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Origami Feedback Mixed, says Samsung 121

Posted by Hemos from the what-we-really-meant-was-... dept.
Ben Camm-Jones writes "Citing a mixture of reactions from customers who bought its Q1 device, Samsung has said that the pre-launch teaser campaign run by Microsoft about the Origami project may have been misleading."
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Origami Feedback Mixed, says Samsung More

Origami Feedback Mixed, says Samsung

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  • May have been? (Score:5, Funny)

    by GundamFan ( 848341 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:31PM (#15562233)
    Microsoft misleading? Naw...
    • Oh my God! Next they will say Terrorists are the good guys. Freedom fighters.

      Wait....that's been done.
    • Microsoft didn't mislead anyone with this... They launched a campaign about it and didn't give any real details about the thing...so people assumed it would be the greatest thing ever...and were disappointed. It's the idiot's own fault that they didn't do their own research about it so they knew what to expect when they bought it...

  • What I expected (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheOtherChimeraTwin ( 697085 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:32PM (#15562241)
    I always feared that project would fold.

  • Waste of bandwidth (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MyLongNickName ( 822545 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:35PM (#15562264) Journal
    Nowhere in the article does it mention exactly HOW it fell short of the advertizing. Does its handwriting recognition fall short? Is its reported collaboration short of the mark? This article is about as worthless as it comes to getting any real information. Perhaps they modelled their article writing on the Microsoft advertizing campaign?

    • Re:Waste of bandwidth (Score:5, Informative)

      by man_of_mr_e ( 217855 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:56PM (#15562440)
      Actually, I got to play with one over the weekend. The handwriting recognition was excellent. Without training, it read my chicken scratch quite accurately (not a single misread). The voice recognition required more training, so I didn't use that. Battery life was, as expected, about 2 hours, which was fine for me. There's supposed to be an extended battery coming out for it in the next few months, and i'm almost always near an outlet when i'd be using it.

      Weight was fine. I didn't find it too heavy at all. It even played WoW quite well. The digitizer was a little slow to react, but that was about it. I was VERY impressed, considering it's half the cost of tablet PC and provides far more functionality than a pocket pc. Exactly what I was looking for.

      I think i'll buy one when the LED backlit version comes out.

  • what the article says (Score:5, Informative)

    by Tearfang ( 881364 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:37PM (#15562277)
    For those of you who don't want to read the article this is the section detailing how people felt mislead:
    "someone [with prior] understanding of Origami, [they have been] saying 'We expected this and expected that' and comparing specification and price with laptop computers," said Steel. But even though a laptop can deliver more, it comes at a price, Steel noted."

  • surprising (Score:5, Informative)

    by yagu ( 721525 ) * <yayagu@[ ]il.com ['gma' in gap]> on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:38PM (#15562284) Journal

    Any success at all for the Origami would have been a surprise. It was (is) much too small to be a PC in any context (especially with an anemic screensize, heck lots of tiny devices approach the resolution and quality of the Origami) and way too big to be a portable device like an mp3 or video player.

    For those trying to make it PC-like, the device short-shrifted users on usability like keyboard functionality. For those wanting portable devices, the Origami was way overpowered and cumbersome (who the f*** wants to fire up Windows to play an mp3 or a video?!?).

    In between someone must have envisioned a niche market -- there likely is one, it's just not very big, and not noteworthy beyond the demographic for which it might be useful (hospitals, shops, warehouse grocery stores, etc.).

    The Origami wasn't that much different (IMO) from the notepad type portables, except it was lighter in features, but still heavy in the wallet requirements. Sometimes these devices seem to be brain farts -- "what if"s, and they get run up the flagpole to see if anyone salutes. Hats off to Microsoft for a clever attempt at "mystery" marketing the Origami. Sometimes the buying public has a clue before the marketers.

    • Re:surprising (Score:3, Insightful)

      by kansas1051 ( 720008 )
      Well put, the Q1 retails for around $1,100, which is more than most entry level Dell notebooks. If one is looking for a light and portable Wi-Fi equipped device, the Palm TX retails for around $300. Its never been clear to me what market MS was targeting, as for 99% of users, it would be cheaper to buy a standard laptop or palm.
    • You seem to think there isn't a market for geeks who don't mind carrying a bag for extra gadgets and want the ability to pull out a small "handheld" computing device and be able to play WoW on the go without the need for a hugely expensive laptop.

      Per this post [slashdot.org] earlier in the comments for this story:

      "Weight was fine. I didn't find it too heavy at all. It even played WoW quite well. The digitizer was a little slow to react, but that was about it."

