MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Apple Online Store

5 Day Most Commented

Opinion Archive

Current Headlines

Latest Joy of Tech

  • Latest Joy of Tech!

MacNN

AppleInsider

Macworld UK

TUAW

MacRumors

Yahoo! Finance AAPL

iTunes Top 10 Albums

Mac OS X Downloads

Thu, Aug 21, 2008 - 11:14 PM EDT  —  AAPL: 174.29 (-1.55, -0.88%)  |  NASDAQ: 2380.38 (-8.70, -0.36%)

‘Origami’ Stumps CEOs in failed Jobs-style presentation
Monday, April 17, 2006 - 08:13 AM EDT

"Samsung Electronics, Intel and Microsoft have been promoting their joint project 'Origami' mini-laptop PC since they first showed it last month. In fact, the new PC proved to be too revolutionary, enough to baffle the three firms' executive officers who publicly tried to demonstrate how to use it," Cho Jin-seo reports for The Korea Times. "During Wednesday's news conference at Grand InterContinental in southern Seoul, some 30 reporters gathered to watch the much-hyped product named Q1, or Ultra Mobile PC. Kim Hun-soo, vice president of Samsung's PC division, first ascended to the podium as he tried to do the presentation in a Steve Jobs style _ which was not so successful. Kim first tried to start the Powerpoint presentation, which was saved in his Q1. But after introducing himself, he failed to turn to the second page while his staff nervously watched him."

"After spending several nerve-racking minutes trying to solve the problem on his own, Kim was finally helped by one of his staff to get to the next page. 'This kind of mistake happens in every presentation, even though you practice it all night,'' he said. But that was not the end of his bad day. Several pages later, the large projection screen suddenly completely went black. Samsung's staff again rushed to help the vice president, and found the Q1's battery has run out," Cho Jin-seo reports.

"Microsoft Korea's president Yoo Jae-sung became the second victim of the day when he took over the turn after Kim wrapped up his presentation. Yoo also spent several minutes figuring out how to start the presentation file. Finally, a Samsung employee succeeded in turning it on. But then the Q1 suddenly flipped through every page of Yoo's presentation file in a just few seconds. 'Now you have seen all the contents in advance,' Yoo said, and made a very brief presentation," Cho Jin-seo reports. "Lastly, Lee Hee-sung, president of Intel Korea, had his turn. Going up to the podium, the energetic Intel Korea CEO pronounced that he would 'do it in my own way as my predecessors have had a difficult time.' But Lee also failed to kick off his presentation by himself, and had to be helped by the staff who looked as if they were expecting the same kind of problems to happen again."

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: "If you're looking for a computer that's easy to use, there's still only one way to go - get a Macintosh." - Apple's "Crowd" TV commercial circa 1996. Watch it here or here or here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader Mike Buonarroti for the reminder.]

Advertisements:
Apple's brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
Apple's new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
MacBook Pro. The first Mac notebook built upon Intel Core Duo with iLife ’06, Front Row and built-in iSight. Starting at $1999. Free shipping.
iMac. Twice as amazing — Intel Core Duo, iLife ’06, Front Row media experience, Apple Remote, built-in iSight. Starting at $1299. Free shipping.
iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.

Related articles:
Origami: another Microsoft product in search of a market - April 04, 2006
The elephant in the room: Will Microsoft's 'Origami' ultramobile PCs run Apple's iTunes? - March 09, 2006
Microsoft's Origami Project revealed - March 07, 2006
Microsoft practices the art of vapor-folding with 'Origami' - March 03, 2006

  • Social Web
  • E-mail






Always -- Free ground shipping with orders over $50 at the Apple Store.

Reader Feedback: ( = registered)

Apr 17, 06 - 09:28 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Origami... So revolutionary, even a CEO can't use it!

