
The End Of The CrunchPad  - AndrewWarner
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/30/crunchpad-end/
======
ladyada
Although it may seem like an irrelevant point, I'm guessing the price was a
big contributor to the project death.

Why? because when you say up front (with no experience in
hardware/manufacturing design) that you're going to sell it for $x the
scramble then becomes "how can each party squeeze margin out?" When theres
very little margin, parties are more willing to bluff knowing that they can
walk away and there was almost no $ on the table.

Hardware has this problem, and I've seen it so many times, that the founder
prices the hardware at only a bit (say ~30%) above the parts cost, not
realizing the tons of NRE expenses, ballooning BOM, contractor costs, and the
hundreds of other ways the price can easily double. Then they're stuck: the
investors/contract manufacturer/designer/customer hates them. That leads to
abandonment.

Please please please, if you decide to do any kind of hardware, add an extra
40% margin on top of whatever you pick. If you don't need it, you can always
cut the price later! :)

~~~
ynniv
You might even take after Apple and price it at double your materials cost.
That might seem like a lot, but it forces you to make a compelling product
that competes on features instead of chasing the bottom dollar. You can always
lower the price if you're in a bind, but raising it is almost impossible.

If you're successful at selling that, you'll see healthy returns. I heard a
recent blurb that Apple took 90% of the profits on laptops costing more than
$1,000. They certainly didn't sell 90% of the laptops in that bracket.

~~~
ladyada
What I'm saying is, dont double your materials cost, thats not nearly enough.
You need to add margins TWICE - two 40% margins. Thats 3x material cost, 4x is
even smarter. Skimping on margins kills, you can -always- lower the price
later.

------
andreyf
I don't buy it. This happened because Apple hasn't launched the rumored
tablet, and the potential for holiday sales is huge. Here's the main point:

 _We think they were attempting to renegotiate the equity split on the company
behind CrunchPad, which was to acquire Fusion Garage. Renegotiations are
always fine. But holding a gun to our head two days before launching and
insulting us isn't the way to do that._

Sounds like Chandra started with a very heavy-handed offer at renegotiation,
part of the implied threat being "you can't back out now that you've made such
a public commitment to this project". The only way to respond to a heavy hand
with with your own heavy hand - and this post is it, it's all just part of the
renegotiation. Another point I don't buy:

 _I never envisioned the CrunchPad as a huge business. I just wanted a tablet
computer that I could use to consume the Internet while sitting on a couch.
I've always pushed to open source all or parts of the project. So this isn't
really about money. It was about the thrill of building something with a team
that had the same vision. Now that's going to be impossible._

It's a great story we all know - the "unhyped cool side project" hype, Linux
being the best example. From the looks of the demo shot [1], whether anyone
"envisioned" it, or not, it _will_ be a huge business, especially with no
competitors. Arrington knows it and Chandra knows it. I just hope their
lawyers can come to an agreement before christmas, so I can get one :)

1\. [http://cache0.techcrunch.com/wp-
content/uploads/2009/06/cdba...](http://cache0.techcrunch.com/wp-
content/uploads/2009/06/cdba.jpg)

~~~
mechanical_fish
The Christmas retail season is _here_ already. It is far too late to "come to
an agreement before Christmas".

Even assuming that all the manufacturing, the shipping, the wholesaling, et
cetera are done and the product is sitting in the back of the stores waiting
to go out tomorrow -- which I seriously doubt -- there's the little question
of marketing. There's just no time for it before Christmas, in a crowded
market filled with companies grasping for marketshare. The ad space is sold.
The magazines have gone to press. So nobody on Earth is going to know about
the CrunchPad before Christmas, let alone want one, except for Techcrunch
readers and their Twitter followers. Any plan to sell a lot of CrunchPads
within a few weeks of launch necessarily relies on the pre-release marketing
that has been performed by Techcrunch. But that has just been blown sky high.
Are many Techcrunch readers going to be fool enough to buy the product, even
if a BUY link appears tomorrow? Even putting aside all notion of reader
loyalty, I don't like spending money on products that turn out to have been
built by unreliable companies with legal threats hanging over them.

You're gonna need a better conspiracy theory. How about "the Chinese secret
service loved the CrunchPad so much that they placed an order for 1 billion
units and demanded an exclusive..."

------
ovi256
I think there's more to the story. This disagreement had to start earlier, I
doubt it could have gone from everything fine to mutual ultimatums in a single
month. Something must have given before.