      Sounds more to me you have a consumer group who might definit

  • Hype? NO WAY! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ELProphet ( 909179 ) <davidsouther@gmail.com> on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:39PM (#15562297) Homepage
    So, Microsoft hyped a product (that seems to do take a good jab at it's niche), and someone says it *looked* like it might have done something else. When I see an add for a BigMac on TV, and go in to buy one, it's not *as* big or *as* juicy as in the commercial, but still worth it. So, marketers promoted a product? Big deal.
    • But a Big Mac is $3, and you've probably eaten them before so you know what you're getting into. If I was going to pay $1100 for a brand new sandwich, it sure as hell better look like the picture.
      • But when I try the new McDonalds sandwich (for $5, because it's new), I don't expect to get the same sandwich as in the picture. Marketing in our society has become such a science that I naturally expect less of the product when it is released, wether it's a sandwich, a new computer, or an OS. I take that into account when making my purchase, and that decides any feelings of Buyer's remorse. The amoutn of money isn't the point, it's the collective disregard of Caveat Emptor we take for the excuse of a chanc
        • I don't see the similarity in marketing beyond "It's mass produced. Actual product may vary." between burgers and computers.
          • Taste and aroma don't market easily, but a computer doesn't have those problematic senses. Computers are actually easier to market in their raw form. You don't actually try to lick the screen in Apple's OS X do you?
          • Risking a disagreeable meal is simple, common, individual decision. Risking the price of an Origami device means checking bank statements, arguing with your spouse, and s
    • ELProphet wrote:

      So, Microsoft hyped a product (that seems to do take a good jab at it's niche), and someone says it *looked* like it might have done something else. When I see an add for a BigMac on TV, and go in to buy one, it's not *as* big or *as* juicy as in the commercial, but still worth it. So, marketers promoted a product? Big deal.

      The issue was that the hype raised expectations higher than what an actual product could deliver. The buzz about Oragami was that it was going to be a revolution in por

  • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:Too expensive!!! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by rhedin ( 91503 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @01:22PM (#15562610)
      I'm not sure I can agree here-- I spent $299 + tax on my Nokia 770 as opposed to about $1200 for the Q1; while the Q1 is running Windows and has a more powerful processor, it's also much bigger. I can carry my linux based 770 with me wherever I go very easily (fits in a shirt pocket) and have had no problem using it anywhere. For me at least, the extra $800 isn't worth it.

      rob.
      • I'm not sure I can agree here-- I spent $299 + tax on my Nokia 770 as opposed to about $1200 for the Q1; while the Q1 is running Windows and has a more powerful processor, it's also much bigger. I can carry my linux based 770 with me wherever I go very easily (fits in a shirt pocket) and have had no problem using it anywhere. For me at least, the extra $800 isn't worth it.

        I've been intrigued by the 770 but I don't know anyone that has one. What do you think of your 770? What do you primarily use it for? Wha
        • Its great as a portable web browser. It doesnt like flash sites but mounting a swap helps with that, and the other memory issues it has. SSH works great, and it can even connect to a VNC server or MS windows terminal.

          Movies work great when encoded down to a playable size (240x320 or so). The email client is a little shody and many use web based gmail. Battery is great and the sleep mode is very effective. The HCI is crap, you need the stylus for everything. Its role as a PDA is limited as it doesnt sync wit
          • Thanks for the honest review. All the reviews I found online seemed like either kowtowing or bitching about trivial things. Is the upgraded proc/mem the only major revisions announced? Where might I find more (better) info? I'm really looking for a limited-use web(mail)/im/gps device . I think I'll wait for the version 2.0.
      • I'd also like to hear more about your experience with the 770. Is it all useful in a PDA/Notetaking role, or is it pretty much a portable web browser and media device only?

  • Comment removed (Score:3, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:40PM (#15562309)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Battery Life (Score:4, Insightful)

    by VikingThunder ( 924574 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:42PM (#15562320)
    I think it all comes down to battery technology. We don't have the battery tehnology to make something like Origami really useful yet. IMO, it needs to have at least 8 hours of battery life at the minimum.

    • Re:Battery Life (Score:5, Insightful)

      by EvanED ( 569694 ) <evaned@NOspAM.gmail.com> on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:57PM (#15562446)
      IMO, it needs to have at least 8 hours of battery life at the minimum.

      Why? Your typical work day is what, 8 hours. Are you gonna be using the thing all day? Samsung's website says that the battery life of the Q1 should be about 3.5 hours. Even if you're using the thing half the time, that should be plenty. And it seems to me like the half would be high.

