Microsoft has been pushing Tablet PCs for a long, long time, but unfortunately, the results haven’t been all that encouraging. The reason for that is the lack of an instant on/off device, to put it loosely. People would rather have an HTC device than a Tablet, since they are smaller but have more or less the same functionality. Plus, they have instant/always on feature set, thus the single biggest function of a Tablet, taking notes, is done better with Pocket PCs.

This begs the question that instead of buying a Tablet, doesn’t it make more sense to get a Pocket PC and a regular notebook? I think this option works out a lot better for most people.

While it’s definitely not clear whether Origami has an instant-on functionality, the usage scenarios show that the feature is quite diverse and the functions are desirable.

Intel showcased flash memory based PCs a while back with instant boot option. Could Origami be a working prototype brought to production? It could be. In fact, I really hope it is.

Despite Microsoft’s ongoing strategy to promote Tablet PCs, people’s needs from a device this portable have grossly increased. Today, everyone wants music, movies, photos, games, videos, maps, GPS, Internet on-the-go, and much more from a standalone unit. And that’s all of that from a device that should be as tiny as possible.

A Tablet PC can certainly do all of these things, but it’s a bit too bulky to be a music player, too cumbersome to connect to the camera and definitely far too expensive for any serious considerations of this kind.

The answer: Origami

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