~~~
mrkurt
Yeah, that post has the subtle stench of BS. I haven't followed the Crunchpad
ordeal all that closely, but they've never been all that forthcoming about
problems and this announcement smacks of manufactured drama.

~~~
jsz0
From the start the promise of building a large touchscreen tablet for $300 was
simply impossible. Either they were naive or dishonest. The 12" LCD touch
panel alone is likely $200-$300 in bulk or even more. How can you price a
product at retail below the cost of an individual component? As the price
crept up to $400, then $500 and probably more realistically $800-$1k I think
Mr. Arrington needed an end game that didn't make him look dishonest or naive.
An IP dispute solves that problem nicely. Of course he could be telling the
truth but based on the pricing fib/naivety I'm skeptical.

~~~
elai
I've seen large "touch panel" layer parts for various devices for well under
$100 and 1080p 22" TN LCD screens with built in speakers for $100-$150, so a
12" touchscreen panel would likely be nowhere near $200.

~~~
jsz0
In what type of volume?

~~~
nl
Here's a 15" panel at $97 for a single order:
[http://wholesale.alibaba.com/product-gs/261192316-15inch-
SAW...](http://wholesale.alibaba.com/product-gs/261192316-15inch-SAW-
touchscreen-water-proof-Metal-frame--wholesalers.html)

Note that this a touch panel not the LCD, but they do work perfectly well

------
staunch
It sounds like kind of hard ball that's being played by Fusion Garage could
almost certainly be overcome with some effort. Not to justify it, but it's not
uncommon for people who feel like they're getting screwed to renegotiate at a
time when they feel they have leverage.

My _guess_ is that Arrington was overwhelmed with how out of control the
project got. He jumped at the best opportunity to get out of the whole thing,
without looking like he just flat out gave up.

Like some people do in relationships they want out of. "Oh, fine, don't want
to see that movie? Well let's just break up then!"

~~~
timmaah
It was 3 days from a launch (or so he says). If he was "overwhelmed" and
looking for an exit, why did he give up so close to the finish line?

~~~
mixmax
It makes sense if it was 3 days from a launch, and there were one or more
major problems that the public isn't aware of. Maybe he knew that it was
unrealistic and saw a chance of getting out.

~~~
timmaah
Then why the story about IP rights and backstabbing?

------
AndrewWarner
I sent an invitation to FusionGarage to do an interview on Mixergy about why
the partnership fell apart.

I want to learn from the issues they faced.

~~~
vaksel
i bet the main issue was unrealistic expectations.

~~~
tibbon
But yet they seemed to have been so close. Regardless of those expectations it
seems they pulled it off.

------
wallflower
I'm saddened to hear what happened (even if what has been explained about his
Singapore-based partner, Fusion Garage, is not really what happened). The
dangers of long-distance outsourcing - emails can be ignored easily,
connection can be broken at will. No ACK. Hopefully this doesn't become a HBS
case study (on dangers of outsourcing and IP ownership).

"I have to applaud Michael Arrington for going out of his comfort zone and
taking on a sizeable project that is not guaranteed to be successful but if
fairly successful, will make a small impact on the tech industry, rather than
just reporting on it (like he does now)."

I wrote that comment 5 months ago, and I think Michael Arrington has a better
understanding of the tech industry now. I don't think he will give up on
launching a product.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=686137>

~~~
rbanffy
"Hopefully this doesn't become a HBS case study"

Hopefully it does. Things like this should not happen...

~~~
akamaka
I think he means that he doesn't want the CrunchPad to become like other HBR
case studies, not that he hopes a case study isn't written about this story.

------
krschultz
Hardware is difficult. Not just a bit more difficult than software, but WAY
more difficult (and is inclusive of software, usually at a lower level). For a
small company at least the manufacturing is outsourced, and often the design
as well. Who gets the IP and who has ultimate control are MAJOR issues that
are often not given enough attention up front. Sure, every relationship is
rosy at the start. But imagine that you have hit a major roadblock that
prevents a release (because invariably, you will get stuck and have to find a
solution), what happens now? Who gets to decide? This stuff needs to get
hashed out before the first contract is signed. And often time the problem is
going to be your outsourced design firm or manufacturer, so I'd say the
contractor needs to stay at an arms length away so that you can change if need
be, even if it costs more cash. The flexibility might keep your venture alive.

------
nir
"A major multi-billion dollar retail partner has been [..] offering to sell
the CrunchPad at a zero margin to help us succeed in the early days. They were
also willing to pay for the devices on order instead of 30 days after
delivery, a crucial cash flow benefit [..] Intel [..] has assisted us
repeatedly with engineering and partner advice, and gave us pricing that was
ridiculously generous [..] Other partners were eager to promote and sell the
device for little or no benefit on their end other than “supporting the
project.”"

Does anyone see a problem here? You think TechCrunch would be able to honestly
report on these "partners" while being in such close relationship with them?