      There are times when a longer battery would be really nice, like for plane rides and stuff, but for day to day operation, 3.5 hrs isn't low enough to be a deal breaker. I mean, laptops have battery lives of under that often, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone say they're
      not useful.

      • Re:Battery Life (Score:4, Insightful)

        by misterhypno ( 978442 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @02:02PM (#15562881)
        Coinsider people who actually work in the field, as opposed to the cublcle-bound workers. With a battery life of only two hours, this thing is essentially useless for these folks. Another issue seems to be the problem of having to power up Windows simply to run the mp3 player, which, in this day and age, is pretty silly, not to mention wasteful.

        So, until this critter actually has a useful battery life, people who actually work in the field, away from the office, like sales professionals, engineering types, inspectors, law enforcement professionals, utility workers, field service agents, and the like will have little use for Origami.
        Even people who attend trade shows would have a hard time using this thing as they would have to find outlets on a pretty regular basis, instead of being able to wander the show and actually make USE of it for taking notes, like it's supposed to be used.
        Origami seems to be a bit flat yet for any practical field use.
        Lee Darrow, Chicago, IL
      • I think the point you're getting at is that these devices would obviously not appeal to those who are stuck in cubes all day. Why pay the extra for portability if John Doe is just sitting at his desk doing data entry all day, right? Save the extra cash and get a cheap tower instead. And if Johnny needs to move around the office to, say, a meeting room, get a cheap laptop. For this scenario, the Origami would obviously not be an economical decision.

        Yes, the typical work day is about 8 hours. However, fo

  • Origami project... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pubjames ( 468013 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:42PM (#15562324)

    My theory is that the whole Origami project teaser campaign was a tactical spolier campaign by Microsoft that didn't work out. I think they assumed that Apple would come out with some fancy new product on their 30th anniversay, and so timed the campaign to coincide with that to spoil, or at least taint, anything Apple did. But then Apple didn't launch anything, and Microsoft was left running a spolier campaign without anything to spoil. I bet if Apple had released a new product, Microsoft would have made a lot more noise.
    • Either that or the Origami devices that actually showed up are all underwhelming, ugly, and expensive. Really not much to hype right now ... wait for version 3.
    • I think the origami was an attempt at an iPod killer. iPods have iTMS lock-in, but the Origami will run iTunes, bypassing that.

      Of course they forgot the hardware lock in (will it work with your Bose thingies?) - and more importantly they forgot the three clicks to my music part.
  • Because this form of tablet PC doesn't appear to be living up to it's hype, is Samsung just using Microsoft as a scape-goat?? I mean, come one, we all believe that Microsoft can be misleading...

  • Too impractical (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Wootzor von Leetenha ( 938602 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:46PM (#15562369)
    When I first saw the Oragami teaser site, and read articles speculating what it was, i thought it was that blue and white cell phone looking thing that folded into a few different combinations (i can't find a picture right now...can someone help?). Then when the countdown was over, they showed this honking thing, basically a bit smaller than a tablet pc. There is no market for that. It's still too big. Anything bigger than a cell phone is too big to be convenient. Similarly, anything bigger than a cell phone should probably have been designed and marketed as a non-portable device, since if most people can't fit in in their pocket or a small clip on their belt, it just can't be called "portable". I don't carry my laptop clipped to my belt. It would have been time better spent if they modified a PDA to do everything these things do.

    • Re:Too impractical (Score:4, Insightful)

      by GreyPoopon ( 411036 ) <[gpoopon] [at] [gmail.com]> on Monday June 19, 2006 @01:25PM (#15562633)
      Similarly, anything bigger than a cell phone should probably have been designed and marketed as a non-portable device, since if most people can't fit in in their pocket or a small clip on their belt, it just can't be called "portable".

      Maybe it's just my age showing, but to me the word "portable" means any device that can more or less be moved easily from one building to another. All this means is that the unit must be self-contained and include some feature that makes it easier to carry (like a handle). What comes immediately to mind are the original Compaq computers that came in a case about three times the size of a lunch box. Because of this, anytime I see the word "portable" used in the description for a computing device, I immediately assume that it would require strength-training for several months just be be able to lug the thing around. It's a warning sign to me.

      On the other hand, I believe the word "mobile" has the same meaning to me as your interpretation of "portable". I would expect mobile devices to either fit in my pocket, or clip to my belt in some way to make it easy to carry them without using my hands. I realize this all comes down to semantics, though.... Does anybody else feel the same?

