
CrunchPad Prototype - eo
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/03/crunchpad-the-launch-prototype/
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redorb
Its hard to believe it will sell for <$200 / without being locked to some sort
of contract or homepage with ads etc ... If so - this is truly an amazing
achievement, not to mention its amazing that its techcrunch.

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vaksel
Nothing wrong with having a home page with ads if it brings the cost down.

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SwellJoe
It's a technique used by Dell and other PC makers for years. It's a nuisance,
but if cost is a factor, it can be worth the 20 minutes it takes to clean the
crap off.

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axod
I don't think that makes sense.

Dell are bought by "The general public", who often don't know how to clean the
crap off. So some of it sticks, and they make money.

The crunchpad however, is going to be bought by techie geeks. If it comes
loaded with adverts, everyone will just remove them, and they won't make any
money.

This is a _technically_ amazing achievement, but IMHO the market does not
exist. They'll sell a few, but nothing major.

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SwellJoe
_Dell are bought by "The general public", who often don't know how to clean
the crap off. So some of it sticks, and they make money._

This assumes Dell isn't paid just for the privilege of being on their desktop.
I kinda think they are.

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axod
That's a measurable though. If Crunchpad was paid to have something on it,
then they measured that no one actually left it on there, they would probably
stop paying pretty quickly.

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SwellJoe
I'd certainly choose this over, say, a Kindle. If they can actually deliver,
and at the price they've bandied about, I'd love to have one.

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viggity
One big bonus for the kindle is the battery life (2 weeks? vs a few hours).
Obviously, the crunchpad has lots of other things going for it. I guess my
point is that they're really meant for two different purposes.

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stcredzero
If the thing is meant to live on your coffee table and couch, then a couple of
hours is good enough. Just design an attractive charging station/stand so it
can charge while it goes into "picture frame mode."

Another stand so that it can be used as some kind of secondary display would
be cool. (Maybe not a real display, but one driven by something like VNC?)

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ovi256
If it runs Linux, Mac OS X, or Windows, just use synergy. It lets you share
keyboard and mouse between several systems. It's awesome. The kind of OSS
software I'd love to pay for.

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barredo
What about consumption and/or heat dissipation? I'd hate to burn my hands
while playing youtube videos...

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raghus
What a gorgeous digital photo frame this would make! I look forward to
pointing this at a Flickr (or other) slideshow. In fact someone in another
corner of the country or the world could keep this pointed at your Flickr
photo stream and will be able to see your latest photos without doing a thing.
Similar to what Picwing was offering.

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tfincannon
The software demo from April is pretty interesting.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP-0Nce5oTQ>

Everything goes through the browser. It remains to be seen whether that is the
brilliant constraint that makes a category, or a crippling limitation.

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anigbrowl
I see the USB port is still there :)

Wonder how they will handle storage - suppose I see an image I want to save or
stuff I wish to copy/paste and send via gmail. I get that there is no local
storage but I hope it will allow inter-process operability.

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wmf
Clearly it should support copy/paste, but on a Web 2.0 tablet I think saving
could be replaced with bookmarking/sharing.

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anigbrowl
Oh yeah. I meant save-to-picasa or such, not locally. Sorry.

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mcav
18mm thick — about 3/4 of an inch. Hopefully it'll be light too.

I'm impressed. Maybe this TechCrunch tablet has potential after all.

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johnnybgoode
I noticed that price wasn't mentioned this time. I'm guessing that means it'll
cost a lot more than $200.

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wglb
I wonder if it bears any relationship with the view sonic thingey that is
unavailable on amazon: [http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-airpanel-V150-Smart-
Display/...](http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-airpanel-V150-Smart-
Display/dp/B00007A5K0)

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ssharp
Maybe it's me, but I don't understand the appeal of this type of computer at
all. Granted, I also don't understand the appeal netbooks, so maybe I'm way
out in left field.

This thing seems like it's a big iphone. I already have an iphone and it meets
most of my general quick-fix internet needs. I have a laptop when the iphone
isn't sufficient. I just don't see the need for another device in the mix.
Unless the pad is easily converted to a moderately powered computer by adding
a quick keyboard and mouse, I wouldn't even entertain the idea of buying one.

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joezydeco
Okay, so you won't buy one. But I would, just to websurf sitting on the couch.
I want a form factor like a magazine or book, not a 5 pound laptop.

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axod
Nice picture there. Has it got velcro on the back or something? Because I can
see it slipping down her leg and falling on the floor pretty quickly.

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jrnkntl
Stylus support and therefore support to take notes while on the road would be
the feature that makes me lay down even $400 for this thing.

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martythemaniak
It looks pretty good, but I still maintain my position from last summer, which
was that this will never cost $200. Of course, that's fine, as I would not
expect a device like this to cost that much to begin with. About $400 seems
like the 'right' price for something like this.

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jrockway
Will the screen really look that nice from those viewing angles? If so, it
will be a Kindle killer.

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axod
Quit with the hyperbole. It's not even in the same market as the Kindle. The
battery life? Good screen for prolonged reading?

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jrockway
I was trying to say "shopped" without actually using that word.

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Bjoern
Hm, did you see in the promotion video of the Software how much the video was
bucking especially at full screen?

I think that the CrunchPad will be quite interesting for Websites but not so
for multimedia applications in the beginning.

Hope I am wrong though.

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timmaah
3com Audrey take 2?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3Com_Audrey>

The internet has changed greatly since then. I guess that is why the netbooks
are taking off.

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sfphotoarts
conceptual designs to first working prototype is often a time fraught with
problems. I seriously doubt this will be a few weeks and even more doubt the
price. It could sell for much more, so why make it so low?

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netsp
I'm not sure it could. That is, it would sell some at many ranges because it's
unique. But I do think price sensitivity will be huge here. In other words, I
am guessing every dollar they knock off the price tag will mean a big
difference in the number of sales.

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rbanffy
I will buy one if and only if I can install my own software on it.

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DenisM
I like the prototype C better (the one in the videos)