~~~
bjclark
You really think Arrington is an impartial news source? Really?

~~~
petercooper
Is _anyone_ or any company _really_ totally impartial or without bias? Even
the BBC, which tries to live up to such ideals on the taxpayer's dime, can't
quite get there.

~~~
nir
Nobody is totally impartial, but one can at least attempt to be. Journalists
are not supposed to be invested in the market they cover.

------
nl
Is this the CrunchPad copy? [http://wholesale.alibaba.com/product-
gs/268088826-touch-scre...](http://wholesale.alibaba.com/product-
gs/268088826-touch-screen-umpc-wholesalers.html)

and [http://wholesale.alibaba.com/product-
gs/268087366-10-2-inch-...](http://wholesale.alibaba.com/product-
gs/268087366-10-2-inch-touch-screen-panel-pc-wholesalers.html)

It's a 10.2" screen, but the rest of the specs look pretty similar. $288 each
for 50 orders.

------
mattmaroon
I don't understand why this kills the CrunchPad. If Foxconn pulled that shit
with Apple over the iPhone, Jobs wouldn't throw up his hands and say "well, I
guess we're not doing a phone."

Just take the prototype to Foxconn or one of the other firms that would be
happy to do what Fusion Garage won't.

~~~
justrudd
I think the key difference is that Apple (probably) built a working prototype
themselves _before_ showing it to Foxconn. This way IP rights were completely
owned by Apple. Foxconn may have helped tweak it, but the rights still
belonged to Apple.

It sounds like both TechCrunch and Fusion Garage have rights to different
parts of the IP. So TechCrunch can't go to Foxconn (and neither can Fusion
Garage) w/o violating the IP rights that the other party has.

------
gojomo
If the product has real and imminent commercial potential, there will soon be
an equally dramatic announcement of a mutual compromise. The intervening PR
about the feud will have only drawn more attention to the eventual launch, to
the benefit of both sides.

If the product has technical or cost-of-production flaws that undermine its
commercial viability, the feud provides time and cover to work them out -- or
abandon the project entirely, blaming the failure on the other side as a face-
saving measure.

It's win-win!

I'd actually view this as a slight positive signal of the CrunchPad's
viability, especially if lawsuits are filed. Battles are more serious over
things of real value.

------
bumblebird
Sounds like a good cover up to me. The project was always destined to fail
IMHO. This way they can all maintain it would have worked if they had not had
a disagreement.

------
scotty79
FusionGarage won't be developing this themselves. They will just covertly sell
full documentation to some Chinese company that will manufacture it in huge
quantities for Asian markets at first. We are going to see CrunchPad in few
months from now under completely different name.

------
bumblebird
Makes the award "10 Most Brilliant Products of 2009: Techcrunch Crunchpad
Tablet" just that little bit more ridiculous.

[http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4332415.h...](http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4332415.html?series=88)

~~~
mixmax
It adds significantly to their credibility that they appended this to the
article:

Update: On Nov. 30, 2009, CrunchPad’s Michael Arrington announced that the
product introduction was being canceled, owing to a business dispute. By
giving an award to a prototype, PM took a risk: that a promising product
created by a smart group of people might fail to be realized. In this case, it
seems, we were a bit too quick to act on our enthusiasm for an innovative
idea. While this product is not coming to market, Popular Mechanics
anticipates that tablet-style devices for consuming media will represent an
important trend in the coming year.

~~~
bumblebird
I think in the future they should probably only award prizes to things that
actually exist, on sale.

------
vaksel
I threw up a quick, life and death of crunchpad page, with all the milestones.

Probably missed a few, so if you know of any, let me know.

<http://crunchpad.com>

but it currently redirects to a page on my other site(
<http://styleguidance.com/the-life-and-death-of-crunchpad> ), but once I have
some free time I'll make it a proper page.