      • I completely agree. My mind has been warped into thinking mobile and portable are the same... But now that I think about it... Just picture this phrase... Mobile home :) Either way, when I think of device being portable or mobile, then it fits on my belt. Unless it's a "Portable computer desk"... It's relative to the original size of the non-portable non-mobile version of that device. Good points though.

  • Mixed reviews (Score:5, Funny)

    by bubba451 ( 779167 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:48PM (#15562378)
    Some reviews say Origami's unusable; some say it's overpriced.

  • A mishandled teaser campaign and a duff product (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 99luftballon ( 838486 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:48PM (#15562381)
    At the end of the day the teaser campaign was mishandled. This kind of product is a tough sell at the best of times - as shown by the relative failure of the tablet PC. Samsung have a good product, but at the price of a very good laptop it's a near impossible sell. People like keyboards for serious work and there still isn't enough processing power or good enough software to make handwriting recognition a suitable alternative.

    But it was the teaser campaign that really hurt the product. Trying to run a teaser campaign that would grasp the news agenda at the same time as the world's biggest trade show like CeBIT might have sounded good but it annoyed a lot of journalists. At the same time the hints we did get on features were so inflated that when the final product came out it was a big let down.

    Teaser campaigns are notoriously difficult to pull off. Look at the Segway for example. 'Ginger' ,as was, was hyped to the moon and back but at the end of the day disappointed. Maybe it's a sign of the tech market - we tend to like less fluff and more hard facts?

  • I've got one (Score:5, Informative)

    by Bertie ( 87778 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:50PM (#15562397) Homepage
    Work bought it for me, for a very specific purpose. I suspect we're the only people that have a job that it's just perfect for.

    It's slow, it's heavier than you'd like, it gets really hot in use, it's fiddly to interact with, and it's not worth anything like the money. I know you should expect nothing else from first-generation hardware, but it really is almost entirely pointless for nearly everybody (it's absolutely perfect for what I need it for, but that's an extremely niche market, believe me, and if Pocket Internet Explorer on a PDA was anything more than a toy, I wouldn't need it at all).

    The hype was extremely misguided - it's just a very small tablet PC, it was never going to set the world on fire. But that's neither here nor there - hype or no hype, my main criticism of it is that it's not even very good at what it's meant to do, never mind all the things people imagined it would do before it came out.

  • Why do we continue these coming soon... ads (Score:3, Insightful)

    by fermion ( 181285 ) * on Monday June 19, 2006 @12:53PM (#15562423) Homepage Journal
    Ads should not be about building excitement. It should be about establishing a consumer need for a product that they do not yet know they need. Furthermore, it should not make the customer expect more real aspects than the product can deliver. With these coming soon ads the expectations are free to form uncontrolled so naturely consumers are disappointed. For things like laundry detergent expectation can be overstated, and that does not present an investment, but with compters where purchasing decisions are often driven by word of mouth, such unmanaged expectation is deadly.

    Oragami was not a revolutionary product. It was is not even an xbox. What it is is a product that really doesn't exist, and the initial marketing was done for the benifit of the fer vendors who took a chance to manufacture it. Not that MS did not take that risk.

    • A few flaws with your argument: 1. Advertising cannot create needs, only wants. These wants are based on showing how a particular brand satisfies pre-existing needs . 2. Advertising that creates a buzz around a product can be hugely successful, if you have a product that lives up to its expectations. Look at Apple as a classic example of that. Their 1984 commercial for the Macintosh provided virtually no information about the product or its benefits, but created a huge amount of excitement around the lauc
    • "Ads should not be about building excitement. It should be about establishing a consumer need for a product that they do not yet know they need."

      There exist in the industry many different types of ads that seek to accomplish a variety of things for a variety of reasons. Building excitement and informing about the product are just two possibilities. Ads should not be a certain specific thing. They should be whatever works.

  • I call it duh (Score:4, Insightful)

    by zanderredux ( 564003 ) * on Monday June 19, 2006 @01:00PM (#15562468)
    From TFA, we conclude that the degree of disappointment is inversely proportional to the exposure to hype you got.

    It seems that the real problem was how badly Microsoft marketing managed the release of Origami, giving too little information at a time, which causes people to guesstimate wildly.

    Despite this obvious rant, the only thing I liked in TFA is how I misread the sentence:

    Microsoft collaborated with Intel to create Origami, which combines a tablet edition of Windows XP with a pen-based tablet computer similar in specification to a laptop.

