CES 2009: The Vivienne Tam HP Mini 1000 Story

[Jason Dunn]

<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="600" height="360" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5DchBCtGUhI&amp;hd=1" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="600" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5DchBCtGUhI&amp;hd=1"></embed></object></p><p>Tracy Trachta from HP talks about the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/viviennetam" target="_blank">Vivienne Tam HP Mini 1000</a>; why and how they created the partnership with Vivienne Tam, what new markets they wanted to reach with the product, and what an amazing response the product has received. Filmed at <a href="http://www.cntrstg.com" target="_blank">CNTRSTG</a>.</p>

[Macguy59]

Was the guy with the blogger girlfriend a plant ? :p

[Heatwave316]

Its a beautiful netbook, and I do love it, but its awful expensive. If I'm going to spend ~$700, I would spend that on a regular laptop or a new desktop.

[Jason Dunn]

Was the guy with the blogger girlfriend a plant?

Most of us in the room were married actually, of the people I knew at least. :D

[Chris Gohlke]

I'm with you Jason (at least it sounded like you asking the question). Where is the model for the guys. I'd pay a premium (maybe not $250) for something really stylish and well built. Oh, and my wife knew who Vivienne Tam was even though I had never heard of her.

[Jason Dunn]

Its a beautiful netbook, and I do love it, but its awful expensive.

Is there a premium for such a unique design and a "name brand"? You bet. Are there people willing to pay a premium for a design like this? You bet! Just ask anyone who's ever bought an Apple product. :)

You wouldn't believe the attention this laptop is getting at CES, and when my wife takes hers into work (Buzzcorps and HP sent her one to check out).

[Macguy59]

Most of us in the room were married actually, of the people I knew at least. :D

Was talking more about the amount of "gush" he was giving/relaying

[Jason Dunn]

I'm with you Jason (at least it sounded like you asking the question).

Yeah, when you heard the loudest voice on the videos, that's probably me since I'm closest to the microphone. :D

Where is the model for the guys. I'd pay a premium (maybe not $250) for something really stylish and well built.

It's funny, I think that HP thinks that the regular Mini 1000 model is "for the guys", which I suppose isn't far from the truth given the way most computer products are designed for men. But given that the mini comes only in black, my point was that I think there's a market for products for men that come in different colours, styles, etc. Shiny black just doesn't always do it for me.

Oh, and my wife knew who Vivienne Tam was even though I had never heard of her.

I've heard that a lot actually - that women know who Vivienne Tam is before anyone has to explain who made the notebook design. It's hard for us guys to wrap our brain around how important that is, how much it resonates for a woman to see a design that's created by a fashion designer. It's sort of like if we were shopping for a pair of pants and we saw Micheal Dell-branded jeans or something, it's a brand we'd recognize. Yes, yes, lots of jokes there about what kind of jeans Dell would create, but you get the basic idea. ;)

[Pony99CA]

Tracy Trachta from HP talks about the <a href="http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&amp;category=notebooks&amp;a1=Category&amp;v1=Mini&amp;series_name=mini1000vt_series" target="_blank">Vivienne Tam HP Mini 1000</a>; why and how they created the partnership with Vivienne Tam, what new markets they wanted to reach with the product, and what an amazing response the product has received.
The link doesn't work (I think the board is putting spaces in the URL). Here's my try:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Mini&series_name=mini1000vt_series

Steve

[Jason Dunn]

The link doesn't work...

Thanks, had to go with TinyURL, it just wouldn't work. HP's URL system is *horrible*.