The “Origami” project really started with a concept called “Haiku.”

I have been a leading advocate for the creation of more device-like mobile PCs since about 2002 and have been incubating the ultra-mobile PC concept since then – first in the Windows division, then Microsoft Research, then back in Windows.

I bought my first PC – the original IBM model – as a college student for a project I had proposed for Physics.  I believe it was the first PC purchased for a science department at Middlebury College.  I remember being incredibly excited to get the IBM BIOS assembly listing to get the full scoop on INT10 functionality and to get the PC to display the graphics I needed for my project.  OK, I’ll admit it – I still miss the directness and simplicity of DOS a little.

Ever since then, I’ve been hooked on the PC and its ability to adapt, evolve, grow, and surprise by enabling new scenarios and uses no one really anticipated.  It’s the magic of the PC.

My belief in the PC’s core strengths shaped the Xbox plan and was at the heart of the original proposal – a special-purpose PC for the living room optimized for games and entertainment. And it was at the heart of the incubation project “HomeStation,” a predecessor to Media Center. But those are different stories…

So back to the story at hand…

My ultra-mobile PC incubation efforts included building hardware and software prototypes and testing the overall feasibility of the idea.  And importantly, getting other people on board with the general concept both inside and outside the company.  Building a new type of PC requires broad industry collaboration for new hardware, new product designs, and new software to come together as one critical mass to create a new type of PC experience. That doesn’t happen easily, or overnight.

I can’t believe it’s been four years from the start of this particular journey to this point – it doesn’t seem that long ago that Horace Luke and I were first brainstorming around the potential of a new type of highly mobile PC. Even today we’re just getting started.  Then again, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was stepping through BIOS code either.