    For a split second, I read:

    Microsoft collaborated with Intel to create Origami, which combines a tablet edition of Windows XP with a pen-based toilet computer similar in specification to a laptop.
    What do you do with a toilet computer? How (and where) do you put the pen away????
  • Seriously, Samsung device looks like total rip-off of Nokia 770, Web tablet. However, it costs much less and doesn't overheat.

  • Product X feedback mixed, product Y feedback mixed (Score:3, Insightful)

    by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @01:19PM (#15562590) Journal
    Sheesh... Some people didn't like the iPod when it lauched.. Some people don't like Palm's Treo.. Some people don't like the XBox, or the PSP, or the Gameboy.. Some people liked New Coke..

    Can anybody name a product launch without "mixed" feedback?

    The article has slim to no details as to what the problems were, and I suspect this is only on slashdot because of the dig at microsoft.

    Does anybody have any real info on the device?

  • good for drawing (Score:3, Insightful)

    by kisrael ( 134664 ) on Monday June 19, 2006 @01:37PM (#15562708) Homepage
    I'm vaguely considering getting some hardware like this (or perhaps one of those dinky if overpriced Fujitsu lifebooks) as a doodling/art tool.

    I'm hoping someday touchscreens will be the standard, not the exception. Or, conversely, that drawing on a blank pad on your lap or on the table while looking at what you're drawing on separate screen will be considered some weird anomaly.

    Any suggestions for hardware? I don't need a huge "canvas" but Palm is a little too small (often with flakey digitizers as well)

    I'd love to see Apple get on this.
    • I bought the LE1600 slate tablet PC from motioncomputing.com. It's just awesome. Light, powerful, bright, great viewing angles, and good battery life. I like their convertible keyboard too, you just snap it on when/if you want to make it more like a laptop. The price is spendy, but it's quality worksmanship. If you're interested, here's a few reviews: review1 [pcmag.com] review2 (w/video) [cnet.com]
    • If you want something for art/drawing then do not get an Origami device, or the Fujitsu P1510 either. You need an Active Digitizer, not a passive touch screen. With an active digitizer you can rest your hands on the screen, and it provides pressure feedback - press down harder and get a thicker or darker line. Since you're looking for a small device, maybe you could try the Motion LS800 [motioncomputing.com] tablet. It has a small 8" screen with an active digitizer, I would expect it to be a great sketchpad.
      • I'm not sure how I feel about Active Digitizers.
        Most of my "work" is very cartoonish. Active Digitizers freak me the hell out as the mouse pointer starts moving when I haven't even touched the drawing surface.
        • I use a Toshiba M200 tablet and got used to that after a very short adjustment period. As long as you keep in mind nothing happens until you press down on the screen you'll do just fine :) It sure beats the problems you get with a passive digitizer and brushing a knuckle or a palm against the screen.
  • You know, I and thousands of others have paid close to half the cost of these in purchasing Epson Photo Viewers for downloading pictures from our cameras while traveling, on assigment, etc. If these "PCs" had slots and reasonable speed for off loading cameras in the field and allowing us to do some editing and forwarding by wireless, they would certainly find a niche among photographers.
    • agreed entirely. I had hand to play with one last week (outside the context of photography) and all I could think was "I wish they'd gone just an extra 10 milimeters," in my head thinking about photography. Just a little more disk space and a little more capability, and awesome!!! The form factor is fine and the screen is a great size to go through your photos on the fly.
  • I am using the Q1 to submit this post and I have to admit it has exceeded my expectations so far. The device is comfortable to use, has great handwriting recognition and is just fun to play with. I haven't had heat problems and the battery is consistantly in the 3 to 3.5hr range. It suits my needs rather well. The drawbacks I have seen are few. The price point is all wrong and the stylus is too small but for the realm of work I do, education support, it has been a great tool. Was the campaign too forward
  • Viral marketing seems to be their tool of choice. And when that doesn't work, flood the media with the same information.

    I'm sick of hearing about the Origami. I was sick of it when it was just a rumor, then it was confirmed, then it was profiled, then it was abscent from E3, it's been 6 monthes and it's just basically vaporware. Jesus, this is what they WANT you to do. You already are overhyping it by just talking about it more and more.. Is it a game system, is it a handheld, is it just a small laptop.
  • A key problem here was how Microsoft handled the marketing. This was essentially an effort by Microsoft to create acceptance for small tablet PCs. This is basically round 2 in the marketing effort. But they sold it like it was going to be something new and innovative, which it certainly wasn't.

    I recently got a used Sony Vaio U70, through work. The thing is essentially identical to these current Origami PCs. It has a 1ghz Pentium M processor, 512mb of RAM and a basic Intel 3D card. I get about hour and a hal

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