GE builds an OLED Holiday Tree, makes mistletoe out of disused RAM
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Dec 17th 2008 3:04PM
posted Dec 17th 2008 3:04PM
The R&D-types at GE have high hopes for their roll-to-roll OLED manufacturing process, but it looks like we have a couple years to wait before the tech is cheap enough to really catch on. In the meantime, what do we have for you? How about some super-expensive digiframes and a YouTube video of the world's first ever "OLED Holiday Tree?" Man, we hope those "War on Christmas" people don't catch wind of this one...
[Via OLED Display]
[Via OLED Display]
You spelled Christmas Tree wrong, silly ol' bear.
I know right? Whats wrong with "Christmas"? If you think about it...if we go around saying "Happy Holidays" (or whatever) instead of Merry Christmas, shouldn't we say it for all Holidays? Instead of Happy Thanksgiving it would be "Happy Holidays". Call it what it is and leave it at that...
If some people get offended because the word "Christ" is in Christmas...then they should be offended at alot of other things too. I don't hear people getting offended at the Jews or Buddhists and making them change there words or whatever...
What is Christmas? It is a celebration of Christ's birth...look it up. So people should call it what it is and leave it...or make the Jews replace Happy Hanukkah with Happy Holidays as well. No offense to the Jews, I am just using it as an example.
Ok...I am done ranting now... ;)
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
I mean, it's clearly a Christmas tree.... what other holiday symbol looks like that? We should call a menorah a holiday menorah even though it's clearly tied to Hanukkah? It's just a complete overcompensation to call this anything other than a Christmas tree.
Here's how I see it. When people say Happy Holidays to me, I take it in the plural. I assume they mean Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, since both are holidays are just 8 days away. Regardless of which December-ish holiday you choose to celebrate, usually you take the 1st of January as something to celebrate too.
The PC people get their way, and I make sense of it and have no un-PC ax to grind.
Actually it looks a lot like a tree that pagan would use to thank mother nature during the winter solstice.
you know, a evergreen that is decorated with lights, maybe a star on the top.
For others holding out hope for it being Pagan or Non-denominational.... the use of "mistletoe" in the title is a dead giveaway.
Hmm... Dead Giveaway, sounds like something Engadget would do near Halloween
DEAD GIVEAWAY (1 OF 8): 183 ZUNES!
Non-Christians don't care about the phrase "Merry Christmas". Only Atheists do.
No, you're wrong there, I'm an atheist, and I couldn't give a stuff what you call it, as long as its prefixed by the word 'awesome'
Merry Christmas!!!
@Jin,
I suppose you are one of those that thinks atheism is like some sort of anti-religion. Well, I can tell you that the great majority of us don't give a rip what you believe in. A few, the vocal minority, (kind of like the vocal Christians or the vocal Muslims come to think of it) go around trying to get the 10 commandments out of courthouses and crap like that.
Let me sum it up this way:
A Christian gets up in the morning and acknowledges god and spends (maybe) Sunday in Church
a few atheists get up in the morning and denounce the existence of god, and spend all day Sunday protesting said existence
The rest of us just get up in the morning and on Sunday we sleep in.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Whatever. Just be nice and go buy a bunch of shit you can't afford to get the economy moving...
ARE YOU SERIOUS? "HOLIDAY" TREE? This just doesn't make any sense.
Nice idea, but call it what it is GE; "Holiday Tree" sounds preposterous.
They did, if you click the link it says "OLED Christmas Tree"
Don't worry, Engadget. My Jewish family doesn't get a tree for Hanukkah. You are offending more people by calling it a "Holiday Tree" than you would by calling it a "Christmas Tree."
Thanks for pointing that out, I guess engadget chose to use the video's term over the GE blog post.
Well said.
seriously, do we call menorah's "holiday candle holders?"
merry christmas to all of you.
and Happy Hanukkah to you!
OLED Holiday Tree: $2000
Mistletoe out of disused RAM: $50
Telling a young child that Santa doesn't exist: Priceless.
WHAT??!!
@Zinger
You are no different to a grinch stealing Christmas from the kids! If you were a parent, your kids will hate you for the rest of their life.
@tom
Then it's a good thing I'm Jewish. :D
Whatever man, I told my kids that St. Nick was this guy from Turkey who gave surprise presents to lots of people, and they thought that was really cool.
My youngest: Daddy, you could do that, too.
@Zinger
Fair enough. Don't tell my kids =P I was once caught in a limbo, "Daddy, why is there a Santa in every mall?" LOL
@ Tom
My parents always told me that Santa was so busy at the North Pole that he hired helpers to go out and greet the kids. I bought it hook, line, and sinker when I was little.
Hahahaha, I grant you 1 internet, good sir.
I think i see some HUGE DEAD PIXELS.. do you?
what is a "holiday tree?"
i worked 38 yrs for ge..i can't believe this????
Well, the holiday tree surely doesn't belong to the Christians. Just because you stole and bent something doesn't make it your own exclusive completely original idea. If you'll excuse me I have to decorate the Solstice fur.
@Zavrion
lol, nice one. I was reading your comment and starting to get annoyed, but then that ending hit me. thank you. had to give credit where it's due.
Hmmm... after reviewing some of your other comments you left on this post, I am inclined to believe you were not joking. If this is the case, I suppose my credit wasn't due, but no matter what, that comment is funny.
@Zavrion You just keep your Solstice 'fur' to yourself. We don't need to be seein' that at this time of year.
Merpy Christmukkah everyone!
OLED must be bad for your eyes. They're all wearing protective goggels.
Also, since when did a tree with a star ontop of it often decorated with pretty lights (or made of pretty lights) represent any other holiday besides Christmas? From the way the threads have been going lately, this site is a forum for anything BUT political correctness.
the funny part is they capitalized holiday.
but seriously, i'm christian, but i wouldn't be offended if someone said "happy Hanukkah" to me.
Apparently there is at least _some_ risk of explosion... which to me gives this "Holiday Tree" the edge over its natural counterparts.
I guess technically having a tree as part of a celebration has ancient roots in pagan religions, including the one that Christmas originated from. It's a bit comical, because there are references to this in the Bible, yet we use trees in our homes to celebrate the birth of Christ.
That is not really important, though, because clearly Christmas is the holiday the trees are targeted at and retailers are going overboard to be politically correct. "Holiday tree" just sounds like something that would make Charlie Brown upset. Where is Linus when you need him?
Lol @ "holiday tree". So politically correct that it's completely wrong. Retards.
So ignorantly stated that it is completely wrong. Ignorant commenter.
@ Zavrion:
Sure doesn't look like a Hanukkah Bush to me...
@Zavrion. I would appreciate you pointing out where exactly my statement is "completely wrong." Perhaps I used the language of the internet, which is rudimentary, terse, and often insulting. I don't see, however, how this negates the material of the comment, which you have deemed to be completely wrong. As you can see I am perfectly capable of writing proper English, but prefer not to due to laziness. You sir, are the ignorant commenter, and your contribution is quite useless.
As an atheist, I'm highly offended at holiday tree. Just call it a damn christmas tree.
Well it could be a Hanukkah bush: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah_bush. Anyway, I agree. Speaking as someone who has no theism, anyone who is offended by Christmas tree or menorah or any other damn thing obviously has it way too easy and has way too much time on their hands, since they can get worked up over something like that. My Christmas message to you people is that you can kiss my fat, white, atheist ass over by the manger scene.
C'mon Engadget, if your going to pick and choose when to be politically incorrect you're lame. Do what Mel Brooks does: insult everybody.
Hanukkah bush sounds like a nasty disease
Rockin' around the Hanukkah bush
It's a Jewish holiday...
Everybody dancing and singing along
In the Hebrew National way...
I'm offended by the offense of offending the offenders...or something like that.
Nice tech, though. Maybe someday we'll all be able to use our OLEDXMASTRIZ (tm) for the particular celebratory event of the season.
A "holiday tree" is essentially a Christmas tree. They purposely do that to avert racism against other religion as not everyone believes in J.C. or Christianity. One of the state government office was once sued for putting up Christmas decoration. To me, this is completely bull. But hey, the court ruled the government is against the constitution.
It's a Christmas Tree because it's used during Christmas, not any other religious "holiday". I don't put Christmas trees up during Summer Holidays do I? No, because it's called a CHRISTMAS tree. God damn it, I hate political correctness. (This wasn't directed at you tom, just the general topic of your post).
"racism against other religion"
huh?
@ilyt
no offense taken =)
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, and the word relates to "Christian"
@Tom
Why do you hate the pagans so?
Regardless of what you really intended to say, that post is definitely in the running for most idiotic of the week.
"government is against the constitution."
huh?