Apr 17, 06 - 09:29 am Comment from: John

Ouch! Stuff stuff as nightmares are made on....

wink

Apr 17, 06 - 09:30 am Comment from: nonarKitten

The fault being that its still based on the much flawed and over complicated Windows XP. Smaller crap is just bird poo.

Apr 17, 06 - 09:32 am Comment from: wandering joe

Not much Mac news about this, but funny none the less.
you could start a joke like this ... How many Korean CEO's does it take to start Origami? They Can't becuase Origami is Japanese. whatever..

Apr 17, 06 - 09:32 am Comment from: .

idiots...all of them...they don't get it. Sales people, who don't really care..trying to push more crap.

Apr 17, 06 - 09:34 am Comment from: jfbiii

Shame they don't have video. That'd be sweet.

MW: arms; as in, a baby with no arms could've done better.

Apr 17, 06 - 09:34 am Comment from: snowy2004

There isn't much more to say than "Wow".

Apr 17, 06 - 09:35 am Comment from: maczealot

Take a hint from Microsoft's Longhorn and Vista work groups, boys: Don't release a product till it actually works.

Apr 17, 06 - 09:35 am Comment from: andy l

LOL! Good old MS software...you just can't beat it for reliability!

Apr 17, 06 - 09:36 am Comment from: Jim

From the Oxford Dictionary:

------
origami |ˌôrəˈgämē|

noun
the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and figures.
------

Apr 17, 06 - 09:37 am Comment from: jay

Culturally alot of presentations such as these involve the fear of losing face. I realize that software can screw up, but wouldn't you at least expect the CEO's to have been better briefed on how to get the presentation started/turned on? Or is showing the boss what to do mean a loss of face also?

Apr 17, 06 - 09:37 am Comment from: iSteve

Maybe they'll get smart and have a Mac running Boot Camp & Windows at the ready when things like this happen...

Apr 17, 06 - 09:37 am Comment from: Tommy Boy

The Jobs-isms they all forgot:
1. Practice...practice...practice...
2. Have working back-ups ready-to-go at the flip of a switch.

Apr 17, 06 - 09:37 am Comment from: Get real

"he tried to do the presentation in a Steve Jobs style"

Wow - stand up on a stage and give a presentation and this was never done before Steve Jobs???? LOL.

(Or did they mean that things don´t work like they are supposed to when Steve Jobs gives his presentations...)

Apr 17, 06 - 09:47 am Comment from: blucaso

From now on, whenever you find yourself unable to start your presentation or find your files at work, you can just declare "Excuse me, I'm having a Samsung moment."

Or better yet, any time you just can't think straight, accomplish anything, or find yourself just staring blankly, when confronted you can say "It's ok, I'm just having a Windows moment."

Apr 17, 06 - 09:51 am Comment from: allgood2

I'm sorry, not being able to start and or advanced the presentation software is generally not the issue if you've practice "all aspects" of your presentation, including the things you have to do, and not just reading the slides.

Steve Jobs looks so cool when he does his presentation, because he's practice a lot, often for weeks, until the last detail is ironed out. He practices with the presentation, with the equipment, even with the placement of various items. No detail is too small. That's very different from, 'slide three is the laptop image, so I want to say...".

What I don't get, is why they just didn't have an IT person start the presentation for them in the first place. If your not going to practice controlling the machine and making it do what you want, why then assume that the machine will do what you want when you need it to. Let the people who were controlling the machine for you during your practice, do so during your presentation.

That said, that sucks when your trying to sell a product that your own officials can't use.

Apr 17, 06 - 09:53 am Comment from: MacCheeta

Amature!

Apr 17, 06 - 09:54 am Comment from: Connor MacBook

Shoulda used Keynote!

Apr 17, 06 - 09:54 am Comment from: meatofmoose

Origami, the high-tech paperweight for the Windows user on the cutting edge

Apr 17, 06 - 10:03 am Comment from: Mike Buonarroti

It reminds me of Apple's, now 10 year old, commercial...

http://www.theapplecollection.com/Collection/AppleMovies/mov/crowd.html

Some things never change!