~~~
japherwocky
how on earth did they not register crunchpad.com ?!

~~~
vaksel
happens all the time, Apple didn't register iphone, Dell didn't register
Adamo.

But for this, basically the name came up in the comments, in the first post(on
07/21/2008). When it was just an idea. They didn't start calling it a
CrunchPad until the 2nd prototype, 6 months later.

~~~
NathanKP
I'm sure that will be a nice, convenient source of income for your some day,
assuming that the Crunchpad doesn't completely fold, which I doubt it will.

~~~
sireat
OTH, if the Crunchpad TM is still owned by TC or FG(or both), that domain will
revert to them pretty soon.. (Think Dropbox and countless other cases).

Not saying which way is right, but that is the reality.

~~~
vaksel
a) they registered CRUNCHPAD, not CrunchPad

b) they registered it on the 17th, when I already had the domain for more than
a year.

c) the product is already dead

But yeah I know they can probably still nab it, if they try, but I figure if
they do, I can still win from riding their bad publicity wave. It'll have
everything: a clumsy company forgetting to register a domain for their product
+ company name(lollerskates) and that same company using big mean lawyers to
steal the domain away from their fans(boo lawyers, boo big business).

And who knows, maybe the reason I registered the domain was to sell my own
line of CrunchPad Yoga Mats.

~~~
NathanKP
a) That probably won't make any difference. b) Now that's better. c) Let's
hope not.

Either way you'll benefit. Publicity is sure to be yours especially if you
play it up like TechCrunch is playing it up right now.

------
quilby
I agree with this comment from <http://styleguidance.com/the-life-and-death-
of-crunchpad>:

" Is the CrunchPad really dead? Honestly? I'd put my money on no. Arrington is
way too "powerful", and did too much, to just roll over for a few bad apples.
My guess, is that, at this very moment, his mailbox is exploding with tons of
emails from Fusion Garage competitors, offering to finish the project for him.

And if they aren't...then their CEOs need to be kicked out.

Where else, will you find a partner, who has the connections to have a major
retail chain(most likely Best Buy) who not only are willing to help you with
shipping costs by letting you use their planes, but will also sell your
product with zero margin and will pay upfront?

Where else, will you find a partner, who has the connections to get your
people advice from the guys at Intel? And a huge discount on pricing?

Where else, will you find a partner, that already has investors lined up for
the project?

Where else, will you find a partner, that already has brand recognition, with
millions of people? "

~~~
alex_c
Well, not if - as the story suggests - the intellectual property is jointly
owned by TechCrunch and Fusion Garage.

~~~
CRASCH
That was the critical mistake. Always own all of your IP. If you sub out
anything you need it in a contract. When he agreed to jointly own IP with
fusion garage he essentially lost control.

It looks like the Crunchpad just runs fusiongarage software. Maybe they just
didn't like the terms to run their software on the device. This seems like a
strong possibility.

------
avner
I'll withhold any and all judgment until I can hear both sides to the story.
In the meantime, we should let this drama unfold over the course of the week.

------
adrinavarro
If there just was device that let us browse the web (much like Chrome OS would
do), integrating an unlocked 3G modem (where I can drop any SIM card and
configure it in 30 seconds) and good WiFi support, in the range of the
200$-400$, I'd buy it. Right now.

I'm the kind of guy that loves to be connected (reading HN/Greader/Twitter),
mostly when I'm out from home (that can be anywhere). I can wait to contribute
(hey, it's okay to not have a physical keyboard when I mostly read webpages),
but I just can't stay more than two days without checking the mail or opening
Twitter (I'm addicted, I know...)

The iPhone is good enough for that, but I need something bigger with
multitasking (or at least some decent browser-tab management). That can be
used outside. And the CrunchPad looks much like what I want (indeed Chrome OS
does!).

I'm sure that Arrington knows the potential of this project. So this is
probably not its dead note, but a resurrection note. about:phoenix :-)

------
anigbrowl
_Mostly though I’m just sad. I never envisioned the CrunchPad as a huge
business._

...makes me think there were handshakes where there ought to have been
contracts (or the contracts should have been more tightly specified). It
wouldn't be the first time people have cooperated in a spirit of mutual
benefit without fully appreciating the efforts and value demanded of each
other other, and both sides end up honestly feeling they've been ripped off -
the engineering guys had to solve tougher problems on narrower margins than is
economically feasible, the creative and marketing people having made expensive
brand and financial commitments based on optimistic engineering estimates.

All the same, it would have been wiser to announce that the project had run
into a legal hurdle and leave it at that, saving the complaints for a court
filing rather than taking them public. Too bad. I would have happily bought
this product at $400 :-/

------
n8agrin
What a huge disappointment. I was really looking forward to this as an example
of how one could work themselves into the hardware market as a start up, and
as healthy competition to any other large touch-capacitive device to come out
in the next few years.

------
ErrantX
Im not surprised; I have said (if you'll pardon the big headedness) it was an
ambitious product moving into a very fickle niche market (that is still only
on the verge of "mainstream") and, most importantly, possibly moving into
Apple territory (never going to end well).

Im a little surprised it ended in an internal dispute - my thinking was the
funding would run out and the product wouldn't be good enough to sell well.
(and then either Apple launch a tablet or the market just fizzles out). With
that said this could still be the cause - it's at this point people would
probably start to look really hard at the sale point economics.

------
brisance
This is why Apple's policy of not talking about unreleased products make
perfect sense. Steve Jobs probably experiences this on a regular basis. For
every iPhone smash hit, he must've gone through tens or even hundreds of duds.

------
bjclark
If Arrington wasn't completely full of shit, he'd actually open source some or
all of it instead of just "pushing" for it. I mean, it's a dead project right?
If it's dead, then release what you've got to the community and watch someone
else follow through.

Also how would he ever let Fusion Garage "jointly own" part of the IP? That
sounds like a terrible idea. The only way that happens is if his "team"
couldn't actually make the thing work (which is what I'm reading between the
lines). So he's over a barrel because he promised WAY too much and couldn't
actually make it happen.