Love it... nice to see a company like GE knows how to bring technology and fun together.
I hear it was supposed to be a blue spruce but...
It's green?
Man walks into store...
Man: Excuse me sir, where could I find a Holiday tree?
Clerk: A what???
Man: You know, a Holiday tree for the Holiday that's coming up
Clerk: Which holiday would that be, sir?
Man: The Holiday!! Holiday! Holiday!
Other shoppers:
haha, very nice
Oh, Engadget... I bet you cats put up a Festivus pole this year, didn't you?
A Festivus for the rest of us!
How could the court tell the government not to have a Christmas decoration or display when Christmas FEDERAL holiday? Wouldn't the courts have to overturn the federal holiday first?
Christianity has been drilled into the United States since the first settlers came over to Jamestown in 1607. Now why must we sue over the a decoration; a symbol of what our country stands for?
"Also, since when did a tree with a star ontop of it often decorated with pretty lights (or made of pretty lights) represent any other holiday besides Christmas?"
When it was used by pagans for celebrating the winter soltice, previous to it being used to celebrate christmas.
Personally, i don't give a damn what you call it. Last i checked, it was qualified as "Pine tree"
I prefer a nice Douglas Fir....
Assuming it's not a spruce or a fir, that is.
Century,
While I agree with you on the pagan part that was up until the time of Agustus and then the Christians adopted it like many of the other pagan traditions to lure more people in and make the transition easier from no god to God. Most of those pagans are dead now since that was quite a long time ago so I think the Christmas tree is safe...from them atleast.
I'm offended.
That's not a tree, it's a cone. Holiday CONE.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=tree&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
THOSE are trees.
I was going to make a remark regarding the entirely non-festive use of the politically correct term, "Holiday Tree," but I see that countless others beat me to the punch.
One could argue that it's sensible to say "Happy Holidays" because there are so many different holidays around this time of year (e.g., Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, New Years), but to strip the Christmas tree of its affiliation is pointless. It's not as though it's a symbol that belongs to more than one holiday. It only belongs to one. The menorah only belongs to one holiday (as has been mentioned above).
That's my $.02 worth.
I hope that everyone enjoys their respective holiday(s). As for me (and my household), we will be having ourselves a merry little Christmas!
Peace!
Should we be worried that they are all wearig saftey glasses around that "tree"?
WHAT THE FV CK IS A HOLIDAY TREE?????????????
When they are not smiling around the hOLEDay tree, they are at the StarTrek convention speaking only in Klingon.
Holiday Tree? Et Tu Engadget?
I'm highly offended that you call that object a "tree".
A tree is a woody perennial plant. Woody means "made of or containing or resembling wood". Organic Light Emitting Diodes are not made of wood, and neither contain nor resemble wood to any obvious degree. The object is not perennial either, as perennial means "lasting three seasons or more", while the so-called "tree" only lasts one season. And it is definitely not a plant. Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. OLEDs, while organic, are arguably not alive.
For everyone that is claiming that there are no other holiday trees, take a look at
http://consumerist.com/5069219/christmas-creep-is-mutating-at-walgreens-halloween-trees-seriously
clearly there is a Halloween tree. And what about the origin of the tree anyway? Isn't it accepted that lit trees were (are) used to celebrate the Winter Solstice? I have a decorated tree in my house, but I am not celebrating the birth of anyone, what does it matter? The offense that people take at Happy Holidays and the like is fascinating and bewildering!
Happy Holidays everyone! ALL of them!
Hey nerds, do anything nerdy while I was out not being nerdy?
Yeah a lot of hot chicks came by and we made out underneath the mistletoe made out of RAM.
Too bad you were doing non nerdy things like getting drunk, driving, and getting locked up in jail. I'm sure you had your fun.
Sorry, but robotic-chicks don't count.
I gotta make these posts meaningful ... they don't allow too many of these in jail.
I read this and thought, "I'll go post something about that 'holiday' tree and get ripped apart." Turns out most people think its stupid...another case of protecting the minority at the expense of the majority...insane.
Did anyone notice they're all wearing safety glasses? Is this OLED tree THAT unsafe?! ^_^
When is GE going to build an OLED Holiday TV?
Does anyone there not wear glasses?
Merry Christmas Joseph Flatley, and Merry Christmas Engadget!
For a moment then I thought they were gonna say '3,2,1, ACTIVATE!'
Merry Christmas!
Glad to see that there's still people out there who will say it like it is!