Apr 17, 06 - 10:11 am Comment from: Mr. Peabody

Here's an idea for MS and Samswansung:

Get Apple to design your little gadget, then everytime we see an ad for it it'll say "Designed by Apple" in a little bug down at the bottom of the screen with a cute little sound.

Apr 17, 06 - 10:34 am Comment from: shadowself

That's why for truly critical presentations:

Have the full presentation (pre tested) on at least two laptops.

Have two projectors available -- minimum (you can count the presentation hall's [or customer's] projector as one of the two but always bring a spare).

Have the full presentation (including video loops) on a 4 GB USB stick.

Have the full presentation on a DVD.

Use at least a two person team to give any critical presentation. IF something goes horribly wrong one can be switching to backup equipment or backup files (USB stick or DVD) while the other fields questions from the floor.

Oh, and practice, practice, practice -- *and* discuss what to do *when* (not if) something goes wrong, as it eventually will.

Requiring technicians to fix THE ONE laptop or other hardware you are using during the presentation can be fatal as occasionally failures are permanent (e.g., a RAM module goes bad, the DLP chip in the projector goes bad, etc.).

For people who've done several dozen or more presentations all these things seem pretty obvious, but as these CEOs found out violating any of them can be disastrous.

I used to even travel with my own screen to project onto, but it folded up into a nice little case that looked too much like a rocket launcher. After 9-11 I stopped traveling with it.

Apr 17, 06 - 10:39 am Comment from: YoYo

Another suckessful product from Microsoft, sucks batteries too

Apr 17, 06 - 10:40 am Comment from: Ampar

Take the present out of presentation and all you are left with is a silly looking "ation." They should have had shadow puppets for backup.


MW: past, as in "pastation?"

Apr 17, 06 - 11:06 am Comment from: A CEOs Nightmare

Billionare CEOs know nothing about the real world. They have their secretary's secretary's secretary turn on the lights and dial the phone. God knows if they can reload their toilet-paper holders in their private washrooms.

If one of them brought his secretary's secretary's secretary to turn the thing on, all would have been well.

How many people did they fire to save face?

Apr 17, 06 - 11:34 am Comment from: Bowser

Here's some funny video:

http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6047401.html?tag=img

Apr 17, 06 - 11:37 am Comment from: M.X.N.T.4.1

To me, the best thing about Jobs' presentations is that beyond being incredibly professional and rehearsed, he is also able to think on his feet. If something goes wrong, he knows enough to be able to attempt to get it working. If he can't get it working pretty much straight away then he'll move on, get another piece of equipment, go to a back up, whatever. So many of these other people just get totally flummoxed if something goes wrong and act like a deer in the headlights. Apple stuff has gone wrong but they handle it oh so much better.

The only truly embarrassing things that have happened in apple presentations (in recent memory) have been when other people have been talking (non-apple) people. Also, though not classed as something going wrong, who else cringes whenever that woman from the Microsoft MacBU talks?

Apr 17, 06 - 11:45 am Comment from: Ampar

If they could have folded the device into a swan, it might have made a better impression. How embarrassing. Maybe they were using the beta version of the new PowerlessPoint software. It comes with crayons and a fold up artboard.

Apr 17, 06 - 11:46 am Comment from: annoying spelling guy

Okay, once again...

your: A person's; one's
you're: Contraction of you are.
yore: Time long past: days of yore.

We'll do "to", "two", and "too" next time.

I saw a flock of moosen.

Apr 17, 06 - 11:54 am Comment from: Bill

New Origami Ads:

The Samsung Origami. Hey, it's bigger than a Newton.

or

The Samsung Origami. We'll put XP on anything!

Apr 17, 06 - 12:08 pm Comment from: Ampar

More Origami Ads:

The Samsung Origami. We will fold before it will.

