The marketing of the Origami PC

The Origami Project has built a nice buzz marketing campaign over the last three weeks. It is culminating this week, and they've already garnered a shot on CNBC. Not bad exposure and results, considering the only expenses have really been a Web site and some PR to A-list bloggers.


The challenge with a buzz marketing campaign is to build suspense and mystery toward a specific event, not to have it be a letdown when the actual announcement comes. The announcement of what Origami is scheduled for March 9 at the Intel Developer's Forum in San Francisco. But today CNET is showing pictures and specs for these Ultra Mobile PC devices (UMPC) devices in advance of that date, claiming a Windows XP interface controlled by a pen and/or thumb joysticks, a sub-$1,000 price point, and three hour batteries available in "the next few weeks". This is in marked contrast to existing devices such as the OQO, which have retailed more in the $1,500 to $2,000 range.


What people have actually played with are prototypes with 15-minute battery lives and 7-inch displays, so no one really knows what the production units are like. But what is most telling about this campaign is that no one has articulated why an ordinary person might want one of these devices. That's not a good thing. Does anyone remember the original iPod launch with the tagline "1,000 songs in your pocket."? Where's the message to the consumer?


We'll see what happens Thursday. Perhaps Intel will create a clear message of what need these devices satisfy then. But based upon the information we have now, it looks like this is just a small tablet PC with no particular target market, and it appears it will be marketed as such. If that's the case, expect this device to sell well to early adopters and then to fade into obscurity as the rest of the population says, "Origami. Isn't that something having to do with paper folding?"


Update: Intel has posted videos showing consumer usage models for these devices. One immediate reaction jumps out: in a new first, the device seems to create a tyranny of too much choice in how to use it. Users choose from two different pop-out keyboards, two different ways of interacting with the screen (either by dual thumb joysticks or with a stylus), and two different orientations of the screen. Let's hope some manufacturers dramatically simplify the user interface; otherwise, these devices are going to have a tough time getting any traction with ordinary people.

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