Haiku? Ummm, I am so confused…….

Haiku?  Origami?  Sounds like someone swallowed a wad of colored paper that had some poetry written on it.  I decided to go get a Wikipedia definition, and here is what I got:

“Haiku (俳句)is a mode of Japanese poetry, the late 19th century revision by Masaoka Shiki of the older hokku (発句), the opening verse of a linked verse form, haikai no renga . A traditional hokku consists of a pattern of approximately 5, 7, and 5 morae, phonetic units which only partially correspond to the syllables of languages such as English. It also contains a special season word (the kigo) descriptive of the season in which the renga is set. Hokku often combine two (or rarely, three) different elements into a unified sensory impression, with a major grammatical break (kire) usually at the end of either the first five or second seven morae. These elements of the older hokku are considered by many to be essential to haiku as well, although not always included by modern writers of Japanese “free-form haiku” and of non-Japanese haiku. Senryu is a similar poetry form that emphasizes humor and human foibles instead of seasons.”

Oh…, okay, that clears it up for me (doh!).  Now I understand why Microsoft named the “other” small, ultra, mini, whatever PC project “Haiku”.

NOT.

So…, according to Otto Berkes (father of the Origami project team), they are indeed still working on this device, as reported in InfoWorld:

“”We’d like to see them out in the $500 to $700 range. The closer to $500 the better,” said Otto Berkes, general manager of Microsoft’s Ultra Mobile PC operations, on the sidelines of a conference in Taipei on Wednesday. The Haiku device he showed off at the Via Technology Forum was basically a display screen about the size of a paperback book. The idea is to use screen input methods to work the device, which would include a version of Microsoft’s OS for Tablet PCs…..

…. We don’t think [the Haiku] is feasible today, but we’re very excited about the roadmap [Via Technologies] shared that will make this possible in a few years,” he said. Via competes with Intel and Advanced Micro Devices in the microprocessor business, and in recent years has focused more on chips for portable devices. With these companies developing ever-smaller chips that run cooler, use less power and require less space inside gadgets, developing portable devices such as the Haiku becomes more feasible, Berkes said.”

Bummer — it’s still a few years off.  I thought we were gonna get to have another teaser campaign soon! :-)