The Q1. Because QT sounds 2 cutey.

The Q1. Buy it for looks.

Ultra Mobile PC. Much more than just an expensive brick.

Ultra Mobile PC. So secure that NO ONE can access your files.

Apr 17, 06 - 12:09 pm Comment from: macman

If I was Samsung, I'd be looking for a new OS maker to partner with since it's obviously the OS and not the hardware.

I would hate to be a hardware company that had to rely on Windows. That would be like Porsche having to rely on Kia to make their seats.


And what's with all the Boot Camp news? Who cares. I was running Windows 95 with no emulation and OS 8 back on my 8500 on an Apple PC Compatibility Card. Macs have always been able to run Windows more or less. But the whole point of buying a Mac is the fact that it isn't Windows.

Apr 17, 06 - 12:14 pm Comment from: justified

The main reason Apple's presentations come off so well is because they actually have something to present.

Smoke-and-mirrors presentations usually fail.

Apr 17, 06 - 12:47 pm Comment from: Ampar

justified: No, just smoke. And really good home grown at that. No mirrors. Mirrors might have actually projected a message. They're also going to market that it has infinite battery life since it always remains off.

Apr 17, 06 - 04:44 pm Comment from: Ampar

"Origami Stumps"

Wasn't that a blind Japanese blues musician that tore up the French Quarter with jazzy flute street concerts back in the 1930s?

Apr 17, 06 - 05:03 pm Comment from: Road Warrior

Doesn't sound "too revolutionary" to me but more like what MS has been providing for years, a user friendly experience, i.e. you need a few friends (those tech support people) to help you through.

I still see it too, people held hostage by a mechanic, companies held hostage by a large and needing to grow IT department, salesmen that need "developers developers developers."

Same ole same ole.

The ship is sinking Bill left the boat years ago.

Some people still think the world is round.

Apr 17, 06 - 10:06 pm Comment from: Ken

Ran out of power during presentation. That's great...

The more keynotes I watch, I more I appreciate the skill of Steve Jobs as a presenter. And while he is great on the stage, most of the work is done by him and his lieutenants in preparation... including practicing and rehearsing. Something these South Koreans apparently never considered doing.

Apr 17, 06 - 10:25 pm Comment from: Loooong wait for ShortHorn

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha ...............................................

Apr 17, 06 - 10:27 pm Comment from: Loooong wait for ShortHorn

So user friemdly. And that's Meecrosoft.

This is how they define userfriendly, innovative products.

Apr 18, 06 - 09:17 am Comment from: Follower

The worst thing to happen at a Steve Jobs keynote that I can remember is very recent: at the iPod Hi-Fi launch when he was introducing the new networked AirTunes. Someone had not loaded any music or photos on his MacBook Pro (although they had on Phil Schiller's, that being the point of the presentation). Steve just said "Oh no! They forgot to load the stuff on here" and moved on.

Apr 27, 06 - 08:10 pm Comment from: vstro via iPodDailyNews

http://www.slrclub.com/bbs/vx2.php?id=free&no=833085

the same mistake..smile

Apr 27, 06 - 08:23 pm Comment from: info via iPodDailyNews

Unlike conventional laptops, Q1 does not have a built-in keyboard. Users type on its touch-screen keyboard or on a small external keyboard that users may find uncomfortable and unfamiliar to use.

Apr 29, 06 - 11:31 am Comment from: MacSmiley

M.X.N.T.4.1,

We can all cringe away, but Microsoft MacBU's Ho can't compare to the befuddlement of Sony's CEO "presentation" about HD videocams.

LOL

Reader feedback page 1 of 1 pages:

Always -- Free ground shipping with orders over $50 at the Apple Store.

Add Your Feedback:

Register or Login

Name:

Email: (optional)

Emoticons | Allowed HTML Tags

Remember my personal information   Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please enter the "MDN Magic Word" you see in the image below: