for software developers.

Why am I belaboring this basic distinction?

Well, because going through much of the coverage to date of the launch on memeorandum and other places, it's clear that most folks are focusing on this as JUST a product from Microsoft. 

And the reality is that the actual products based on the platform from Microsoft will come from a handful of hardware partners like Samsung, Asus and others over the next few weeks and months, JUST like Microsoft OS based PCs come from third-party companies.

This tendency to forget that Origami is a platform becomes clear even when watching Microsoft blogger  Robert Scoble's helpful 37 minute plus video interview with the head of the Origami team, Otto Berkes. 

Most of the questions tended to focus on the specific features of the pre-production unit Otto had in his hands, when there should have been additional questions on how the PLATFORM would evolve over the next few years.

And that's OK.  Robert was wearing his "gadget-fan" hat, much like many of his readers.

But the platform reality is important to keep in mind.  It's taken Otto Berkes's team four years to get the basics of the platform and initial partners in place. 

Over the next couple of years, Microsoft's focus for the Origami platform will shift from primarily hardware and networking partners to software developer partners as well.

Although the device runs on off-the shelf Windows XP and XP Table PC operating systems today and Vista tomorrow, there are some unique capabilities of the device given it's form factor, that could be an attractive market long-term for both software and web application developers.

And it's these unique capabilities, along some additional drivers behind Origami, that get me the MOST excited about the Origami platform.

Let me count the ways:

1.  Origami is NOT just a smaller Tablet PC in my humble opinion.  It's the first potentially mass-market device to have universal TOUCH-based navigation capability in addition to using stylii, pens and QWERTY keyboards (virtual and otherwise). 

The initial versions of Origami from vendors will come bundled with it's TouchPack set applications from Microsoft, which provides a touch-driven user-interface layer on top of the OS.  (See this piece at the Origami Project, and this  Warner Crocker's post for more on what this entails, and looks like).

This is much like the specific Media Center PC UI on PCs with that version of Microsoft's XP operating system.

And this is a big deal, because in most cases, this is how people have always wanted to interact with a PC.   And it offers some unique opportunities for application and service developers on the basic Windows platform.

2.  Origami is MUCH MORE than another version of just a smaller Tablet PC, because the form factor also allows it to be a platform than can do much more than just a PC or a Tablet device. 

The platform also allows consumer electronics and communications centric companies to build versions that handle media, music, internet telephony, and wireless broadband applications with aplomb. 

The platform is much more malleable in other words, and can fit the needs of many more hardware, networking, communications, and web company partners.

3.  And given that malleability, the price points of these devices can potentially fall between PDA/cell phones and full-fledged laptops/PCs and Tablet PCs...somewhere between $500 to a thousand dollars for mainstream products.  And that'll come down as the technology costs curves come down.

These are some of the broad-brush reasons I'm excited about Origami as a platform.

And yes, as a gadget-freak, I'll probably be a guinea pig for version 1.0 of the product coming out from some of the vendors in the coming weeks.

Just don't tell my wife I'm getting another new gadget that'll likely become a paper-weight as the next version comes out a few months later.

POSTSCRIPT:

I have a new post on Origami building on this one here.

 

Comments

[Terry Vail]

Hi Chris ... couldn't agree more ... wish me luck!

Regards
Terry Vail

[Hero]

Hi ! Your site is very interesting. Thank you.

[Dominic]

bauy buy hydrocodone here.