The Mozmonkey Blog

Those that know me know I’m an Apple guy.  I love my Mac and everything about it’s OS.  It’s simple and clean and still has a command line interface and unix friendly tools.

Even though I’m strongly biased, I do try to leave an open mind and give credit were it’s due; I don’t want to be an extremist, just to be one.  I have no false illusions about the company or any thoughts about Jobs being “the second coming”; I know he’s a jerk (but a smart jerk).  I just like their products.

With that said, enter the Microsoft Origami.  I watched the promotional video and something started happening for the first time EVER, I started drooling for a MS product.  It’s clean, simple, mobile and seems very versatile.  The video makes it look like it has WiFi, bluetooth and perhaps even GPS — all in a very attractive package and with a cool name.  I was filled with mixed emotion: “I want one” … “But no, you can’t, it’s, it’s Microsoft” … “But it looks so cool, like something Apple of Sony would design” … “Resist the force”.

Now here’s the part that just irks me.  The name Origami was way cool; it meant something more than “cold piece of plastic and metal”.  It had a real hip factor to it and personified it as something foldable and versatile.  But of course MS had to get corporate and change the name to something more meaningful.  You ready for this?  They’re now calling it the “Ultra-Mobile PC”.  WHAT?  What the F*** is that?  It’s like changing the name iPod or Creative Zen to “Compact mp3 Player”.  I’d rather say: “Check out my new Origami” than “I just got a new Ultra-Mobile PC”.  As soon as I read that my interest in the device plummeted  to: “It would be cool, but I’ll wait until somebody has hacked Linux on it”.

This is the kind of thing that separates MS from other companies that embrace fun and innovation in their products (Apple, Sony, Creative).  These companies name their products something fun and hip, and are loved for it.  MS comes out with something, starts a viral marketing campaign, gets everyone interested and then turns it into a cold device.

Up next: XBox becomes “Advanced Gaming Console”