~~~
Kaizyn
The problem with open sourcing their IP is that Fusion Garage could then turn
around and start manufacturing the devices, cutting Arrington completely out
of the loop. They would just have to be careful that the separate Arrington IP
doesn't taint their existing proprietary parts of the Crunchpad.

~~~
bjclark
But if that's a problem, then he'd never open source it and just says stuff
like "I pushed for open sourcing it" to excite the geeks (which is what I
assume is actually true).

------
Readmore
So opensource it all right now. If Fusion Garage plans to sell it on their own
anyway then release all the specs and software so that anyone can build one
themselves.

~~~
wmf
And pile on more lawsuits? This is a childish attitude.

(Also, I think open source hardware contains a fundamental contradiction:
"anyone can build one themselves" goes against the economy of scale you need
to get reasonable production costs.)

~~~
Readmore
The idea would be that any other hardware manufacturer could also build them
not just Fusion Garage.

If they both have ownership rights, as Mike says in the article, then they can
both decide how to use them. Fusion Garage has decided to use them to produce
the Tablet on their own and TechCrunch has decided to opensource it and allow
any manufacturer to produce them.

------
noonespecial
There was an awful lot of "deals with partners to sell it at cost" in there.
If I was Arrington's partner looking to recoup my investment on my part of the
project, that might not sit well with me, particularly if I had no say in the
matter.

For Mike, it was an ego thing. He promised the crunchpad for less than the
price of just the screen when this all began. Perhaps FG didn't want to cash
that particular ego cheque.

------
antidaily
Nice effort - it looked like a cool device. Of course, once Apple hinted at
coming out with a tablet, the CrunchPad's chances of success took a hit.

~~~
bumblebird
When did they hint? All I've seen is unfounded rumors for the last few years.

If Apple _did_ come out with a tablet you can be sure it'd be $1500+. So it'd
be a totally different market anyway.

~~~
raganwald
_When did they hint? All I've seen is unfounded rumors for the last few
years._

Yes.

 _If Apple did come out with a tablet you can be sure it'd be $1500+._

Speaking of unfounded rumours... This may be an educated guess, it may be an
excellent hunch, it may be a brilliant prognostication. But unless you're
quoting a source or have inside information, it's still an unfounded rumour.

~~~
bumblebird
Can you cite other examples of Apple competing on price? Or being anything but
'high end' pricing.

