
Why the CrunchPad mattered - vaksel
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/11/30/why-the-crunchpad-mattered/
======
brk
It didn't matter. The Crunchpad would have basically been a neat tech-toy for
the people who had the disposable income to toss at it.

The world is littered with "almosts". You could just as easily argue that the
ultimate failure of this indicates that bloggers should stick to blogging and
not try to build companies and products.

I'm not saying I wasn't intrigued by it, and probably would have bought one if
it ever shipped, but the TC guys shouldn't strain their arms patting
themselves on the back for not shipping a product.

~~~
martey
_The Crunchpad would have basically been a neat tech-toy for the people who
had the disposable income to toss at it._

At the price point which they were planning to sell it, it would have been the
same price as most netbooks. Since it caters to a similar audience ("casual"
computer users), it is possible that if it had launched, it would have been
popular.

~~~
BigDamnDeal
Unlikely, but possible.

------
kitcar
The only reason the CrunchPad mattered was because it gave TechCrunch and
CrunchGear something to write about.

There are already tablets available which have the feature set the CrunchPad
would have, below the price point they were trying to hit (i.e.
<http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.31523> )...

~~~
rms
That doesn't have the same feature set at all. It's a 7'' screen.

------
BigDamnDeal
I must be dyslexic. Whenever I see a post titled "Why X Matters," I can't help
reading "X doesn't matter."

------
blehn
I know the tablet PC is like the dream device of the future, but do people
really think these things will be useful?

I can think of only couple niche uses:

\- replacing a notebook for people who like to sketch ideas

\- replacing a doctor's clipboard

\- doubling as a wacom tablet (cintiq) for designers

A touchscreen PC with no keyboard is extremely limited in utility and
ergonomically awkward at best. We're already carrying around android/iPhone
devices and slim, lightweight laptops--what does a tablet PC add to that mix?

Unless a company completely reinvents the idea of the tablet PC, I think these
devices are destined for failure. Maybe Apple has something up their sleeve?

~~~
chris100
_A touchscreen PC with no keyboard is extremely limited_

I don't know about you, but when I browse the web, I actually don't type that
much.

Mike Arrington was specifically referring to the need to browse the web from
his couch. In browsing mode, you like to explore and click. Type? Not so much.

And intensive use of my iPhone has shown me that the screen is just a bit too
small to seriously browse the web for more than 10 minutes at a time.

So yes, there might be a market there.

~~~
blehn
Sure, while browsing the web, you explore and click _most_ of the time, but
there are plenty of instances when you need to type: a query into google or a
url into the address bar, logging in to websites, commenting on a blog post,
responding to an email. These things will have people reaching for their
laptops in no time. Even if these are specifically for browsing the web from
the couch, why not just use a laptop? They even have built in stands (the
keyboard) so that your arms don't get tired holding them up.

Also, I'd imagine that typing on a touchscreen tablet PC is considerably more
cumbersome than on an iPhone, since you'd only have one hand available.

------
ErrantX
_It would behoove the New York Times, for example, to build something like the
CrunchPad for consumption of the newspaper. They won’t do it because it is
seemingly off-mission._

Umm, I seem to recall seeing a really interesting video a while back of a
blogger visiting the NYT's tech arm - and being shown their work on small
format devices and "digital paper". So I think he's dead off there.

Anyway. It's kind of hard to write commentary like this - because so far there
is no real evidence that as advanced a device was ready to go at the (last)
price point mentioned. The Crunchpad is an exercise in poor marketing and poor
management. None of the initial promises ($200, open source design etc.) were
met in the end. There were months of silence about the device. Very few images
and demonstrations of ongoing work (apart from the same artfully posed
renderings).

To be utterly honest I frankly don't believe they had the product they say
they did at the stage they claimed.

Ultimately though whatever stage they were this product never made it from the
"TC office" to the shelves. It's _currently_ a complete failure from any
perspective.

------
EinhornIsFinkle
It would have mattered for a week, maybe two.

Then it would be one cool coaster. I could probably set 3 or 4 beers on the
thing.

