Maybe I’m foolish but I am still amazed at how much money is available for projects that have by my estimate a 50-50 chance of success.I spoke with Jory Bell, CEO of a startup called OQO. After graduating MIT Bell and a few friends went on to Apple and worked on the PowerBook product design team. From there they ended up at IBMs Almaden Research Center. Their idea was to create the world’s smallest computer. In other words make something the size of a handheld that runs full Windows XP and any application that will run on a desktop.They started in 2000 with a mere $5.5 million in angel funding. Now, another $14 million dollars later in institution funding they have a product.The device is dubbed Model 01, and it is 4.9 inches long, 3.4 inches wide, .9 inches thick with a VGA 800 x 480 screen that is also about 4.9 inches wide. Model 01 uses a 1-GHz Transmetta processor that puts out in the most heated situations about 7 watts but it does use Transmetta’s power throttling technology for thermal management. The tiny system actually has a “significant” fan as Bell put it. Connectors include USB, Firewire, WiFi, Bluetooth, audio and a docking station cable connection for video out to hi res monitors, projectors and Ethernet. The device also has 256MB of RAM, 8MB dedicated to video, and the same Toshiba 20GB hard drive used in the iPod.The screen slides up to reveal a thumb-sized keyboard which uses a track point-like device for mousing around plus digital pen and thumbwheel. The package weighs a not unsubstantial 14 ounces. It will be made off shore by Flextronics, a very reputable OEM and priced at $1,999 for the XP Professional version and $1,899 for XP Home. For an additional $300 OQO will install Office Small Business Edition. Okay, Bell says major corporations are already considering it. But I know that game too. That could mean Bell has an appointment to talk to somebody in IT at a large company. Not the same has winning a volume order. Specific corporate applications include using it in health care for MDs making their rounds, insurance claims adjustors, and pharmaceutical sales reps to present info about products. The advantage for IT is obvious, it is portable, unobtrusive and yet it runs Win-dows XP and XP applications. Therefore it has a single image and a single infrastructure to support. I wish them nothing but success. And granted I don’t know all the details. They received a total of $19.5 million, so far, I wonder if some of that goes to pay the manufacturing bill? Or do they only produce in volume when they have a solid order in hand. To be honest, I sure hope among those institutional investors such as banks, retirement fund and mutual fund managers that put most of the $14 million in there are none that are using my money. Technology Industry