Look at the Macbook Air - $1499. A tablet would be pretty much an Air but
without the keyboard. I don't think it's likely therefore that the price would
be too much different.

~~~
raganwald
You're explaining why your opinion or guess or hunch or prediction or whatever
you want to call it is likely to be correct. i don't dispute it, nor do I
suggest I hold a different opinion.

However, I am suggesting that your opinion/hunch/prediction is unfounded.
Meaning, it is speculative and not based on some specific factual evidence in
hand.

For example, if you heard about the pricing from a buddy that is working on
the apple.com web site you would be passing evidence along.

I'm not suggesting you shouldn't be speculating along these or any other
lines. I just found it interesting that you would mention unfounded rumours in
the same comment as sharing your own speculations about what Apple might or
might not do.

~~~
bumblebird
The likelihood of Apple releasing a tablet, I'd say is low. But they could.
Fair enough. I don't think they will, but that wasn't my point.

However, if they _do_ release a tablet, there is absolutely no way on gods
earth, they would ever make a competitively priced one. For a start, it'll
cost more than the iPhone, or it simply won't make any sense. So we're up to
the $500 mark already.

My point was, that even if Apple come out with a tablet tomorrow, it will
definitely, categorically, not be in the same area as the crunchpad was
planned to be - cheap.

~~~
raganwald
I agree with your point, FWIW, and in fact I'm saving up for one :-)

------
decklin
"And then the entire project self destructed over nothing more than greed,
jealousy and miscommunication."

I stopped there. Why give this man more attention?

~~~
allenbrunson
I don't know about that!

Normally I avoid TechCrunch and their drama. But this one is shaping up to be
pretty good. If it happened the way Arrington said it did, then the company he
chose to partner with is monumentally out-of-touch. But I've got a feeling
that there is going to be more to it than that.

~~~
pchickey
It just might be more difficult to design and bring a successful product to
market than to write articles about something that sounds like a good product.

------
waterlesscloud
I'm just waiting for that inevitable 3 AM post in which Arrington reveals all.

It's always those very late night posts that are the most interesting.

------
racerrick
Techchrunch is an excellent bargaining tool.

------
petercooper
This is why I nearly always have as close to 100% ownership or involvement
with my projects as possible, even if it means keeping things small. Other
people can be idiots, or they can be great, but it's a helluva risk (to me) to
waste my time to only find that out years down the road.

------
kunday
Yuck! So bad. Was expecting its launch for a long time. Now that its gone, we
might have to wait for apple to come out with its device which apparently
nonone knows! as cwan pointed out, this is not something that materializes
over a week. Fishy Fishy!

------
alttab
This sounds incredibly whiny. Is there peer edit at tech crunch anymore?

I've noticed, and I think other hackers here will agree, that tech crunch is
like the spoiled brat of tech blogs these days. Nothing more than tech-pop
TMZ. Move on.

~~~
spamizbad
No, the tech-pop TMZ is valleywag. Techcrunch is actually a good site that,
from time to time, does some decent journalism (see: Scamville)

------
vaksel
so now that the cruchpad is gone, what would you buy instead now?

~~~
chrischen
There are tablet PCs, and the kindle.

------
kqr2
Link to Fusion Garage's blog, although it hasn't been updated in a while:

<http://www.fusiongarage.com/blog/>

~~~
geuis
The blog is completely missing now. Did they delete it perhaps?

------
daviday
Arrington was going to have a Brian Kindle as the head of the crunchpad
development team. Now that's what i call good PR

------
jerome_etienne
in ALL the comment, nobody even mentioned ChromeOS. I find it surprising. Am i
the only one to think it may be related ? both being on the web os

"Crunchpad was canceled simply because google arrived on his market, and
arrington decided to drop the ball". It seems a reasonable possible
explaination, at least

~~~
madebylaw
From the article:

 _We even hoped to have devices hacked together with Google Chrome OS and
Windows 7 to show people that you could hack this thing to run just about
anything you want._

I don't think Arrington was afraid of ChromeOs.

~~~
jerome_etienne
i understand your point. I am just surprised how much credit gives to PR.

------
Tichy
Know it won't happen, but would be great if the design could be open sourced.

------
ajv
WOW! Been waiting on this for a long time, so sad to see this news today :(

------
FreeRadical
I've got a feeling CrunchPad will still be released.

------
BerislavLopac
So, Nik Cubrilovic fails again?

------
redrory
Is it April 1st already?

------
microcentury
Good Lord. I almost feel sorry for Mike Arrington. But not quite.

